NORWICH, CT -- Liberty Bank has presented Lottie Scott of Norwich with the 2017 Willard M. McRae Community Diversity Award. Scott, a strong community advocate and leader over the last 25 years, received her award from bank officials at a gala reception at the Norwich Inn Wednesday night that was attended by some 100 friends, family members, bank officials, and community leaders.“In choosing the recipient of the award, we look not just for people who have given their time in service to community organizations, but for those who have made it their mission to make opportunities available to all,” said Chandler J. Howard, president and CEO of Liberty Bank. “Lottie is an exemplar of the spirit of inclusion that has made America the rich culture that it is today. Champions of diversity are needed now more than ever and I applaud all she has accomplished to bring people together on common ground and to foster goodwill among neighbors.”
As this year’s award recipient, Scott was able to direct a $5,000 charitable donation from the Liberty Bank Foundation to the nonprofit organizations of her choice. She selected three: the Robertsine Duncan NAACP, the Ellis Walter Ruley Committee, and the Norwich Arts Center.
Scott was nominated by Norwich native Barry Shead, Vice President and Branch Manager, Savings Institute Bank and Trust. Shead praised Scott’s lifelong efforts, saying, “Lottie Scott has been a strong advocate, leader and champion for the past 25 years. She has dedicated herself to assisting the next generation of leaders and advocates to ensure this generation has access to the many opportunities to work towards their own success stories.”
Notable among Scott’s achievements are:
Citizen representative on the Norwich Sachem Fund Committee, Vice Chair of the City of Norwich Ellis Walter Ruley Committee, and a member of the City of Norwich Disability Committee
Founding member of the Norwich Heritage and Regional Visitors Center, life member of the Norwich Historical Society, and a member of the Historical Society’s William B. Stanley Lecture Series.
Member, Norwich Rotary, member of the Rotary’s Celebrate Cultural Diversity Committee; committee member, Otis Library board of directors; a member of The Bulletin Diversity Committee; and a life member of the Norwich NAACP.
2000 winner of the W. E. B. Dubois Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches; winner of the first Lottie B. Scott Diversity Award presented by the Norwich Rotary Celebrate Cultural Diversity Committee; honored as a Trailblazer for New London County by the New London National Council of Negro Women; and recipient of the Pioneer Award from the Robertsine Duncan Youth Council.
Scott is the seventeenth recipient of the Community Diversity Award. Previous winners are listed at the end of this release. Introduced in 2001 as the Liberty Bank Community Diversity Award, it was renamed in 2009 in honor of Willard M. McRae, a past chairman and board member of Liberty Bank. It is designed to recognize an individual who has been a leader in the communities served by Liberty Bank in connecting people who are different—whether those differences are of religion, race, ethnicity, economic status, age, or any other aspect of diversity.
Established in 1825, Liberty Bank is Connecticut’s oldest bank, with more than $4.7 billion in assets and 55 banking offices throughout the central, eastern, and shoreline areas of the state. As a full-service financial institution, Liberty offers consumer and commercial banking, home mortgages, insurance, and investment services. Well known for its community reinvestment efforts, Liberty maintains a longstanding commitment to superior personal service and unparalleled community involvement. The bank is also a six-time winner of the Hartford Courant’s Top Workplace award.
Recipients of the Willard M. McRae Community Diversity Award
- 2017 - Lottie Scott, Norwich - City of Norwich Ellis Walker Ruley Committee; Norwich Arts Center; Norwich Historical Society; Norwich NAACP; Norwich Rotary Club
- 2016 - Christopher George, New Haven - Executive Director, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS)
- 2015 - Maria Campos-Harlow, Wallingford - Executive Director, Spanish Community of Wallingford
- 2014 - Sara Chaney, New London - Product Manager, Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center Community volunteer and mentor
- 2013 - Teresa C. Younger, Shelton - Executive Director, Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; Past Chairperson, Girl Scouts of Connecticut
- 2012 - Elsa Nuñéz, Willimantic - President, Eastern Connecticut State University; Founder, Eastern Academic Service Center and Dual College Enrollment Initiative
- 2011 - Jacqueline Owens, Lebanon - President, Norwich Branch NAACP; Co-Founder, Dr. Martin Luther King Luncheon and March; annual Black History Program; annual World Youth Celebration Day; and Community Kwanzaa Celebration
- 2010 - Ulysses B. Hammond, Waterford - President, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund; Co-Founder and Co-Chair, New London Tutoring for Success Program; Founder, Minority Student Support Program, Connecticut College
- 2009 - Willard M. McRae, Middletown - Past chairman of the Board of Directors of Liberty Bank; founding member of the Board of Directors of the Liberty Bank Foundation; co-founder of the Middlesex Coalition for Children, the Middlesex Child and Adolescent Service System Program, and the Wesleyan University Upward Bound program
- 2008 - Alejandro Melendez-Cooper, New London - Director of the Community Health Centers of Groton and New London; Founder of the Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut
- 2007 - Arthur Meyers, Middletown - Director of the Russell Library
- 2006 - Catina Caban-Owen, Windham - Social worker, Windham Public Schools; Advocate for equal access to education and healthcare
- 2005 - Joseph Sheffey, Uncasville - Founder of Child Adoption Resource Association, an adoption agency focusing on interracial placements
- 2004 - Lydia Brewster, Haddam Neck - Community activist and founder of Middletown’s North End Action Team
- 2003 - Ramón Ortiz, Willimantic - Community activist and service coordinator for Village Heights Apartments
- 2002 - Jane Glover, New London - Founder of Kenté Enterprises and former mayor of New London
- 2001 - Claire Gaudiani, New London - Former president of Connecticut College and the New London Development Corporation
###
Contact:
Sue Murphy
860-638-2959
smurphy@liberty-bank.com
Website: www.liberty-bank.com