12th Annual Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards

Welcome!

Welcome to the Twelfth Annual Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards. We are incredibly proud of this year’s dedicated, passionate and inspiring ONE Community Spotlight on Success Local Heroes who have made such an amazing impact in our community. We can’t wait to share their stories with you today.

Since our inception in 2008, ONE Community has evolved into a memberbased coalition of socially responsible businesses, organizations, faith communities and individuals moving diversity, inclusion, equity and equality for all Arizonans forward.

We are empowered by YOU - our LGBTQ+ and allied business and community members – through your engagement, connectivity, your commitment to community and for believing that Arizona should truly be welcoming and Open for Business to Everyone.

We are thankful for our talented and dedicated ONE Community team and our coalition partners. Together we are educating and guiding our LGBTQ+ inclusive business, faith & community leaders as we work together to create an inclusive and equal Arizona and nation.

We are grateful to our sponsors, for your investment in ONE Community, the LGBTQ+ community and for truly supporting our commitment to a state that celebrates, respects and protects us all.

We are Better Together. We are ONE Community!

In Unity, ~Angela and the team at ONE Community

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Luncheon Program

Welcome

Carey Pena and Brandon Lee

National Anthem Jenn Newman

The Year in Review

Community Engagement Director, ONE Community Janine Skinner

Honoree Presentation

Noel Guevara and Kim Grace Sabow

With Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, Fry’s Food Stores and Intel

Honoree Presentation

Jessyca Leach and Representative Amish Shah

With Arizona Office of Tourism, Hensley, Glendale Chamber of Commerce Lunch Honoree Presentation

Michael Mazzocco and Lauren Bailey

With AZ Big Media, Cox Communications, ONEAZ Credit Union and Full Swing Studios

UNITY Agent Award

Presented by PetSmart to Kimber Lanning

Mayor, City of Mesa, John Giles and Chief Advocacy Officer, ONE Community Michael Soto Co-Founder and President, ONE Community Angela Hughey

Sponsors

Carey Peña

CO-HOST

Carey Peña is an Emmy award–winning journalist, television personality, podcast host, and Founder & CEO of Inspired Media 360, a company that focuses on solutiondriven media.

Carey is also the Co-Founder of The Center for Positive Media, a 10,000 square foot collaborative space, which is home to her second studio location in Phoenix.

Carey has worked as a host and contributor on the nationally syndicated CBS show “The Talk”, and the syndicated show “The Doctors”. She has spent over two decades in front of the camera covering news and politics for 3TV in Phoenix, CNN, and other national platforms. She continues to host and moderate political shows, various town halls, and television specials.

Throughout the global health crisis, Carey’s company, Inspired Media 360, has helped non-profit organizations, nationwide, create both virtual and hybrid fundraising events, and fully produced shows, allowing them to successfully raise donations and share their stories to a virtual audience around the world.

Carey remains committed to making authentic connections with her audience and community, sharing meaningful content that helps people improve their lives.

Good Morning Sunshine

Committed to helping others, Carey and Brandon recently co-created a YouTube show, Good Morning Sunshine, filming on location at the Center for Positive Media studios.

Launching in the Spring of 2022, Good Morning Sunshine has achieved huge success.

Optum recently became their title sponsor to help support the shows mission to educate people about mental and behavioral health issues while simultaneously featuring modalities and impactful stories that can help people heal.

Brandon Lee

CO-HOST

Brandon Lee is a 5-time Emmy Award winning journalist who has worked in NYC, Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and most recently Phoenix.

Brandon won numerous awards for his documentary on the opioid crisis and the impact of harm reduction. Brandon’s reporting was the catalyst for harm reduction practices to become legal in the state of Arizona.

Brandon is a recovered addict who has been sober for more than 12 years. He recently left television news to pursue his passion for behavioral health.

Brandon is the Founder & CEO of Art of Our Soul, an art healing program for trauma survivors. 15 treatment centers have partnered with Brandon to help their clients heal through art.

Art Of Our Soul recently received not one, but two grants that currently measure the impact his art healing program is having on these groups. So far, Art of Our Soul’s innovative approach to healing has proven to help lower anxiety and help with depression. Brandon is currently expanding his art therapy program into Prescott, AZ.

Brandon is also the creator of Escaping Rock Bottom, one of the Top 10 Apple podcasts about addiction which surpassed 100k downloads in Season 3.

Bldg.2, Ste. 112 Phoenix, Arizona 85085

Congratulates

Founder & CEO, Local First Arizona Kimber Lanning and all of the award winning local heroes

Thank you for all the work you do to promote equality for all Arizonans.

Stronger Together

JPMorgan Chase is a proud sponsor of ONE Community and their mission to support and promote diversity, inclusion and equality for all Arizonans. We applaud all the 2022 Local Heroes Award honorees.

jpmorganchase.com/diversity

KIMBER LANNING UNITY AGENT

Kimber Lanning is the founder and CEO of Local First Arizona, a nonprofit organization committed to building equitable systems for Arizona’s local businesses and communities that create a vibrant, inclusive, and resilient Arizona economy. Lanning is an entrepreneur, business leader, and community development specialist who works to cultivate strong, self-reliant communities and inspire a higher quality of life for people across Arizona. Lanning’s passions, which are seen throughout her work, include fostering cultural diversity and inclusion, economic resilience, and responsible growth for Arizona.

