2011 Trailblazer Award

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 NADO Trailblazer Award!  For the second year, all NADO Innovation Award and Excellence in Regional Transportation Award-winning projects were judged by a group of peers at the NADO Annual Training Conference and the National Rural Transportation Conference.  The top winners selected by the peer judges were honored as Trailblazers, projects that show significant evidence of unique innovation.

During NADO’s 2011 Annual Training Conference in Miami, four projects were selected from among the 60+ Innovation Award winners to receive Trailblazer Awards.  Two additional projects were selected as Trailblazer Award winners at the National Rural Transportation Conference in Washington, DC from among the16 Excellence in Regional Transportation Awards Winners.

The 2011 NADO Trailblazers are:

  • Florida Regional Councils Association, Statewide Regional Evacuation Study Program
  • Northeast Michigan Council of Governments, U.S. 23 Heritage Route
  • Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission, Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District and Ohio Mideastern Governments Association, Connecting Appalachia Middle-Mile Fiber Optic Network
  • Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc., Southern Oregon Angel Investment Conference
  • Lower Savannah Council of Governments (SC), Cross County Connection
  • Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (VA), Roanoke Valley Greenways

NADO would like to thank Lisa Dawson (Northeast Oregon EDD); Rick Hunsaker (Region XII COG, IA); Jeff Kiely (Northwest New Mexico COG); Bethany Remmers (Northwest Regional Planning Commission, VT); Gena McCullough, Bi-State Regional Commission, IL); Betty Riley (South Central Oregon EDD); and Shawn Seager (Mountainland Association of Governments, UT) for serving as 2011 Trailblazer Award judges.

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Applications cannot be saved and returned to at a later time. It is recommended you compile all of your information in advance in a word processor and cut and paste into the application below.

2023 Impact Awards

The primary applicant must be a NADO member. Project partners, both NADO and non-members, can be recognized under "Project Partners" below.

Primary Project Contact:
This person will be the designated point of contact for all future awards-related correspondence.

Organization Address

Project Location (if different from Organization Address)

Executive Director

Additional Organizational Information
Please upload your organization's logo which will be included on the winning project award certificate.

Project Information
This title will be printed on the award certificate for winning projects and in all 2022 NADO Impact Award materials and cannot be changed.

Project Summary & Questions
Please craft clear, thoughtful, and engaging responses to the following questions. Use the following sections to tell us how your project has made an impact, such as its use of creative funding mechanisms, efforts to create efficiencies or reduce costs, unique partnership models, and emphasis on building resilience and/or enhancing your region's quality of life.

For award-winning projects, the information provided below may be used verbatim to inform project descriptions that will be published in the 2023 NADO Impact Awards materials and included on the NADO website.

Please submit at least one photo showing your project in action. Please keep file size to a minimum (<2Mb) and use JPEG format. If uploading multiple files, ZIP files prior to submitting. If you have trouble uploading images they can be directly emailed to Brett Schwartz at [email protected] Include the project title they correspond to in the subject line of your email.

Note: Submitted photos may be used in NADO Impact Awards materials and in other NADO published materials with credit to your organization. Please also consider submitting photos for NADO's 2023 Photo Contest, which will be held this summer.


CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SUBMIT THE APPLICATION - PLEASE BE PATIENT! IF YOU DO NOT SEE A CONFIRMATION, YOUR APPLICATION WAS NOT RECEIVED.
Your application is not submitted until you are directed to a confirmation page. If you have any questions or are unsure if your application has been submitted, please contact Brett Schwartz at [email protected]

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Joe McKinney serves as Executive Director of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO). Headquartered in Washington DC, NADO provides advocacy, education, research, and training for the nation’s 500+ regional planning and development organizations.

Joe has thirty-one years of experience having served in city, county, regional, national association, and government management since 1991. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a candidate for a master’s degree in Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.

McKinney has provided congressional testimony on numerous occasions regarding the importance of regional development organizations in helping shape the nation’s economic growth. He is nationally recognized for promoting innovative solutions in areas such as planning and economic development, workforce development, transportation and transit, and aging services.

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