2025 CivicCon Awards
CivicCon has hosted over 75 speaker events over the past seven years on topics intended to raise the community's civic IQ and make our neighborhoods better places to live, grow, work and invest.
And while CivicCon believes that great communities begin with great dialogue, they thrive thanks to great citizens.
The CivicCon Awards were started in 2021 to recognize those who reflect the ideas and teachings from the world-class experts we’ve featured and put them into action to benefit our quality of life. In an annual community celebration the winners are invited to take the stage to be recognized and discuss the meaning behind their work.
Placemaking Award:
From the Ground Up Garden began as an abandoned plot of land underneath Interstate 110 in downtown Pensacola and over time has flourished as fertile ground that provides education to students, hosts visual and performing arts, and offers fresh, organic produce for people who need it. Innisfree Hotels runs the garden as part of its nonprofit, Hive Foundation Incorporated, and Elizabeth Eubanks has long served as lead gardener and caretaker of the community garden, which is known for "growing veggies, giving back … and nurturing a true spirit of community."
Environmental Award:
The Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee is creating an immersive outdoor educational experience at the Creek Heritage Center at the Jones Swamp Wetland Preserve. Designed for school-aged children, the project will illustrate the interconnectedness of humans and the estuarine ecosystem, emphasizing how plants and animals sustain both environmental and human health. The Learning Grove will host guided tours, cultural demonstrations and hands-on conservation activities, allowing students to engage with native plants, wildlife and watershed processes, while reinforcing Creek values of respect, reciprocity and care for land and water.
The Trust for Public Land, Santa Rosa County and the Department of the Navy partnered to protect 429 acres of natural lands, including a 40-acre lake, as buffer lands to the NAS Whiting Field. The land will become available for public passive recreational uses and be managed by the county with the assistance of the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership. Restoration of longleaf pine forest habitat is also planned. Since 1974, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land has dedicated itself to purchasing private land and turning it over to public entities to manage it in perpetuity. The brokered deal by the Trust allowed Santa Rosa County to obtain the property at no cost, with the Navy investing $3 million.
Great Neighborhoods Award:
The East Hill Neighborhood Association was the second association to form within the city limits, following the long-standing North Hill Neighborhood. Today, East Hill is one of, if not the, first names that comes to mind when one thinks of great Pensacola neighborhoods. A 15-member volunteer board of directors governs the association and spearheads its initiatives. From park improvements and planting tree to hosting movies nights and outdoor concerts, EHNA continues to help make East Hill a wonderful place to live, work and play.
Ronnie Rivera serves as a community relations, neighborhood specialist with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, where he has been a driving force behind initiatives that strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the neighborhoods he serves. As chairman of the ECSO Neighborhood Taskforce, Rivera has led collaborative efforts to identify and remove drug houses and blighted properties, directly improving neighborhood safety and overall quality of life. His leadership has empowered residents, restored community pride, and fostered lasting trust between citizens and law enforcement.
Safe Streets and People-Centered Transportation Award:
Christian Wagley is executive director of Bike Pensacola, a volunteer position advocating for a safer and more pleasant city for walking and bicycling. Wagley has been a tireless advocate for creating a built environment that allows allows people of all means and mobility to live the best possible quality of life, rand along with his work on people centered transportation, Wagley is also a champion for the environment and New Urbanism design principles. Wagley is the first two-time CivicCon winner, having been awarded The CivicCon Award in the inaugural ceremony in 2021.
Transparency and Good Government Award:
Grace Resendez McCaffery is the Founder of Latino Media Gulf Coast and the Hispanic Resource Center of Northwest Florida, as well as editor of La Costa Latina News. Since 2005, Resendez McCaffery has provided a vital source of information and advocacy for the Gulf Coast's Spanish-speaking population, helping to keep them safe and informed. She is a dogged advocate for Spanish and Latino communities, working to ensure people are educated about their rights, intervening in situations where language barriers have contributed to injustices, and providing real-time information and transparency about how immigration enforcement is impacting Gulf Coast families. Please welcome Grace to the stage.
