Congratulations to Regions Bank’s Lajuana Bradford for receiving the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s Wayne Greenhaw Service to the Humanities Award.
Who
Lajuana Bradford
Regional Community Development manager in Regions Community Affairs, based in Birmingham, Alabama
What
This honor recognizes individuals who have made substantive contributions specifically to the work and mission of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and in service of the public humanities generally in Alabama. The award is a memorial tribute to Wayne Greenhaw, a celebrated author and advocate for the humanities in Alabama. During his lifetime, Greenhaw served as an AHA board member, authored 22 books, and was honored as a Nieman Fellow by Harvard University and with the Harper Lee Award as Alabama’s Distinguished Writer.
The award was presented at the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s Alabama Colloquium in October. Founded in 1974, Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through grants and public programming, it connects Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. AHA fosters learning, understanding, and appreciation of people, communities and cultures through seminars, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, documentary films, and more. AHA believes the humanities can bring communities together and help us all see each other as fully human.
Why
Bradford’s award was co-presented by Regions Head of Community Relations Brett Shaffer, a board member of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and Melanie Bridgeforth, president and CEO of Women’s Foundation of Alabama.
“Lajuana’s work exemplifies what the Wayne Greenhaw Service to the Humanites Award is all about,” Bridgeforth said. “She’s a longtime and influential supporter of the humanities in our state. She is a past board member and a passionate advocate for the AHA’s programs.”
Brett spoke about Bradford’s ‘humanity,’ saying, “Lajuana has cleared a path and opened new doors. She has broken glass ceilings, and in doing that work she’s made a difference in all our lives. She’s cleared a path for us to bring our full selves to work and sit at the table and make our own contributions.”
In Her Own Words
“You never set out to be recognized in this way, you just do what you do. To have this honor come from home is special. Wayne Greenhaw was an outstanding humanitarian, and this award, which is a memorial tribute to him and his work makes receiving it very, very special.
The Alabama Humanities Alliance team believes our state is better when we are engaged in storytelling and civic purposes – and so do I. Building alliances to educate, inform, share cultural experiences, and learn from our history to build a stronger tomorrow matters. Understanding and appreciating human values and the unique ability of the human spirit to express itself – that helps us to really understand the world we live in. And it provides us tools to imagine a beautiful future that we put in place for our children.
We must continue to advocate for impactful storytelling and meaningful civic engagement in our communities and our state. Community matters. Community is us. Community is what we do. Community is how we come together. And I am thrilled to be a part of this community.”
For more about Lajuana’s commitment to the community, see the following stories on Doing More Today.