The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Leadership Lorain County holds annual gala
Leadership Lorain County, one of the area’s top leadership development organizations, celebrated outstanding community activism Feb. 21.
The group hosted its 2020 Difference Makers Gala and Excellence in Leadership Awards ceremony at Lorain County Community College’s Spitzer Conference Center, 1005 N. Abbe Road in Elyria.
The gala honored individuals and an organization for their leadership and impact on the Lorain County community and beyond.
In total, Leadership Lorain County received over 32 nominations for the 2020 ceremony, according to a news release.
For the 2020 celebration,
Leadership Lorain honored the legacy of Eric Nord and the 20 past honorees who received the award named in his honor.
The organization’s honoree selection committee is made up of two Lorain County community leaders and four Leadership Lorain County Board members who went through an extensive review process of each of the nominations.
Wickens Herzer Panza and the 4:8 Group presented the evening.
Donald W. Barden, CEO and owner of Perfect Plan Co., who also is an author, speaker, adviser and corporate executive, was the evening’s keynote speaker.
Barden works in international business affairs and technology and specializes in corporate leadership and organizational change management.
He holds theories in “unfair
advantage,” which work to expose myths of modern leadership and communication techniques.
Honorees and awards are as follows:
• Excellence in Leadership Award
Clare Cygan Young, retired executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness Lorain County
David and Noelia Nodal, retired from Republic, and now vice president of sales at American Patriot Title Agency
• Emerald Award for Inspirational Leadership
Stacie Starr, classroom supervisor at Murray Ridge School, teen program director at Save Our Children
• Excellence in Leadership Award Organization The Nord Center Young previously worked as a nurse for 10 years before working at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center,
The Nord Center and opened the Kidz First Child Advocacy Center in 2004.
She has experience in community outreach, rape crisis services, crisis intervention, rape awareness and prevention and advocacy.
David Nodal worked at a Lorain steel mill for over 40 years and launched additional business ventures during his time there.
He also volunteered his time in civic engagement and private support as a board member, secretary and executive trustee at Church on the North Coast.
Noelia Nodal has worked in both nonprofit and private sectors, as well as cofounded Mortgage One Banc and Premier Mortgage Banc Solutions, which is believed to be the first and only women and minority owned mortgage company in Northeast Ohio.
In her work, Starr oversees the teachers and education of students with developmental disabilities to help them transition into their next phase of adulthood.
She worked for Elyria City Schools for 14 years and has won several education and community service awards, including the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Excellence Award, Oberlin NAACP Education Award and Elyria NAACP Community Service Award.
The Nord Center, founded in 1947, is a nonprofit community mental health center that serves Lorain and Huron counties.
Services provided include core mental health services, crisis and suicide prevention, supportive housing and sexual assault and trauma response services.