The Openlands Annual Luncheon is the largest gathering of Illinois’ conservation community, usually hosting nearly 1,000 business and nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and community volunteers who are committed to the health and vitality of our region.
Each year at the Annual Luncheon Openlands awards the Conservation Leadership Award to an individual or organization that has made incredible impact in our region and world.
Past Awardees include:
1990
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley
1995
The Honorable Jim Edgar
1996
The Honorable Richard M. Daley
George W. Overton
Jeffrey R. Short, Jr.
1997
The Honorable John Edward Porter
Mary Peery
Leola Spann
1998
John Husar
1999
Midewin Corporate Council:
BASF Corporation
BP Amoco Corporation
The Dow Chemical Company
Mobil Oil Company
STARCON, Inc.
Stepan Company
2000
Marian Byrnes
2001
The Garden Club of America:
Illinois Clubs
2002
George B. Rabb, Ph.D.
2004
Chicago’s Community Gardeners
2005
George Ware, Ph.D.
2006
Tony Dean
2007
Corwith Hamill
2008
George A. Ranney, Jr.
2009
Bill Kurtis and
Donna LaPietra
2010
Wendy Paulson
2011
Michael Howard
2012
Phil Enquist
2013
Judith Stockdale
2014
Terry Evans
2015
Toni Preckwinkle
2016
Sophia Shaw
2017
The Morton Arboretum,
Chicago Region Trees Initiative
2018
Comer Family Foundation
2019
Stephen Packard
2020
Dr. Debra Moskovits