ULI Americas hosted a virtual District Council Staff Summit from Jan. 12-14 that allowed staff to share ideas and celebrate accomplishments through a Showcase of Excellence awards program.

Over the past nine months, ULI has pivoted to address the impact of COVID-19 on our members, communities, and industry, and has also committed to addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Showcase of Excellence Awards recognize District Councils’ contributions to those goals through their on-the-ground programming. For the first time, ULI invited all ULI Americas and Global Services staff to vote for their picks for the most exciting District Council projects. The five categories reflect the goals of the District Councils department, as well as ULI overall.

ULI Indiana won in the category of Most Innovative Revenue Enhancement Initiative to Support District Council Stability for our May 2020 program, “Restarting our Engines: Q&A with John Lewis, Penske Entertainment.”

From our entry:

“The world’s largest single-day sporting event, the Indy 500, and associated events throughout the month of May play a major role in uniting Central Indiana’s thriving community and fueling its economy. In 2020, the race—along with a month full of track activities and business networking— was canceled for the first time since WW2. To engage ULI members and provide them with a sense of normalcy, ULI Indiana arranged a special online event featuring John Lewis, Senior Vice President for Penske Entertainment (owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway). In a candid and lively conversation with ULI Indiana’s district council chair, John shared insider updates about facility renovations and his insights into the IndyCar series and drivers. To reduce the gap in our year-end fundraising, we asked members to help us “go the distance” by becoming “Drivers” and paying $33 for the event (the number of drivers in the Indy 500). We also reached out to companies who had never sponsored ULI before, asking them to become “Champions” by paying $500. “Restarting our Engines: Q&A with John Lewis, Penske Entertainment” raised $4,325 when most associations weren’t bringing in event revenue. More importantly, our members enjoyed the program’s spirit of celebration and optimism for brighter times ahead.”

Special thanks to everyone who attended the program and our champion sponsors!

Other categories and winners included:

• Best High-Quality Program to Support Member Engagement: ULI San Antonio Member Engagement Programs
• Best DEI Program or Initiative Supporting ULI’s Value of Inclusion: ULI Memphis 21 Day Equitable Challenge
• Best Collaboration with HQ and/or Other District Council Showcasing the Value of One ULI: Scorched – Urban Resilience and Eight District Councils (ULI Arizona, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and San Antonio)
• Most Creative Virtual Program or Program Adaptation to Virtual Format Which Strengthened ULI’s Ability to Fulfill Our Mission During COVID: ULI Austin Gentrification Fishbowl

View all the finalists in each category here.