The Twelfth Annual Wilkins Awards Dinner
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
January 10, 2017
Held on the first night of the legislative session each year and attended by political, community, and business leaders, the Wilkins Awards Dinner promotes citizenship, public service, and bipartisan governing. Each year we honor the leadership, courage, vision, and integrity of one South Carolina legislator and one South Carolina civic leader. View this year’s program | Read Furman’s news release
The Honorable Rita Allison (R-District 36)
2016 Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership
A strong, long-time advocate for education improvement in South Carolina, Representative Allison is chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee. In 2015, she was appointed by Speaker Lucas as chair of the House Education Policy Review and Reform Task Force, a seventeen member task force created to respond to the plaintiffs’ charges in Abbeville v. State of South Carolina. Nominated for the award by fellow legislators, she is described as open-minded, smart, and easy to work with.
Hayne Hipp, former CEO of The Liberty Corporation and founder of the Liberty Fellows
2016 Wilkins Award for Excellence in Civic Leadership
Hayne Hipp’s civic and community leadership is far-reaching, but no greater impact has been made in the community than through his vision and creation of the Liberty Fellowship, an incubator for exemplary leadership in South Carolina. After examining issues critically and with diverse perspectives, Liberty Fellows move from thought to action through community work. They have undertaken more than 200 community projects including Chucktown Squash, a year-round afterschool program in Charleston; SC DASH, an economic development data clearinghouse; and the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic.
Many thanks to our generous sponsors of the twelfth annual Wilkins Awards Dinner:
Silver Level
Bronze Level
Table Sponsor
- AT&T
- The Ballentine Group of Wells Fargo Advisors
- Charleston School of Law
- Clemson University
- Cox Industries
- The Duke Endowment
- Duke Energy
- Institute for Child Success
- Liberty Fellowship
- MidlandsBiz
- Molina Healthcare
- Palmetto Health
- Piedmont Natural Gas
- Santee Cooper
- South Carolina Council on Competitiveness
- South Carolina Hospital Association
- Spartanburg Regional
- University of South Carolina
Our great thanks to these Sustaining Sponsors, who support the work of the Riley Institute throughout the year:
Sustaining Sponsors
- Dick Riley
- Lindsay and Billy Webster