Philadelphia2025-02-05T09:11:51+00:00

Philadelphia

Nominations for Integrity Icon Philadelphia are officially open in collaboration with our partner, the Philadelphia Citizen.  Using the form here or below, tell us all about the incredible city workers you know — colleagues, friends, service-providers who’ve uplifted your day and your life in ways big and small.

Our Philly Icons are high-integrity public service employees who are respectful and caring. They know their work makes a difference to people’s lives, act in a trustworthy and transparent way to solve problems the best they can, treat everyone equally, without regard to politics or influence.

Read all about our 2024 winners below!

Adara Combs is the City’s first Victim Advocate. She has become an essential connector, pushing to improve victim services at a time when we more clearly understand the links between victimization and perpetration of crime.

Eric Kapenstein worked 10-hour days for 340 days in 2020 to ensure a fair and safe election in Philadelphia. Now, the Deputy City Commissioner — a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic town — is gearing up to make voting just as safe and even more accessible in 2024.

Lesha Sanders is Director of Problem Solving Courts for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. A one-woman resource hub, Sanders provides support, supplies and referrals to any justice-involved people she encounters in the course of her day. “Her status quo,” as one former colleague puts it, “is above and beyond.”

Deion Sumpter is Director of the City’s Gun Violence Intervention program. In this role, he faces the brutal reality of gun violence everyday. But he does it with an infectious smile, seemingly endless energy and big-hearted love even on weekends and evenings — something that trickles down to everyone in his office.

Tracey T. Williams is Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Records. She turned her role managing the 20,000 cubic feet of the City Archives into becoming a tireless advocate for victims of deed fraud in Philadelphia — at no one’s urging but her own.

NOMINATIONS

News

Accountability Lab is building a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. We train, mentor and resource citizens in creative ways to strengthen systems of accountability and unleash positive social and economic change. 

Since 2012, we’ve worked across Liberia, Nepal, Mali, Nigeria and Pakistan, making governance work for people everywhere. We now operate in other countries too, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Niger, Mexico, DRC, and Somaliland.

About - Celebrate, Encourag and Connect Civil Servants | Integrity Icon
About - Celebrate, Encourag and Connect Civil Servants | Integrity Icon

A lack of integrity – which leads to corruption, inequality and insecurity – is a global challenge. Ordinary citizens often feel helpless in the face of graft and mismanagement. There is a need to encourage champions of integrity, which ultimately builds public trust. We ‘name and fame’ public servants who display exemplary integrity and make heroes out of ordinary people doing the right thing.

The value of Integrity Icon is the process, not the outcome. It is a way to create meaningful conversations about what it means to be a public servant and shines a light on the role of ordinary people in strengthening institutions in a society such as ours. It also encourages us to think about what is needed to build an open, inclusive and accountable societies.

Meet the 5 Integrity Icon Winners From Philadelphia

Rebecca Lopez Kriss

Stephanie Ridgeway

Lori Hayes

 Lauren Young

Leah Wood

Our Judges

Amy Kurland, Co-chair of the law firm of Rohn Kurland, P.C.

Amy Kurland is the co-chair of Rohn Kurland, P.C, a new Philadelphia law firm. She is an advocate, consultant, advisor, teacher, and integrity leader. Prior to Rohn Kurland, Amy was a philanthropic consultant who worked with cities around the world, combating public corruption and better serving their residents through improved integrity, effectiveness and efficiency as well as implementing best practices in those areas.

Amy is widely credited with transforming the Inspector General’s office into a strong, independent anti-corruption agency, during her tenure as the longest-serving Inspector General in Philadelphia. Throughout her career, she has specialized in public corruption and white-collar fraud; developed training programs for judges and prosecutors; and taught about the role of inspectors general with the U.S Department of Defense. Amy has taught trial advocacy as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers and Temple University as well as at the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, the National Advocacy Center and the F.B.I. Training Facility in Quantico and has been a faculty member of the National Association of Inspectors General.

Kurland continues her work in Philadelphia, having served on the Board of Directors of Women Against Abuse, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, and more. Her career is work she continues to share with the community as she is a frequent speaker on ethics issues and criminal matters.

Nilda Ruiz-Singh, President and CEO of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, Inc. (APM)

Nilda Ruiz has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, Inc. (APM) since 2005. Ruiz, known for her progressive stands, sits on a number of boards and is a key community innovator in Philadelphia, respected for her multicultural leadership, nurturing and protecting children and education advocacy.

Under Nilda’s leadership, APM has become a premier non-profit locally and nationally. She has groomed leadership from within the community, and has helped thousands of Philadelphia Latinos and residents lead better lives. She is a leader in the Hispanic community. She has been awarded Hispanic Choice Award for advocacy, Impacto’s Most Influential Latina in the Delaware Valley for 11 consecutive years, Philadelphia Business Magazine Women of Distinction, Hispanic Business Magazine top 25 nonprofits in the country for 3 consecutive years, among many others.

