2022 Mayor's Strategic Partnerships Initiative Award Winners

This morning I, along with the City’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Dawn Lockhart, presented the 2022 Mayor’s Strategic Partnership Initiative Awards to three local organizations who have made a tremendous difference in our community.

Government cannot do everything alone. We rely on our public, private, and philanthropic partners to achieve our goals, and work together towards a better Jacksonville.

This award is all about recognizing the local organizations that have worked hand in hand with the public sector to create a measurable impact on our community. These three organizations are tremendous assets to our community, doing amazing things amazing things for quality of life by investing in equitable and shared prosperity, quality education, health and wellness, and food security and nutrition. Together, they demonstrate full-heartedly the power of collective impact and what can be accomplished when we work together—as ONE CITY—towards a common goal.

I congratulate all three award winners and thank them for their leadership, innovation, and undying commitment to serving the people of Jacksonville and improving lives in our community.

2022 Mayor’s Strategic Partnership Initiative Award Winners:

Don’t Miss a Beat (DMAB) – DMAB Community Arts Center
DMAB has transformed the City’s J.S. Johnson and Edith Brown Ford Community Centers into community art campuses that immerse youth from the Riverside, Brooklyn, and Woodstock communities in the arts. This exposure to the arts improves a child's lifelong outcomes, which includes increasing the likelihood of students graduating from high school and finishing college.




WeCareJax and the Duval Safety Net Collaborative – JaxCareConnect
Together, the JaxCareConnect collaborative led a partnership to ensure every resident of Duval County has access to high-quality, comprehensive healthcare – regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. This project streamlines the healthcare journey for patients and leverages shared partner resources for true collective impact.





Early Learning Coalition of Duval County – No Kid Hungry Birth to Five
The Early Learning Coalition was selected because of their successful delivery of critical resources to address childhood hunger in Duval and the increased demand for food services in response to COVID-19. Through cross-sector partnerships, they collectively served more than 1,000 of Jacksonville’s hardest to reach and youngest children and their families.