Lanning has grown Local First Arizona into a widely respected organization that is leading the nation in implementing systems and policies to ensure a level playing field for entrepreneurial endeavors of all sizes. With nearly 3,500 business members and three statewide offices, Lanning leads a team of 40 who work on a diverse array of programs ranging from healthy local food access, entrepreneurial development in underserved communities, and rural community development, each of which plays a part in building sustainable and resilient local economies.

Lanning is consistently recognized and has received numerous awards for her diverse work and extensive leadership. In 2014, Lanning was recognized as the Citizen Leader of the Year by the International Economic Development Council, a pivotal moment in recognizing the use of Localist policies as a force for economic development. Her work in promoting adaptive reuse in Phoenix’s urban core was recognized by the American Planning Association, which presented Lanning with the Distinguished Citizen Planner Award in 2013. Lanning has also been named one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Arizona” (Arizona Business Magazine, 2011), was the recipient of the Athena Award by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and was the 2014 Leader of the Year in Public Policy (Arizona Capitol Times). Most recently, she was named Woman of the Year by Valley Leadership in 2021.

Noel Guevara

Manager, Community & Diversity Impact Programs

Noel Guevara is in her tenth season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Manager of Community & Diversity Impact Programs. She is responsible for managing events and community programming with a focused strategy that serves underserved youth, military and first responders, education programs and youth baseball and softball organizations.

Since the franchise’s inception, the D-backs and Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation have given back more than $75 million to the community. The D-backs and the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation projects and programs are improving our communities and creating opportunities for our most at-risk children and families.

Guevara coordinated the team’s first-ever Pride Night in 2017 and continues to play a lead role in the D-backs Pride efforts while serving as the co-lead of the LGBTQ+ Team Player Resource Group. Noel has been featured in SB Nation OutSports, MLB.com for community outreach events and has been awarded for her work in the LGBTQ+ community by Phoenix Pride and Compete Sports Diversity.

Born in Orange, Calif. and raised in Anaheim, Guevara attended Northern Arizona University on a Division 1 soccer scholarship, where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism with a minor in Public Relations.

She and her wife, Vanessa, are proud Phoenix Mercury season ticket holders, where the frequent games at the Footprint Center in support of women’s sports. They enjoy spending time with their 6-year-old corgi named Henry.

Let’s pause for a toast.

Here’s to all the ONE Community Local Heroes Award-winners. You inspire people to visit Arizona.

Kim Grace Sabow President and CEO of the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association (AzLTA)

Kim serves as the President and CEO of the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association (AzLTA) where she leads the advocacy, communication, collaboration, and education efforts for one of the state’s leading industries. Prior to joining AzLTA, she served as Governor Ducey’s Director of International Affairs and as Executive Director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. In that capacity, Kim worked to advance Arizona’s position in the global arena through enhanced international economic and protocol efforts as well as educational and community collaborations.

Prior to joining the Ducey Administration, Kim served the University of Arizona as Assistant Vice President for State Relations where she led the UA’s legislative efforts at the State Capitol. Kim has extensive experience in state government having also served in the Executive Offices of Governors Jan Brewer and Fife Symington. She also spent several years as an International Trade Specialist at the Arizona Department of Commerce during the Symington and Hull Administrations.

Kim is a proud graduate of the University of Arizona, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and double minors in Communications and Spanish. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

ONE Community — We’re proud to support you

Like the people we serve, the members of our team come from every walk of life. This rich variety of personalities, traits and abilities helps us relate to our customers and communities while also helping us be a leader for equality at work and beyond. Supporting ONE Community is aligned with our commitment to embrace diversity and help build inclusive communities where diverse people and viewpoints can thrive.

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Goodmans is only as GOOD as our diverse team offering their differing perspectives. goodmans.com

Jessyca Leach

Executive Director

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS Jessyca Leach (she/they) serves as the Executive Director for the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. She has been involved with the Southwest Center since 2018, when she began serving on its Board of Directors. She was hired as its Chief Financial Officer in July 2020. Prior to her role as the Southwest Center’s Chief Financial Officer, Jessyca was the Chief Financial Officer for Downtown Phoenix Inc., where she oversaw financial reporting, cash management and daily operations of the accounting department, and drove deep analytics and data-driven decision making into all business functions. Jessyca has also held accounting roles at the Phoenix Zoo, Imagine Schools and Honeywell Aerospace.

Representative Amish Shah, MD MPH

Amish Shah, MD, MPH was born and raised in Chicago, Ill. His mother and father were engineering students who immigrated from India in the 1960s.

He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

He completed a Master’s in Public Health with a full Merit Scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley, followed by residency training in Emergency Medicine. He won the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s National Resident Research Competition for his work in inventing a new method to provide care for the critically ill.

