The Judith Rothbaum
Indicators Award

Recognizing excellence in using social indicators
for community action

Given in memory of Judith Rothbaum
by NAPC and the United Way of Central Oklahoma

More about Judith Rothbaum and the Award

2010 criteria and nomination process (Deadline: February 10, 2010)
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2009 Award
presented to Jan Figart

March 3, 2009

Jan Figart with Karen Wulfkuhle, Chair of the Awards Committee, and with
Phil Dessauer, Executive Director, Community Service Council (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

Awards Committee Chair Karen Wulfkuhle presented the award:

If you’ve been to NAPC’s website, this language will be familiar — “Today’s councils are guided by an informed perspective on their communities’ social assets, resources, and needs.  This perspective comes from their wide and varied research and information gathering activities — the unique council asset which guides all their other actions.”

Often that research takes the form of social indicators.  Many of us have learned about the importance of social indicators from our colleagues at NAPC member organizations.

Judith Rothbaum was one of our colleagues who set the standard for social indicator work.  Judith passed away in 2007.  To honor her passion for community service and leadership in the social indicator movement, the United Way of Central Oklahoma partners with NAPC to recognize annually an individual who exemplifies professionalism and dedication to the use of social indicators for community action.  Thank you to United Way for providing the funding for this award.  Blair Schoeb and Heather Elmenhorst are here representing the United Way.

2008 was the inaugural year for the Judith Rothbaum Award.  The first recipient was Katrina Middleton, Vice-President, Information, Research and Planning at the Community Services Planning Council in Sacramento.   Katrina was unable to be here this year — but like Judith, Katrina demonstrates individual excellence that not only benefits her community, but serves as an example to all of us.

For 2009, NAPC solicited nominations from member organizations.  The award committee was greatly impressed by the accomplishments of all the nominees.  NAPC is fortunate to have such outstanding individuals among our membership.  It was a difficult decision to select just one person to honor this year.

But, after collecting and analyzing the data available to us — we selected a nominee who we believe exemplifies all of the award criteria. 

The selection has been a secret until this moment, when it’s my pleasure to announce that this year’s recipient of the Judith Rothbaum Award is Jan Figart.  Jan is Associate Director and Senior Maternal-Child Health Planner at the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa.  Many of you are familiar with her work on The Perfect Storm.  This work is just one example of Jan’s vision and skills for how to engage and empower people to understand and use indicator data.

Jan was nominated by Phil Dessauer, Executive Director of the Community Service Council – and I’d like to read from the section of the nomination form where he discusses why he believes Jan should receive the award…..

Jan’s work has been characterized by her commitment to the importance of this work, her intelligence and analytical skills, her strong work ethic and high level of productivity in completing projects, and her ability to motivate, lead and manage teams to accomplish results.

Along with technical expertise related to identifying, collecting, analyzing, and presenting social indicator data, Jan also excels in using data as a tool to stimulate and inform positive community action.   

Another thing which sets Jan apart is her ability to see the big picture of the convergence and interrelatedness of many complex factors, and how one indicator needs to be understood in a broader context involving several other indicators.  She has the ability to explain this in such a way that even non-data people see the patterns and can grasp the importance. 

I believe Jan Figart’s combination of perspectives, skills, and accomplishments exemplifies the unique contribution that planning councils can make in the social indicators field.  She is well qualified to be honored with the Judith Rothbaum Social Indicators Award.

The selection committee agreed; Jan is well qualified to be honored with the Judith Rothbaum Award.

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2008 Award
presented to Katrina Middleton

May 8, 2008

Pictured above:
Ed Pulido - United Way of Central Oklahoma (sponsor of the award)
Nancy Findeisen - Executive Director, Community Services Planning Council
Ben Warner - President, National Association of Planning Councils
Katrina Middleton - the 2008 Judith Rothbaum Award Honoree

Ed Pulido spoke about Judith Rothbaum, long-time indicators leader and creator of Choosing Our Future, one of the nation's first community indicators reports, leading to Oklahoma City's Vital Signs.  "Judith started our indicators movement, establishing a legacy for our community and for the country on the importance of measuring indicators and planning and acting together to address them.  She was a beacon of light, in our community and nationally."  

In memory of her life and work, the United Way of Central Oklahoma has underwritten an award which NAPC will present each year to honor Judith's memory and to recognize outstanding achievements in using indicators as a tool for community improvement.

 
Katrina Middleton described Judith's valuable contributions to NAPC's indicators initiatives in the early years, resulting in the identification of a set of leading indicators and stories of how they have shaped communities' actions to address social and health problems effectively.  Katrina spoke of Judith as a long-time colleague and friend.  "She was bold.  She stood tall.  She was intelligent...extremely practical...clear, direct, and fearless…and had the most delightful wry sense of humor.  Judith understood that indicators are about people and their collective story.  Her leadership allowed people [doing indicators work in many communities] to understand what they had in common, and work together to make change happen."

 

Then NAPC President Ben Warner surprised Katrina with the announcement that she had been selected to receive the first annual Judith Rothbaum Award, in recognition of her years of excellent work on social indicators in the Sacramento region as a staff member of the Community Services Planning Council (CSPC), and through NAPC as leader of NAPC's indicators initiative and author of NAPC's community indicators report, "From the Bottom Up."  An engraved crystal vase and a cash award were presented. 

Katrina received congratulations from Nancy Findeisen, CSPC Executive Director (above), who spoke about her fine work in Sacramento.  "Her focus is on making sure that data is used in a constructive and positive way.  It is not about the data itself, but about using the data in a productive and rewarding way--taking data from dull to changing the fabric of the work of a community."

Katrina was congratulated by many long-time NAPC colleagues and friends, including (below) Ed Pulido, David Swain, Ben Warner, (Katrina), Nancy Findeisen, and Caroline Swain. 

Coming soon:  an online library of articles by Judith Rothbaum