Longtime volunteer reflects on GCF award, importance of giving back

Longtime National Underground Railroad Freedom Center board member and community advocate Pete Strange won the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s 2024 Jacob E. Davis Volunteer Leadership Award.

In his acceptance speech, Strange – who spent five decades at Messer Construction, including 22 years as CEO, before retiring in 2012 – emphasized the importance of volunteerism. The Freedom Center is one of the 40 nonprofit boards Strange has served on, and in today’s climate of growing division and intolerance.

“Joining with committed people, from diverse backgrounds, to help drive change is the shortest path to personal growth and positive progress,” Strange said during his speech earlier this year.

Upon receiving the award, Strange reaffirmed his commitment to challenging implicit bias and promoting cultural competency.

“The real competition is for the next generation of talent. To win the real competition young leaders have to learn that bias is not about good people versus bad people; bias is about all people,” he said. “To win the real competition, cultural competency – being disciplined and aware enough to recognize and control our biases – has to become a required part of leadership growth.”

The annual Davis Award goes to outstanding volunteers who show exceptional leadership, vision, creativity and generosity of spirit. It honors the legacy of GCF’s first governing board chairman and the foundation’s volunteer director from 1978 until 1987.

Strange gave the financial gift that came with his Davis Award to the Freedom Center. This donation will support the institution’s top-notch program, which focuses on implicit bias and cultural competency.

“Pete’s commitment to community and his advocacy for equity are commendable and should rightly be celebrated,” said Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the Freedom Center. “We are grateful at the Freedom Center and as a community for Pete’s leadership for this and the next generation.”