Dr. Shah taught medical students and residents at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals. While there, he also led the New York Jets Airway Management Team. Amidst concern over the potential catastrophic injuries, he helped the NFL improve their emergency management through research and presented his work at the NFL Physicians’ Society.

Dr. Shah graduated from the University of Arizona’s Sports Medicine fellowship, a Division I college program featuring a wide breadth of sports coverage. He is currently board certified in Emergency Medicine and Sports Medicine and practices throughout Arizona, treating adults and children.

Outside of his medical practice, he founded the first Arizona Vegetarian Food Festival as to promote healthy eating and eliminate preventable disease. He contributes to organizations that focus on children’s exposure to the arts and the promotion of a kind society, as well as several other charities.

Since 2019, he has been a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, serving Central Phoenix and South Scottsdale. He has been the recipient of several awards for the quality of his service, including the Arizona Capitol Times’ Best Political Rising Star for two consecutive years, the Arizona Medical Association’s Distinguished Community Service Award, and the Humane Society’s Legislator of the Year. He is the recipient of the 2022 Legislator of the Year / Womens’ Health Champion Award from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Caring for neighbors and supporting the community for more than 60 years.

Fry’s

Michael Mazzocco

Chair, Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce

Michael is the Board Chair for the Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce.Their mission of working towards an equitable business community thru values like equality, leadership, diversity, respect, and gratitude resonate with him. He loves to find ways to help spread these values thru collaboration with other organizations around the valley. In addition to this board, Michael was appointed by the mayor to serve as the Vice-Chair for the Human Relations Commission for the City of Phoenix. He also serves on the board of the Phoenix Gay Men’s Chorus that strives to unite, inspire, educate, and entertain its diverse audiences, members, allies, and supporting partners. As well as the Arizona Costume Institute board which serves the Phoenix Art Museum to sustain their vast collection of fashion thru the ages. When not serving on one of these boards or any number of committees around the valley, Michael works with Arizona State University in their Prepped program which helps female and minority food entrepreneurs build their businesses. Previously Michael served on the board of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) Phoenix and has been involved with that organization for 19 years as well as Convergence Ballet, and ILEA (International Live Event Association) as boardmember and president for four years. In 2021 He completed the training for a diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace certificate thru University of Southern Florida. Michael is a Valley Leadership participant (Best Catalyze Class Ever, class 1 and Best Explore Class Ever, class 1) and has an obvious passion for being a change maker here in the Valley of the Sun. His passion and volunteerism highlight his motto that if he has time to watch tv, he has time to change the world.

Michael is the owner of Michael Mazzocco Events, a bespoke events company started in 2017. He specializes in high-end event coordination and fundraising for many non-profits and arts organizations around the valley. When Michael is not working on our community, he lives in Central Phoenix with his partner, Isaac and their adorable furry princess, Vivienne Rose. Being a proud gay indigenous (Delaware Nation) small business owner, a passion for positive change and education is what drives Michael to do better and be better every day.

Lauren Bailey

CEO & Co-Founder Upward Projects

Lauren Bailey is the CEO & co-founder of Upward Projects, a restaurant development and hospitality company known for one thing – making people feel good. Spanning 24 restaurants and five brands over five states, Upward Projects is comprised of the Postino WineCafe, Joyride Taco House, Windsor, Churn Ice Cream and Federal Pizza brands. Selected to the Nation’s Restaurant News “Power 50” list of people who represent the best in restaurant leadership, Bailey and Upward Projects are regarded for developing first-rate culture and adapting and reusing historically relevant buildings that are an integral part of the neighborhoods they serve. The company has also been named to the Inc. 5000 list for multiple years as one of the nation’s fastestgrowing companies.

In 2022, Lauren was awarded the TrueTrep Award from The Elliot Group, recognizing entrepreneurs who have successfully built a brand with inventive vision, relentless persistence, and a focus on purpose and people. Also in 2022, Bailey joined the board of Brand USA, a federally mandated private organization dedicated to marketing the United States as a premier travel destination globally, after being selected by the sitting Secretary of Commerce and in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security. Bailey serves on the Arizona State University Foundation’s Board of Directors, the Experience Dynamic Advisory Board, is a proud “big sister” with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central spanning nearly a decade, was inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame as “Restaurateur of the Year”, has been honored as a “Food Pioneer” by the Arizona Restaurant Association, was selected by the Phoenix Business Journal as an “Outstanding Women in Business” and selected as a finalist for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award.

Texas born and Indiana raised, Lauren graduated from ASU with dual degrees in Communication and Fine Art. Drawing upon her degree, Lauren is also intimately involved in the design and décor of each Upward Projects location, from guiding the design direction to concepting and executing the custom ‘art walls’ that adorn each and every Postino WineCafe. In her spare time Lauren travels the world, chases her 8-year-old son, hunts for vintage treasures, creates art, cooks dinner for friends, and spends time with the most important people in her life.

DISCRIMINATION is NOT an Arizona value

Arizona’s current non-discrimination laws are not inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, meaning it is still not illegal to re someone, deny them housing, or refuse them service simply for who they are or who they love.

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OneAZ is honored to partner with One Community and support their efforts to shine a spotlight on Local Heroes.