Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and TDEC Commissioner David Salyers presented green|spaces with the Pursuit of Excellence Award at the 2023 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award ceremony in Franklin, Tennessee on Monday, August 21.
The Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards (GESA) program recognizes outstanding actions that improve or protect our environment and natural resources with projects or initiatives. The GESA awards are the most prestigious environmental and conservation awards in the state.
“We’ve accumulated some outstanding winners over the years. We’ve noticed that some kept on achieving and pursuing excellence – a sustained excellence, if you will. We believe that there are prior award winners who earned a return to the spotlight for the pursuit of excellence, so we created an invitation-only category for the Governor’s award winners from the past three years. In fact, some of our most recent winners have been among the strongest in the history of the program and they just kept making sustained progress and producing outstanding results,” said David Salyers, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner, at the awards luncheon on Monday.
The esteemed Pursuit of Excellence Award recognizes past award winners who continue to demonstrate a high regard for environmental stewardship, as green|spaces received the GESA Award in Environmental Education and Outreach in 2016 and again in 2020 for their Build it Green workforce development program.
“Green Spaces' Build it Green (BIG) Program stands as a beacon of opportunity, poised to empower young adults for meaningful careers in the dynamic fields of construction and energy services. The Board is truly heartened by the well-deserved recognition showered upon these endeavors, as they continue to bear remarkable fruit within our low-income communities - places that courageously confront some of the most daunting challenges. In these very efforts lie the keys to not just job creation, but also the elevation of the human experience in these neighborhoods. Through dedicated workforce development initiatives like BIG, we are crafting a brighter, more promising tomorrow for all who call these communities home,” said Ken Jones, past board chair at green|spaces.
In its 37th year, the awards program covers nine categories: agriculture and forestry; building green; clean air; energy and renewable resources; environmental education and outreach; materials and management; natural resource conservation; sustainable performance; and water quality conservation. A panel of nine professionals representing agriculture, conservation, forestry, environmental and academic professions judged more than 70 nominations. Award winners were chosen based on involvement in public education, transferability, on-the-ground environmental achievement, innovation, and partnerships.
“This award and recognition is much deserved by those who are integral to the day-to-day operations and programming of green|spaces," said Becky English, current board chair at green|spaces. She continues, "I believe I speak for the entire board of directors in congratulating green|spaces' staff, volunteers, members, donors, and its community partners who have made this moment possible."