Northcott Neighborhood House Executive Director Tony Kearney with Governor Evers accepting the Governors Tourism Award (Photo/WTMJ4)
By Karen Stokes
Northcott Neighborhood House received the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion Award at the 2024 Governor’s Dinner and Awards Celebration held at Geneva Resort on Tuesday, March 12th.
The Milwaukee community organization was honored for its commitment to the community for organizing Milwaukee’s Juneteenth parade and celebration for over five decades.
Tony Kearney, Sr., executive director at Northcott Neighborhood accepted the award from Governor Tony Evers.
“What this award means to us is what we had to say about Juneteenth being an American holiday that it was for all Americans. We’ve constantly stated that this was a chance for the African American community to show the best of us,” Kearney said. “But the holiday wasn’t just African American, it’s an American holiday. Long before the vote last year to make it an official federal holiday it was always an American holiday.”
Since 1961, Northcott has been an integral part of the community, offering a variety of services to meet the needs of its residents. They have proudly organized the Juneteenth celebration for 52 years, and as of January, they have been preparing for the 53rd celebration.
The Governor’s Tourism Awards recognize individuals, businesses and destinations that turn creative dreams into exceptional results, leaving a lasting impact on Wisconsin’s tourism industry. Nominees are submitted by industry peers and award recipients are announced at the Governor’s Dinner.
“From providing job training and community food services to organizing Milwaukee’s historic Juneteenth Parade, Northcott Neighborhood House is an integral part of the Milwaukee community,” Governor Evers posted on X.
“Juneteenth is successful because of the involvement of volunteers. We have committees for every component of Juneteenth, and those individuals are working hard to make Juneteenth a success all the time. The parade has a separate committee that is working in conjunction with our overall planning committee so we’re all on the same wavelength.
We have over 100 volunteers for the parade alone,” Kearney said.
The staff are members of various committees and meet on a bi-weekly basis. The planning begins in January, meeting to put together Juneteenth. Members of the Milwaukee Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department on the committee, and representatives from most of the community based agencies in the neighborhood are involved.
“We created zones that committees are working on. There’s a kids zone, we have a Veterans Zone, a Senior Zone, and a Teen Zone. We’ve tried to ensure that there’s something on Juneteenth for everyone,” Kearney said.
Kearney made it clear that the award received by Northcott was not a personal recognition for him as the executive director.
“My job is to do my job to serve the community. The team and committees are the ones that make things happen,” he explained. “The Juneteenth planning committee is 40 people and then we have all the volunteers. We have a big team that really cares and works hard to make it work.”