Governor Jim Doyle this week presented Will Allen, CEO and founder of Growing PowerInc, with his National Governor’s Association Distinguished Service Award during an event at the organization’s urban farm on Milwaukee’s northside.
As CEO and founder of Growing Power, Allen has worked to bring affordable, healthy food to urban neighborhoods. The organization raises fish, poultry and fresh vegetables in a homemade ecosystem on the north side of Milwaukee, and offers training, active demonstration, outreach, and technical assistance, particularly to teens and young adults. “I want to thank Will Allen for his tireless efforts to promote healthy eating habits – not only around Wisconsin with his farmsand produce stands, but around the country,” Governor Doyle said. “The same passion Will once showed on the NBA courts, he now brings to Growing Power, a thriving farm full of plants, vegetables, fish and livestock in urban Milwaukee. Our state and nation are better, and healthier, because of Will’s work.”
Established in 1976, the NGA Awards for Distinguished Service to State Government allow Governors to bring national recognition to their states’ most valuable civil servants and private citizens. The awards emphasize the important contributions private citizens make to their state.
