Skip to main content

A nod from Obama

Alumna Gwen Tolbart earns President Barack Obama’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service
August 17, 2016
|
By Susan Attafuah-Callender


With a broadcasting career already on the go, Gwen Tolbart, BA 95, enrolled at Concordia’s Department of Journalism in the early 1990s to fine tune her skills and open doors. During her long and successful career since then, her volunteerism has opened doors for many others — and helped put roofs over their heads.

Gwen Tolbart Gwen Tolbart, veteran weather anchor and reporter for Fox Channel 5 in Washington, D.C., got her TV start in her hometown of Montreal with the Black Community Communications Media’s news program Black Is.

Tolbart, now an Emmy Award-winning weather anchor and reporter for Fox Channel 5 (WTTG Fox5) in Washington, D.C., was awarded President Obama’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her community service in July.

“It is both exciting and humbling to be honoured by President Obama,” says Tolbart.

To be eligible for this award, she had to complete upwards of 4,000 hours of community service — and Tolbart made each one count. The bulk of her volunteerism was dedicated to Our House, a non-profit program that provides a home, job training and counselling to at-risk young men in Olney, Md., 30 kilometres north of Washington.

“I’ve volunteered with adolescent girls, homeless women, children with illnesses and with the abandoned, abused, homeless or otherwise disadvantaged male youth of Our House,” Tolbart says.

When she became involved, the organization was struggling to find funds to rebuild its facilities, which at the time were a cinder-block garage and a renovated hen house. Things have since turned around, in large part thanks to Tolbart’s fundraising initiatives.

“Ten years later, I am proudest of the fact that I brought Our House national and international exposure and that there now stands a brand new building serving as a dorm, classroom and recreational facility on its grounds,” she says.

Tolbart has garnered many distinctions during her career in addition to the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, including recognition from the National Association of Black Journalists, Associated Press, Governor of Texas, United States Congress and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Gwen Tolbart's Lifetime Achievement Award Certificate for Community Service The Lifetime Achievement Award Certificate for Community Service is the highest level of the President’s Volunteer Service Awards and includes a letter from Barack Obama, a signed certificate and a presidential seal lapel pin.

Still, it’s special to be recognized by a president who knows the importance of community service firsthand.

“He gave his time volunteering in communities long before he ever knew he would be president and has always supported that commitment in others,” says Tolbart.

“Knowing this award has that kind of sincerity behind it from the president is why I will always hold it close to my heart.”

Tolbart moved to the United States shortly after she graduated from Concordia, where she says she developed her journalistic foundation and tools. She’s been with WTTG Fox5 since 2002, and also runs a public relations, marketing and professional speaking firm, Gwen Tolbart LLC.

She hopes her entrepreneurial spirit can support her community service. “My goal is to initiate a platform through my business to support the causes that are important to me in the community,” says Tolbart.

“I realize the ‘needs’ never go away. I always want to help make a difference and be a role model for others.”

#CUalumni



Back to top

© Concordia University