Equity Award:
Transformation Church paid off the medical debt of 4,400 Escambia County residents, totaling over $6.5 million in debt relief. The debt erasure will target individuals and households in Escambia County who either earn four times below the federal poverty level or whose medical debt equals 5% of their annual income. Because of privacy laws, Transformation Church will never learn who received debt erasure unless those people reach out to them, but as Pastor Brad Livingston said when the debt relief was announced, "Today, thousands of our neighbors are being set free, and that's something worth celebrating."
Cheryl Hinnen is the assistant director of Bright Bridge Ministries, a nonprofit serving Escambia County's most vulnerable and under-resourced residents: homeless individuals and families, children living in poverty, U.S. veterans, people with mental illnesses, the formerly incarcerated, those dealing with substance abuse and others in need. Bright Bridge's many ministries include providing access to nutritious meals, mail service, hygiene products, housing, educational classes and recovery group meetings.
Best New Addition to Downtown Pensacola:
Fred Levin Way Fest was created in honor of the popular Pensacola attorney and philanthropist who died in 2021. The festival, organized and funded by the children of Fred and Marilyn Levin through the Fred and Marilyn Levin Family Foundation, offers essential items that are needed for everyday survival, as well as an opportunity for dozens of nonprofit service organizations and other agencies to share their services with those who need them. At this year's event, more than 160,000 essential items were given away during the festival and more than 5,200 free meals were served. It's important to note the Levin family doesn't simply write a check, they personally work throughout the year to painstakingly purchase items families value.
Best New Addition to Downtown Milton:
The Sweet Greek, a new bakery and cafe in downtown Milton, has breathed new life into a 1946 building that has long been an eyesore for people community down Milton' historic main street. Owner Melissa Glyptis Simpson worked tirelessly to renovate the building with new herringbone floors, decorative chandeliers, and hand-painted murals by local artists. In addition to serving delicious homemade Greek baked goods, the space also has a conference room and office suites available to so that the space can truly serve as a hub for the community. Please join me in congratulating Melissa Glyptis Simpson.
Strong Towns Award:
End of the Line Cafe is a vegan cafe and kitchen that has been serving Pensacola since 2002. The restaurant attracts people "from all walks of life who have a common goal of eating healthy, ethically sourced food," and it also showcases art from talented local creators and host events and concerts through the year. Entrenched right into a residential neighborhood and expanded next door to renovate a derelict old building, the cafe is a great example of how we can reuse existing properties to enrich the culture, connectivity and prosperity of our communities.
The CivicCon Award:
Colten Wright, Santa Rosa County District 5 commissioner, is a lifelong Florida resident and has called Santa Rosa County and Gulf Breeze home since 1990. In his role as county commissioner, he has committed to learning best practices of smart community growth and development, advocated for open, productive and civil dialog among local government and citizens, and used his role to champion environmental, economic and development projects that benefit everyone.
Community Volunteer Award
Reverend John Powell passed away in 2025, but left a lasting legacy of service that lives on through the thousands of children he helped mentor, mold, serve, guide and protect over decades of community ministry. He founded the nonprofit Truth for Youth in 1993 to present activities and opportunities for young people, and the organization is known for its "lock-in" events when young people would gather at a supervised venue for an evening, receiving gifts and supplies, meals, treats and hours of activities. An advocate for all children and the caretaker of the storied "Smith Bakery building in the heart of historic Belmont-DeVilliers, Powell could be found handing out presents to children on Christmas, grilling hot dogs for them on the Fourth of July, and making a difference with his words and actions every day. His loss left a tremendous hole in Pensacola, but the lessons he taught generations of kids has lived on. This award was accepted on behalf of reverend Powell by his son, Sheldon Powell.
Anna Lochas exemplifies what it truly means to serve a community with passion, consistency, and purpose. Her volunteer leadership touches nearly every corner of Pensacola—from supporting nonprofits, elevating civic engagement, strengthening community partnerships, and creating meaningful connections among residents. In her day job, Anna is director of university events for the University of West Florida, but she also is the president of the Pensacola Young Professionals and the secretary of the Pensacola Women's Alliance. Lochas is also on the board of the Junior League of Pensacola and a member of the Leadership Pensacola Class of 2025. Many of you in this room know Anna for her tireless work for the first annual Civic Leader Summit. She was a crucial member of the volunteer planning committee and her efforts helped to make the event a huge success.