Pickett was recognized at Jacksonville’s Week 15 game against the Cowboys
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Sunday, Dec. 18, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced Suzanne Pickett as its recipient of the inaugural 2022 Inspire Change Changemaker Award. The NFL’s newly established award recognizes individuals who are making a difference in their communities through social justice work, either individually or as part of a non-profit organization, across each of the NFL’s 32 club markets.
Pickett was recognized on the field during Sunday’s Jaguars game and presented with a $10,000 donation to the Historic Eastside CDC. She was also surprised with two tickets to Super Bowl LVII.
Pickett, an artist, activist, and community developer born and raised in the historic Eastside of Jacksonville, has dedicated herself to preserving and restoring her childhood community. Affectionately known as Outeast, the Eastside is one of Jacksonville’s oldest and last historic African American neighborhoods that was once home to Eartha Mary White, A. Phillip Randolph, Bob Hayes, and Zora Neale Hurston. Pickett returned to her childhood community and began working to beautify the neighborhood while honoring local legends by creating murals of them on abandoned buildings. Her art became a catalyst for more than a decade of her career as a changemaker. Suzanne founded the Historic Eastside CDC, which serves as a resource and liaison to preserve and transform the Outeast neighborhood through equitable community development by improving access to affordable housing, social services, cultural development, wealth building, education, and safety.
Inspire Change Changemaker Award recipients were selected based on their outstanding work in the community, supporting one or more of the four key pillars encompassed in the Inspire Change Initiative: Police-Community Relations, Criminal Justice Reform, Education and Economic Advancement.
Inspire Change is the NFL’s social justice initiative which showcases the collaborative efforts of players, owners and the League to create positive change in communities across the country and ensure that equal opportunity becomes a reality for all. Since 2017, the NFL family has provided more than $244 million to 37 national grant partners and hundreds of grassroots organizations across the country, nearing its 10-year, $250 million commitment to social justice efforts.
All 32 recipients will receive a $10,000 donation to the social justice 501c3 nonprofit organization of their choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation.
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