We don’t have a lot of opportunities to celebrate our community and what it means to be a Barbertonian.
That’s why our intention with our Annual Dinner every year is to create that celebration!
If you have never attended our Annual Dinner before you may not know the Foundation celebrates an award each year called the Game Changer. There is one Game Changer award for an organization (a business, nonprofit, etc.) and one for an individual.
The concept of the award is to honor a person and an organization that make positive changes happen for people in our community. Anyone from the community can nominate someone, and those nominations occur each summer.
We then have a committee that meets to review the nominations to select one individual and one organization as winners.
You may be wondering, what does the committee look for in a worthy Game Changer?
The short answer is they look for leadership. Leadership as defined by five vital characteristics of community leadership.
A Game Changer:
– Helps people in our community be the best versions of themselves
– Has the courage to think BIG
– Takes pride in our community
– Is able to see – and believes – in the positive vision for the future of Barberton
– Is willing to roll up their sleeves and do the work of advancing our community
These characteristics are often not seen in the day-to-day pace of our lives. That is, in part, because the people and organizational cultures that embody them do not boast about them.
It is also true that we see people leading, helping others, coming up with ideas – and we sometimes take them for granted.
The Foundation, as a champion for the Barberton community, wants to make sure we bring the best examples of these characteristics out of the shadows and into the limelight! We want to celebrate what makes our city so magical – Barberton’s unsung heroes.
These heroes uphold important ideals that, when combined, represent a high standard of excellence. Their standard serves as a Game Changing inspiration to others as well!
We are fortunate to have a long list of Game Changers that have been recognized, and I’m sure a longer list that has yet to be recognized.
This year we were fortunate to honor an organization that can get overlooked but always delivers for our community: Barberton Public Library.
The Barberton Public Library – led by Ann Hutchison – embodies a quiet, servant leadership style that benefits every person who walks through its doors. With Ann leading the way, the team knows the work they do is valuable to each and every person they work with, from toddlers to seniors.
But they never seek fame or glory.
Our library is more than 120 years year old, yet when you walk through the front door you don’t encounter an old, stodgy environment that smells like dusty old books.
You enter a modern entry way, a computer lab, a passport office, a notary’s office, a time capsule, a maker space, a study space, a room full of books (which I still get excited about), and a way to access information that can improve or even change your life.
The feeling of warmth, kindness, and possibility when you walk into the library is the same now as it was when the doors first opened more than 120 years ago.
Like the library, the individual Game Changer we honored has impacted generations of people – former Barberton City School District math teacher, basketball coach, and instructional coach, Mr. Phil Hodanbosi.
Mr. Hodanbosi passed away earlier this year. In his last act as Instructional Coach for the district he co-authored a grant request (with Elissa Young) that was awarded by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, a $1.4M gift to support and grow the Advanced
Manufacturing program and the Network Systems & Cyber Security program at Barberton High School.
Mr. Hodanbosi never saw the approval for this grant request, as it was sitting in his inbox unopened at the time of his passing.
But, explaining his impact on the community through a single grant is unfair.
Our event had over 300 attendees, and the crowd was filled with people inspired and impacted by Mr. Hodanbosi’s kind, inviting way of teaching. From award winning financial managers, to colleagues, to Phil’s wife and family, all were inspired and loved by Phil.
We were fortunate enough to have a video of Phil presenting one of his signature math problems, a problem that befuddled many people but gave them confidence once they figured it out.
That is the real lesson Phil taught us all. Despite his influence on grants and grades, it was instilling confidence and kindness in over a generation of Barberton kids that is his lasting legacy.
If that isn’t worthy of celebrating, what is?
If you missed this year’s event, I hope you consider nominating a Game Changer you think is worthy next year. I also hope you’ll consider attending and supporting the work of the Foundation, helping us celebrate the unseen, that Game Changer magic that defines our community!
In Community,
Josh Gordon,
Executive Director
Barberton Community Foundation
