The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has awarded CultureSource executive director Omari Rush the 2022 Mariam C. Noland Award for Nonprofit Leadership.
Omari was honored alongside the Ruth Ellis Center, which was awarded the 2022 Richard F. Huegli Award for Program Excellence. The Community Foundation presented the awards during its annual board meeting.
The Mariam C. Noland Award for Nonprofit Leadership, named after the Community Foundation’s first president, recognizes a nonprofit executive in southeast Michigan whose service exemplifies the importance of leadership in their organization and the nonprofit community.
Omari was honored for his efforts to nurture creative and cultural expression and build inclusivity in southeast Michigan’s arts sector. As executive director of since 2017, Omari leads CultureSource as we assist artists and more than 170 arts and culture nonprofits with their shared needs for capacity building, advocacy, and marketing resources. Omari has also been a vital partner to the Community Foundation, co-managing the COVID-19 Arts and Creative Community Assistance Fund and consulting on the $100 million Wilson Arts and Culture Investment.
”Omari has been a leader in the arts and culture community during COVID-19, connecting dozens of organizations throughout our region with the resources they needed to not only survive, but thrive.
Ric DeVoreCommunity Foundation President
Omari also serves as board chair of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and as a board member of Arts Midwest in Minneapolis, the Treeline Conservancy in Ann Arbor, and The Lewis Prize for Music. He recently completed an appointment to the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (serving three governors, two as council chair).
“CultureSource was founded with a vision of being a service anchor to the region’s cultural sector. I am honored to have been able to lead our team in realizing that vision over the past few years, in particular during the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Omari said.
“I feel a particularly strong energy boost from this recognition given the high caliber of leadership it embodies, from Mariam Noland’s legacy to the array of past honorees,” he said. “I thank the Community Foundation for its ongoing partnership to me, CultureSource, and the arts and culture sector.”
Learn more about the Community Foundation.