FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 15, 2022

MEDIA CONTACTS

Tammi Bryant, Tacoma Venues & Events, tbryant@tacomavenues.org, (253) 593-7617

Stacy Ellifritt, Media and Communications, stacy.ellifritt@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-2005

Recipients of the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Awards Announced

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Awards recognizes excellence in community service activities carried out by an individual, organization or group, and seeks to encourage similar efforts by others who may want to serve in the community. These awards are presented each year during the City of Tacoma’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration.

The City’s Events & Recognitions Committee will honor Dr. Priscilla Lisicich and Ms. Tanika Aden with individual Lifetime Service Awards. Mayor Woodards will present a Special Recognition to J’Nai Bridges during the 35th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration on Monday, January 16, 2023. The program will be presented live at 11 AM at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center (1500 Commerce St, Tacoma, WA 98402.)

The Lifetime Service Award honors an individual or a group that has been dedicated to offering services to a given community or population. This year’s recipients embody the heart of the award through dedicated service to the community.

Congratulations to Dr. Priscilla Lisicich who has been serving as the executive director of Safe Streets Campaign since 1993. Dr. Lisicich was responsible for the design of Safe Streets and successfully acquired grants of more than $4.5 million to build and sustain community mobilization against substance abuse and illegal gang activity. She is dedicated to community organization and youth development. She has devoted her time to engage legislative members to create initiatives that strengthen protection and combat the risk factors faced by adults and youth in the community.

Tanika Aden has been working as a grassroots organizer since 2004. Most of her background has been in legislative work organizing marginalized communities. However, her career goals were refocused in 2019 when her then five-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. She shifted after realizing the vast needs and major lack of financial and legislative support many families in the intellectual and developmental disabilities community face. She works with Tacoma and Clover Park School Districts to help at-risk youth and students with disabilities develop advocacy and leadership skills. She then helps them use their new skills to engage in the community so they can become leaders.

J’Nai Bridges is an internationally renowned opera singer who has performed at the most prestigious opera houses in the U.S., including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric of Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, as well as in many venues abroad. Bridges studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, two of the most significant conservatories in the country, and is the recipient of many respected awards, among them two GRAMMY Awards, the 2018 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the 2016 Francisco Viñas International Competition, a 2012 Marian Anderson Award, and the 2008 Leontyne Price Foundation Competition. Bridges first nurtured her love of singing in Tacoma and Lakewood, and began her singing career at Allen AME Church, Charles Wright Academy, Tacoma Youth Chorus, and Tacoma Opera. On her homecoming tour back to where it all began, she will be recognized for her many accomplishments.

This year’s event theme is “And We Rise.” The program will highlight the present and the future of Dr. King’s impacts and will feature local performers and speakers who work and volunteer to ensure the community embodies equity, hope, and continuing to rise no matter the challenges faced.

TV Tacoma will broadcast the program live on Monday, January 16, 2023, at 11 am. The program can be viewed online and streamed live on Facebook at facebook.com/cityoftacoma. It will also be played on TV Tacoma which is carried on both the Click! (via Rainier Connect) and Comcast Cable systems. The event will continue to be televised throughout January.

For more information about the 35th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration, visit cityoftacoma.org/mlk.

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