Gloria Casarez, the late director of LGBT affairs for the city of Philadelphia, will posthumously be honored by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.
The agency announced Monday the recipients of its 2015 PCHR Awards.
Casarez, who died in October, will receive the Sadie T.M. Alexander Leadership Award. In the announcement, PCHR said Casarez’s two decades of civil-rights work, including “advocating for fair and equal treatment in housing, access and employment for people of color, the impoverished and LGBT residents in Philadelphia, particularly transgender people of color” made her a natural fit for the honor.
The Clarence Farmer Sr. Service Award will be presented to People Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild, a multi-racial, interfaith coalition, along with its leader, Bishop Dwayne Royster. PCHR Chariman’s Awards will go to Adrienne Simpson and the late Lt. Joyce Craig. Simpson challenged a Philadelphia Magazine article last year that was largely deemed racist, and Craig is the first female firefighter killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia. Ellen Somekawa will be presented the Executive Director’s Award for her work as the director of FACTS Charter School and former leadership at Asian Americans United.
“Our commission is thrilled by the strong character and the diversity of our award recipients and the positive impact they had had on our great city,” said PCHR chair Thomas H. Earle. “We may be giving them an award, but it’s truly an honor to know that people of this caliber choose to give of themselves in this way in such deep ways to our community.”
Five awards will also be presented to individuals selected by a public-nomination process. Nominations are being accepted through March 6. For more information, visit phila.gov/humanrelations/awards or call 215-686-4670.
The awards will be presented April 28 at the Arts Ballroom.