Early this morning, in an awards ceremony on Seattle's waterfront, Crosscut unveiled its 2014 Courage Award Winners in the categories of Business, Culture and Public Service and honored the first ever winner of the David Brewster Lifetime Achievement Award.
David Brewster Lifetime Achievement Award: Billy Frank, Jr.

Rather than be embittered by his experience, Billy helped create the Nisqually River Council, and brought the Council’s warring factions together (farmers, loggers, small towns, large corporations, the U.S. Park Service, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and others) to restore the Nisqually River and its precious salmon runs. Read more about Billy Frank, Jr.
Courage Award in Business: Community Sourced Capital

So Rachel Maxwell, 55, and Casey Dilloway, 28, did something slightly revolutionary. They created their own financial system — a platform that helps businesses leverage their own communities to provide zero interest loans, financed in $50 chunks known as Squares.
"Everyone told us we couldn't possibly do that," Maxwell says. So far though, the company has enlisted 3,000 community lenders, or square-holders, to finance about $450,000 in projects — including the opening of Pioneer Square's Pizzeria Gabbiano. Read more about Community Sourced Capital.
Courage Award in Public Service: Eastside Catholic students

Though their actions raised uncomfortable issues for administrators, parents and the archdioceses, students, faculty and administration managed to maintain an exemplary level of civility and mutual respect. Read more about the students of Eastside Catholic High School.
Courage Award in Culture: Valerie Curtis-Newton

“People are afraid to have that conversation [about inclusion],” says Curtis-Newton. “But I want to have the conversation so much. When you’re working for the biggest possible ideal, all your fears get really small. If more of us find the courage to connect to that big ideal, we’ll cross the bridge more easily.” Read more about Valerie Curtis-Newton.
Our thanks to ...

When we asked Ann to create the 2014 Courage Award statue, she puzzled over the design for weeks. Finally, “I decided to write the word “courage” out in longhand,” she says. “Since that was done by hand, it represented something done by a human (me), an act of humanity, and that, in the end, is what I connect to the word.”
And now, the first female journalist to give a keynote address at Crosscut's Courage Awards.