The Spirit of Leadership Award is one of three Awards being presented at the Spirit of Community Luncheon on Thursday, November 12th:

• Spirit of Leadership Award: honoring the outstanding achievements of an Arlington professional nonprofit leader [Continue to submit nomination on this page]
• Spirit on the Rise Award: honoring an emerging leader in Arlington whose creativity, courage, and commitment have led to meaningful community change [Click here to open Spirit on the Rise Award nomination form]
• Spirit of Community Award:This year’s 33rd annual Spirit of Community Award will honor the late Honorable William T. Newman, Jr., Arlington Community Foundation’s founder and the Award’s namesake.

The 2026 Spirit of Leadership Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of an Arlington professional nonprofit leader who has demonstrated bold vision, deep empathy, and lasting impact in the community. This award honors an individual who not only excels in organizational leadership but also exemplifies service to the broader nonprofit sector through collaboration, mentorship, and innovation.

Honorees are known not just for the results they’ve achieved, but for how they’ve achieved them — by listening, adapting, lifting others up, and modeling the kind of leadership that makes Arlington a better home for all. Nominees may serve in any senior leadership capacity within a nonprofit and will be evaluated on their impact, innovation, partnership-building, and ability to uplift others in service of a stronger, more inclusive community.

The award will be presented at the Spirit of Community Awards and Luncheon on Thursday, November 12th, 2026, an annual gathering of Arlington’s civic, business, and philanthropic leaders.

Please submit nominations by Thursday, June 25th to be considered.

Nomination Process

Section I: Complete the required fields.

Section II: You have the option of completing the questions in the fields or submitting a video which answers those questions.

Section III: Please upload any additional optional information in this section.

Nomination Criteria

Nominees for the Spirit of Leadership Award should meet the following criteria:

• Nominees must be current or recent (within the last 2 years) leaders of a nonprofit organization serving the Arlington community

• Nominees may be full-time or part-time

• Nominees will be evaluated on their measurable accomplishments within their role(s), sector-wide contributions, and positive impact on staff, partners and the larger community.

• Nominees should demonstrate creativity in developing innovative solutions to challenging problems. As collaborative leaders, they should amplify the voices and well-being of all stakeholders, but especially the people they serve.

There is no limit to the number of individuals that can be nominated by one person. Additionally, the same person can be nominated by different people.

Current Arlington Community Foundation Board of Trustees and previous winners of the award are not eligible to be nominated. View the full list of previous winners here.

The nomination period is open until Thursday, June 25th, and the Award Recipient will be notified by late July.

Get updates on the Spirit of Community Awards & Luncheon

Registration for the event will open in the summer. Subscribe here for email updates and follow Arlington Community Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to receive all the latest event and registration updates.

If you have any questions or comments, please send an email to nknock@arlcf.org. 

Example: When I first met Amina Davis, she was serving as Program Director at the Arlington Food Alliance, working directly with families experiencing food insecurity. Over the past 18 years, she has grown from frontline program staff into a respected nonprofit leader — now serving as Executive Director of the Alliance, which supports over 10,000 Arlington residents each year through food assistance, policy advocacy, and community education.

Amina’s path to leadership has always been rooted in service and systems thinking. Early in her career, she launched a culturally specific nutrition education initiative that is still active today. As Deputy Director, she helped steer the organization through a challenging merger while maintaining staff morale and program stability. Since stepping into the Executive Director role six years ago, she has expanded the organization’s reach by nearly 40%, established new partnerships with schools and healthcare providers, and secured the group’s first multi-year government contract.

Beyond her organizational impact, Amina is a strong advocate for collaboration across the nonprofit sector. She regularly convenes local nonprofit leaders to share strategies, and she mentors early-career professionals through the Arlington Nonprofit Leadership Network. Her voice is respected not just for its clarity, but for her deep listening and ability to build consensus across differences.

Under her leadership, the Arlington Food Alliance has become more inclusive, resilient, and community-driven — a reflection of her belief that strong nonprofits begin with strong relationships. Amina’s leadership has quietly but powerfully shaped how Arlington shows up for its most vulnerable residents.

Example: 

• Expanded organizational reach by 40%: Since becoming Executive Director, Amina led a strategic planning process that resulted in a major service expansion. Under her leadership, the Arlington Food Alliance now serves over 10,000 residents annually — up from 7,000 — through expanded pantry access, mobile distribution sites, and multilingual outreach.
• Secured the organization’s first multi-year government contract: Recognizing the need for financial stability, Amina successfully pursued and secured a three-year grant from Arlington County to support food assistance programming. This funding allowed the Alliance to hire additional staff, invest in refrigeration infrastructure, and increase its capacity to meet growing demand.
• Launched the culturally responsive nutrition initiative: Amina designed and implemented a now long-standing program that offers nutrition education tailored to the dietary practices and cultural backgrounds of Arlington’s immigrant communities. The program has reached over 2,000 participants and led to documented improvements in food literacy and health outcomes.
• In addition to these accomplishments, Amina was honored in 2023 with the Arlington Changemaker Award by the County Human Services Council for her work in building cross-sector partnerships and advocating for equity in food access.

Example: What makes Amina a standout leader is her quiet, intentional style — she doesn’t lead with ego, but with deep presence and listening. She’s the kind of person who remembers what your grandmother is going through and brings it up months later. Staff say they feel heard by her even when she doesn’t have the perfect answer. That kind of emotional intelligence has built trust across all levels of the organization.

One moment that captures her leadership was during the early months of the pandemic. Rather than rushing into action, Amina convened a listening session with both frontline staff and clients — entirely in Spanish — to understand what barriers people were facing. From that session came the idea for a neighborhood-based delivery pilot, which she greenlit within days. She built the model with a team of volunteers, scaled it through partnerships with faith-based orgs, and ultimately helped distribute over 100,000 pounds of food to homebound residents in just three months.

What’s remarkable is that she never took credit for it. She insisted the success belonged to the community members who shared their stories and the staff who helped shape the solution. That’s the kind of leader she is — one who brings out the best in others, builds power instead of hoarding it, and leads with a kind of quiet brilliance that transforms systems from the inside out.