Haiti Videos > Opinions > VIDEO Eske se vre yo pa...

NCAA has named five individuals in the Phoenix area as its...

Drsmith Says...

NCAA has named five individuals in the Phoenix area as its 2024 Legends and Legacy Community Award recipients.

The award recognizes activists who commit their time, resources and influence to improve and invest in their communities.

The honor is given in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Final Four, which will be held April 6 and 8 in Phoenix.

The NCAA Legends and Legacy Award acknowledges and celebrates individuals who are making a difference in and around their city. The honorees exemplify selflessness, strive for excellence, and render extraordinary and valuable service within their local community.

Those who are nominated for the award have had a major impact on athletics, gender equity, government, health and safety, higher education and/or social justice in their communities and field of work.

"What a tremendous group of purpose-driven individuals who commit their time, talent and resources to their communities," said Felicia Martin, NCAA senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement.

"It is our pleasure to celebrate their dedication and their service to the greater Phoenix area. Each honoree is passionate about their cause and has an incredible record of positively impacting their local communities and their neighbors.

Congratulations to each Legends and Legacy recipient!"

The Legends and Legacy Award is a community program that is given annually at both the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours.

Honorees are featured on NCAA platforms, celebrated at a special ceremony and acknowledged at one of the Final Four games during half-time.

The NCAA inclusion, education and community engagement division has leveraged the March Madness platform to elevate the importance of service and helping others as a core value of the Association.

Recognizing that basketball is an environment for broad representation and elite competition, the award focuses on bridging communities and businesses in conjunction with the Final Four experience.

The 2024 NCAA Men's Final Four Legends and Legacy Community Award honorees are:

Diana "Dede" Yazzie Devine
Devine is the retired president and CEO of Native American Connections, which she led for more than 40 years.

NAC is a Native American-operated nonprofit corporation that provides comprehensive behavioral health and integrated medical services, affordable housing and community-based economic development in Phoenix.

NAC offers innovative research-based health services integrated with Native cultural and traditional healing practices.

Additionally, NAC developed, owns and operates over 1,500 units of affordable housing for working families and permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals.

In 2017, NAC, in partnership with the city of Phoenix, renovated a building that once housed the Phoenix Indian School and reopened it as a visitors center to tell the 99-year history of the federal boarding school that operated from 1891 to 1990. As part of her dedication and leadership, Devine, who received her MBA at Arizona State, has earned numerous honors, including being named as one of the Phoenix Business Journal's 25 Most Admired CEOs and one of Arizona's 48 Most Intriguing Women as part of Arizona's Centennial Legacy Project, as well as an Arizona Department of Housing Lifetime Achievement Award.

She also was selected as one of USA Today's Women of the Year and is an inductee in the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame and the Arizona State W.P. Carey School of Business Alumni Hall of Fame. Devine, who was licensed as an independent substance abuse counselor, is a member of numerous local, state and national boards.

Reyna Montoya
Montoya is the founder and CEO of Aliento, which serves undocumented families, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and families with mixed immigration status.

Through youth-led arts and healing workshops, leadership development and community organizing, Aliento transforms trauma into hope and action for those most impacted by the harms associated with lacking an immigration status.

Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Montoya is a social entrepreneur, educator and dancer.

She is an alumna of Arizona State, Grand Canyon and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Montoya is also a 2016 Soros Justice Fellow, which enabled her to start Aliento.

In seven years, Aliento has touched the lives of over 50,000 people, which includes over 20,000 youth through its programs, and has educated close to 100,000 voters in Arizona's 2020 and 2022 elections.

Montoya has been recognized as a Muhammad Ali Center Humanitarian Recipient for Spirituality, a 2017 #NBCLatino20, a New Profit award recipient and a Boulder Fund grantee.

She was also a founding member of the first Teach for America DACA Advisory Board and is a member of several boards and councils in her community.

She continues to work toward creating healing spaces, political change and leadership development for immigrant youth and undocumented and mixed-status families.

Jacob Moore
Moore serves as a vice president and special advisor to the president on American Indian affairs at Arizona State.

His work covers a range of transformative initiatives, including using Indigenous knowledge, developing partnerships and aligning research projects with tribal priorities.

Most recently, Moore served as associate vice president on tribal relations in the Office of Government and Community Engagement at Arizona State, where his work included intergovernmental affairs between Arizona State and tribal nations and communities.

Through his work, Moore prioritizes student success, while also ensuring the university continues to provide innovative research to help support tribal communities.

Before his roles at Arizona State, Moore was managing partner for Generation Seven Strategic Partners LLC and also worked as special assistant on congressional and legislative affairs for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

He also has been a member of the Arizona State Board of Education.

Moore is currently on the boards of directors for the Arizona Community Foundation, the Arizona State Morrison Institute, WestEd and the Tohono O'odham Gaming Enterprise.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and an executive MBA from Arizona State's W.P. Carey College of Business, and he is a citizen of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

David Solano
Solano is the creator of Solano's No Limit Hoops, which is a Phoenix basketball program that provides youth with a free place to play basketball and learn life lessons.

The program, which came to life in 2018 and now includes a summer camp, features pep talks on being focused in life and in school, and team play for kids 15 and younger and 16- to 19-year-olds.

Solano, who currently coaches junior high basketball and is a lifelong educator, created the program to motivate youth and provide them with an affordable community activity.

Solano's No Limit Hoops boosts the morale of the youth who participate as teams that win their games are crowned champions and are allowed to create a short Instagram video for their achievement.

A native of the Maryvale area in West Phoenix, Solano was the first in his family to graduate from college, where he earned a teaching degree and a master's at Arizona State.

He teaches fourth grade at Palm Lane Elementary School in West Phoenix and has received numerous accolades, which include a Positive Coach of the Year award by the Positive Coaching Alliance, a Positive Coach award from the Arizona Diamondbacks and two superintendent awards for his service to the community.

Christina Spicer
Spicer has been co-CEO of Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council since 2022. She has held numerous positions at the organization and was integral in growing its annual fund from $600,000 to $4 million over seven years.

Additionally, she has served on several successful campaigns, including Day of the Girl, which raised $1 million for the organization in one day. Spicer is a leader who has devoted nearly two decades of her career to directing critical youth initiatives throughout the Phoenix community.

After graduating from Arizona State with a degree in communications, she joined notMYkid, a local nonprofit organization, as its director of the Clear Choices program, where she helped engage teens in discussions about issues such as drug and alcohol use, body image disorders and depression.

Shortly after earning her master's degree from Arizona State, she joined Teach for America Phoenix, where she managed the advisory board, was an active member of the leadership team and led the development team responsible for annual fundraising that totaled more than $7 million each year. Spicer is also founder of CAMEO, a women's mentorship organization.

Additionally, she serves on local boards and has received several local awards, including Phoenix Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Award.

She was named a Diverse Business Leader to Watch, and she earned the Phoenix Mercury's Believe in Women

Posted February 22 2024 at 6:49 PM

REPLY to this message

or start a NEW Topic

  Topic »