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The 2009 Mortensen Award 2009 Affirmation Conference, Salt Lake City September 2009
The 2009 nominees for the Mortensen Award were George Cole, Bruce Maughan, David Melson, and Carlos Mitchell. The award went this year to David Melson, of Silver Spring, Maryland. David has wide experience serving Affirmation both at the local and national levels. In 2004 he became director of the Washington DC Chapter. In 2006 he chaired a memorable annual conference with speakers of the stature of Gene Robinson, Matt Foreman, Harry Knox, and Carol Lynn Pearson. Since becoming a member of the executive committee in 2008, David has used his talents in engaging with both Affirmation members and leaders of the LDS Church. David put together a new team of young people in positions of leadership and worked tirelessly in the area of public relations. Since becoming executive director, David established The Affirmation Messenger, a combination of editorial column, executive report, and bulletin board which every week reaches 475 Affirmation members and friends. He also held two successful cornerstones, one of which was the first cornerstone in our organization's history with a focus on GLBT Mormons under the age of 30. One of the nomination letters read: "Dave Melson knows that every Affirmation member is a missionary, and ultimately his strength lies in his conviction that, as he has written, 'the greatest gift that the Lord had given [him] was to be sent here in this day as a gay man.' Whether in testimony meeting at his home ward, in an Affinity editorial, or at a press conference, Dave inspires everyone to envision the spiritual impact that Affirmation is having --and can further have-- on people's lives." In his brief acceptance speech, Dave said that his secret is to "find good people to do the job," and mentioned the names of some of those who have supported him since he became director of the Washington DC Chapter in 2004. About the Mortensen Award The Mortensen Award was established, under the direction of Ron Kershaw, in 1987. It was decided the award would be given annually to the one individual who had given outstanding service and leadership to Affirmation. It is the only continuing award Affirmation presents and it tries to recognize the best people in the organization. The past recipients are:
The selection committee for the award is composed of past recipients. Each year, around July, a call is sent out to all Affirmation leaders, chapters and groups asking for nominations. Anyone may nominate any individual or you may even nominate yourself. The receipt of nomination letters constitutes the only people considered for the award. The award was established and intended to always be an award for service to Affirmation. This is the only consideration in the selection of the recipient. We greatly applaud those wonderful souls in our midst who also make great contributions to the gay and lesbian community at large. We especially applaud those people who have made outstanding efforts in the Mormon community through related groups such as Family Fellowship, Gamofites and others in increasing the understanding of the gay and lesbian Mormon community. But because the Mortensen Award is intended to honor only service and leadership to Affirmation, the winner is decided totally on the merits of the nomination letters received and the contributions to Affirmation as spelled out in those letters. |
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