Kristen Ries Community Service Award

Thank you for your interest in nominating an awardee for the 2023 Kristen Ries Community Service Award!

The Kristen Ries Community Service Award was first called the Utah Pride Community Service award, and it was created by Donny Eastepp, while serving as Gay Pride Day chair in 1987. The award was established to recognize outstanding service to the LGBTQ+ community. The first awardee was Dr. Kristen Ries, M.D., (she/her), and since then, the community service award was named in her honor. Dr. Kristen Ries was recognized with the award for her humanitarian efforts in dealing with the AIDS crisis. The Kristen Ries Community Service Award is the highest honor our community can bestow, and recipients represent and exemplify compassion, leadership and courage.

Nomination Process

Nominations for the 2023 Kristen Ries Community Service Award will be open from April 28 to May 12, 2023, and the awardee will be announced during Pride week (June 1 - 4). 

Selection Criteria:

• the nominee shows dedicated love of the LGBTQ+ community
• the nominee has, in their own unique ways, given time, money, service and commitment to building or supporting the LGBTQ+ community
• the nominee is a positive role model for the LGBTQ+ community members
• the nominee represents and exemplifies compassion, leadership and courage.

The Dr. Ries Selection Committee shall consist of every living person who has received the award, and one representative of each organization that has received the award. In the case of representatives of organizations, it shall be at the sole discretion of the organization as to who shall be their representative, and that representative may change from year to year, but may not change once the nomination and selection process has begun, until after that year's award recipient(s).

Past Awardees