Michael O’Bryan, Research Fellow, Founder of Humanature

Michael O’Bryan is an Innovation Fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and most recently served as Director of Learning at The Village of Arts and Humanities. Michael is the founder of Humanature, a design strategy firm working with nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to transform how they understand and support human development, interaction, and performance. O’Bryan’s focus is human well-being—how to understand it, why to care about it, and ways to rehumanize all that has been dehumanized because it’s surrounded by pain or powerlessness or practices designed to dehumanize.

This work has led him through many roles, including running youth and learning programs, facilitating the U.S. Attorney office’s trauma-informed care initiative, and working with homeless residents. Today, he is a faculty member of the Career Studies Department at The Curtis Institute of Music and serves on The American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on The Arts. He currently serves on the boards of two philanthropic institutions, The Samuel S. Fels Fund and The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and is every day inspired by exploring the science of humanity.

Terrill Haigler, CEO of YaFavTrashman LLC

Terrill Haigler, within the span of roughly 18 months, Terrill has become one of Philadelphia’s best-known activists, a man who has garnered national attention for the work he’s doing, shining a light on the city’s trash issues, and how the city is (or is not) dealing with them.
Today, Terrill, fondly known as “Ya Fav Trashman”, is the CEO of YaFavTrashman LLC and founder of the nonprofit Trash 2 Treasure. He is an influencer – with 28 700 thousand Instagram followers.  He is a sanitation guru, public speaker, brand ambassador, entrepreneur, author, environmental activist and clean-up evangelist. Haigler is laser-focused on using his platform and ideas to improve life for Philadelphians and the city they live in.

Jen Devor, Co-Founder of Better Civics

Jen Devor is a communications consultant and strategist whose work has landed her inside the Philly Venn Diagram of politics, civic and growth. She’s also a block captain in her neighborhood of Point Breeze and a public school advocate. She is a one-time candidate for political office, a Democratic Committee Person, a frequent editorial writer with bylines in The Citizen and the Inky, an advisory board member for WHYY and PA Youth Vote and her local recreation center. She is a public speaker and published author. Most recently, she co-founded a nonpartisan political nonprofit, Better Civics, which aims to make being an involved, informed citizen easier.

INTEGRITY ICON CAMPAIGN TIMELINE:

  • 13 October – 28 December 

    Nominations: The public nominates public servants who embody the value of integrity and demonstrate the importance of honesty, accountability and personal responsibility. 

  • 28 December – 1 February 2022

    Selection: A high-level panel of respected social leaders selects this year’s Icons.

  • 1 February – 25 February

    Filming: Locally based film production company to create short mini-documentaries (90 seconds) about the finalists doing their jobs, talking about why it is important to serve with the spirit of accountability and interacting with others who can attest to their integrity.

  • 26 February – 12 March

    National Screening and Public Voting: Short films to be shown on national TV, national and community radio stations, and on social media platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp, and YouTube. The public will be encouraged to vote for their favourite Integrity Icon through SMS, Whatsapp and online. National voting begins on 1 September.

  • 25 February – 12 March

    Local Screenings and Dialogues: The short films will be shown in the Icons’ communities through local partners leading a dialogue with the Icons on understanding some of the systemic public service accountability challenges and the creative ways the Icons are addressing these.

  • Mid-March

    The new cohort of Integrity Icons celebrated at a Final Ceremony and Integrity Summit.

SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE:

Our goal is to build a broad movement of people recognising and acknowledging ethics and integrity in the public service. To make this possible, we need you. Support us in one or more of the following ways:

  • Spread our Message

    Help us to raise awareness about the Integrity Icons campaign and its importance for promoting service excellence and turning the tide on corruption and misconduct in the public service. Share stories about our Icons and the campaign; host an engagement with one of our Icons; or profile a public servant you believe epitomises integrity and service excellence.

  • Submit a Nomination

    To name the 2021 cohort of Integrity Icons, we need you to help us identify them. Run a nomination drive at your workplace and in your community. Submit as many nominations as you would like, showcasing how your nominee goes over and above the call of duty to be a model of ethics and integrity in the public service.

  • Sponsor the Awards

    It takes a lot of capacity and resources to run a national campaign, profiling and acknowledging excellence in the public service, and amplifying the importance of doing the right thing. Back our campaign with a donation; support our Film Fellowship; contribute an insert or airtime on your publication, channel or station; or sponsor our awards ceremony.

© Integrity Icon | Powered by Electric Egg
Go to Top