Father Norm Douglas to receive Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award

The Rev. Norm Douglas, co-founder of Heart to Heart Leadership, has been named the 2024 recipient of Akron Community Foundation’s Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award. The Catholic priest will receive the award at a dinner Oct. 15 at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.

Douglas will be the 55th recipient of the award, which the foundation presents each year to an individual or couple who has shown selfless dedication to humanitarian causes in Akron. The award is named for the former president of Polsky’s department store and founding trustee of the foundation.

Ordained on June 8, 1974, Douglas recently celebrated 50 years in the priesthood. He has served multiple churches in Greater Akron, including as an associate pastor at St. Barnabas Parish in Northfield and Holy Family Parish in Stow, before becoming the pastor of St. Martha Parish from 1985-99. Since 2016, Douglas has served as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Akron.

Douglas and Larry Vuillemin co-founded Heart to Heart Leadership, a nonprofit organization that partnered with individuals and organizations to cultivate purpose-driven, values-based, community-minded leadership. In April, Heart to Heart merged with United Way of Summit & Medina.

Douglas is a 1997 graduate of Leadership Akron, and in 2002, he received its Distinguished Leader Award with Vuillemin. Douglas has received many other awards, including the University of Akron Outstanding Alumni Award in 2005, the Betty Dalton Community Service Award from Greenleaf Family Center in 2009, the Community Medal Award from the Salvation Army of Summit County in 2014, and the Friend of Young Leaders Award from Torchbearers in 2015.

Born in Los Angeles but raised in Akron, Douglas is a graduate of the University of Akron and St. Mary Seminary.

He was selected to receive the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award by a committee of past honorees. Recent recipients include Synthomer Foundation President Theresa Carter, Akron Marathon co-founders Steve and Jeannine Marks, former Akron Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth and Stark & Knoll co-founding attorney Thomas G. Knoll.

Corporate and individual sponsorships for the award dinner start at $2,500 and can be reserved at akroncf.org/PolskySponsor. For more information about sponsorship availability and benefits, call Laura Lederer, vice president and chief development officer, at 330-436-5611.