Community Impact Awards
Since 1952, Tucson has gathered to honor the people who make this community better. More than 200 honorees later, the tradition continues.
GTL Staff and Board with the 2025 Community Impact Award Honorees - March 27, 2026 at the Tucson Convention Center
Photo Credit: JSCB Photography
Seven Decades of Showing Up for Tucson
For more than 70 years — through recessions and renaissances, growth and grit, cool winter nights and hot summer days — one thing has always brought Tucson together: recognizing the leaders who shape our community.
The Man and Woman of the Year tradition began in 1952, when the Tucson Advertising Club named naturalist and philanthropist Arthur Pack and civic leader Mary Jeffries Bruce the first Man and Woman of the Year. The Tucson Metro Chamber carried the tradition forward beginning in 1983, and in 2012 entrusted Greater Tucson Leadership with the honor of stewarding these awards. In 2022, for the 70th edition, the event became the Community Impact Awards — a name that better reflects what the evening celebrates: excellence in leadership across our entire community.
Timeline:
- 1952 — The Tucson Advertising Club establishes the Man and Woman of the Year Awards. Arthur Pack and Mary Jeffries Bruce are the first honorees.
- 1983 — The Tucson Metro Chamber assumes stewardship of the awards.
- 1985 — The Founders Award, a lifetime achievement honor, debuts. Developer and UA benefactor Roy P. Drachman is the first recipient.
- 2012 — Greater Tucson Leadership becomes steward of the awards tradition.
- 2017 — The GTL Alumni Excellence Award is established. Realtor and cycling advocate Damion Alexander is the first honoree.
- 2022 — For its 70th edition, the event is renamed the Community Impact Awards.
- 2026 — The GTL Youth Leadership Excellence Award debuts, and the awards reach a milestone: 200 honorees.
- 2027 — The 74th Community Impact Awards. Saturday, March 20, at the Tucson Convention Center.
Five Awards. One Community.
Man of the Year (est. 1952)
Honors a man who has distinguished himself through exceptional leadership and service to the Tucson community — investing his time, expertise, and resources to advance community well-being and exemplifying integrity and respect through his actions.
Woman of the Year (est. 1952)
Honors a woman who has distinguished herself through exceptional leadership and service to the Tucson community — lifting others, advancing community well-being, and leading with integrity and respect.
Founders Award (est. 1985)
Our lifetime achievement honor. The Founders Award recognizes an individual whose significant, long-term community involvement and accomplishments have helped shape Tucson in a quality, positive manner with merit and dedication.
GTL Alumni Excellence Award (est. 2017) 
Recognizes the outstanding volunteer efforts of a member of the GTL alumni community — a graduate who has demonstrated a significant, long-term commitment to Tucson and represents the highest ideals of service and loyalty to the community.
GTL Youth Leadership Excellence (est. 2026)
Our newest honor celebrates the rising generation. Established by the GTL Board to recognize the courage, authenticity, and leadership of students from the Tucson Youth Leadership Academy (TYLA) — young Tucsonans whose voices represent the bright future of our community.
Road to the Community Impact Awards
Nominations Open — September. Anyone in the community can nominate a leader for any of the five awards.
Nominations Close — October. Submit your nomination form and letters of support before the deadline.
Judges Review — November. The selection committee anonymously reviews every nomination and its supporting materials.
Honorees Revealed — Early December. Watch our channels as we announce this year's class.
Celebrate With Us — Saturday, March 20, 2027, Tucson Convention Center. Tucson's biggest night of leadership.
Nominations: Nominations are open to the entire community and actively sought through multiple media and communications outlets, in order to attract a variety of nominations representing the depth and diversity of the community. We accept one nomination per nominee — if we receive multiple nominations for the same individual, we will connect with the nominators to select the application they would like submitted for judging. It is no small task to nominate an individual for one of these awards; Greater Tucson Leadership thanks every nominator and letter-of-support writer for taking the time, and making the effort, to highlight and recognize outstanding leaders in our region.
Selection: Who judges the awards? Honorees are selected by a broad-based community committee appointed by the CEO and the Chair of the Governing Board of Greater Tucson Leadership. The committee is comprised of sixteen community leaders representing business, government, nonprofit, higher education, and Greater Tucson Leadership. Committee members anonymously review each nomination form and its supporting materials, choosing honorees based on the breadth of their impact in the community and the contributions they have made beyond the scope of their employment.
Past Honorees
Two hundred leaders and counting. From Arthur Pack and Mary Jeffries Bruce in 1952 to today's honorees, explore everyone who has shaped this tradition.
Put Your Name Behind Tucson Leadership
The Community Impact Awards bring together more than 400 community leaders for one unforgettable evening. Sponsorship keeps this 70-plus-year tradition strong — and keeps programs like the Tucson Youth Leadership Academy free for students. Sponsorship packages for the 74th Awards are coming soon.
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