Nancy

The 2016 prize for social courage goes to Nancy Parrish. Parrish is an active leader in community and public affairs. She has devoted much of her life to challenging social issues across the United States.

In 2011, Parrish founded Protect Our Defenders, the only national human rights organization solely dedicated to ending the epidemic of sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military and its wide-ranging effects on our communities. In 2014, the New York Times wrote that Protect Our Defenders has “quickly become the nation’s pre-eminent advocacy group on behalf of victims of sexual assault in the military.”

Parrish was also a founding co-chair of Human Rights Watch’s Northern California Chapter, an organization dedicated to protecting human rights around the world. She has worked with President and Mrs. Carter in support of their international humanitarian work at the Carter Center, which is guided by a fundamental commitment to the alleviation of human suffering.

Parrish served two terms as development trustee of UCSF’s Friends of the Department of Psychiatry’s Hospital Board, which led to the creation of a children’s center. She also served as an officer of the Children’s Guardian Fund Board of Sarasota, helping to provide basic needs and enrich the lives of foster children.  

During her professional career, Parrish was founder and managing partner of a southern-based political strategy and public relations consulting firm. 

Conversation I: Creating and Sustaining Social Change

Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage
Conversation I: Creating and Sustaining Social Change 

Moderator: Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Journalist and Author

Panel Participants: 

  • Lee Helmken, Health Educator, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Emily Li, Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Miranda Petersen, Program and Policy Director, Protect Our Defenders
  • Jabari Simama, President, Georgia Piedmont Technical College

Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage Luncheon Celebrating Nancy Parrish

Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage
Luncheon Celebrating Nancy Parrish
  • Poetry reading, Travis Denton, 2016 McEver Visiting Chair in Writing, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
  • Remembering the legacy of Ivan Allen Jr., Jacqueline J. Royster, Dean, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. 
  • Award presentation, G.P. "Bud" Peterson, President, Georgia Institute of Technology and Nancy Parrish, CEO and Founder, Protect Our Defenders, and 2016 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage award recipient. 

Conversation II: Courage and Ethical Leadership

Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage
Conversation II: Courage and Ethical Leadership 

Moderator: William Wepfer, Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair and Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Panel Participants: 

  • Jennifer Abrams, Public Policy Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Seletha Butler, Assistant Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Colonel Don Christensen, President, Protect Our Defenders
  • Deanna Ferree Womack, Assistant Professor of the Practice of History of Religions and Multi-Faith Relations, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology

Symposium 2016 Photos

Symposium 2016 Photos

View photos from the 2016 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage events.