Human Rights Awards 2021
The Iowa City Human Rights Commission honors the following individuals and organizations for its 37th Annual Human Rights Awards:
Jama Lidral will receive the Isabel Turner Award for working for the rights of individuals to receive fair treatment. Lidral served as Director of Volunteers at the Iowa City Free Lunch program from 2014 until retirement on July 30, 2021.
Sara Barron, Executive Director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, will receive the Linda Severson Award for contributions to human rights by an individual in a service industry. Barron worked to support individuals facing housing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Emily Sinnwell and David Goodner will receive the International Award for significant contributions to human rights in the global community for their efforts to provide assistance to immigrant families through their leadership at the Iowa City Catholic Worker House.
Kirkwood Community College will receive the Bill Reagan Community Award for contributions to human rights by an organization. In recent years, Kirkwood has launched the Kirkwood Iowa City Food Pantry, a free laptop program, and an initiative to ensure free rides to the college's Cedar Rapids location via 380 Express for approximately 60 students.
Tracy Jon Sargeant will receive the Rick Graf Award for long-term commitment to a specific cause for the benefit of a specific group of persons. As Executive Director of the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa, Sargeant in the last year launched a BIPOC Business Accelerator Program and recently co-founded the RE Connect collective to address racial equity issues in the community.
Brian Finley will receive the Kenneth Cmiel Award for actively working in the human rights field in a dedicated and determined way by designing a program that automatically tweeted available COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Iowa retail pharmacies from the @IAVaccineAlerts Twitter account.
The awards presentation will take place Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, in a small ceremony at City Hall that will be live streamed on Zoom starting at 7:30 a.m. Register for the Zoom event (ID 863 3308 6758) here.