Corey Prince and Open Wings Learning Community have been named as recipients of the 2022 Gateway Technical College Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award.

The award is an annual effort by the college to honor those individuals or groups who work to support the community and exemplify Dr. King’s values. The award honors students, adults and organizations distinguished for humanitarian contributions to society, education, business or profession, as well as dedication to volunteerism or philanthropic life’s work.

Corey Prince

Corey Prince, Racine, is a community and political organizer, leader, speaker and founder of Community Consulting LLC. He has a passion for engaging people and advocating for marginalized groups. Among other services, the company provides assistance with pardon applications, community outreach and training in community and political organizing. Corey serves as the NAACP State Criminal Justice Chair and was named Wisconsin Ambassador for Reform Alliance.

 Corey’s nominator says he is “guided by his faith and core principles” and that he has worked hard to combat systemic racism. “Corey speaks with everyone, he talks with people on-on-one, he uses these conversations to build coalitions. He maintains relationships with everyone he talks to and grows the relationships into genuine friendships and that helps him to bring people together as they work toward a common goal … His peers, including myself, respect Corey and the work he is doing in Racine.”

Corey Prince Humanitarian video:

https://bit.ly/HumanitarianCoreyPrince

Open Wings Learning Community

Dr. Kimberly Hufferd-Ackles founded the Kenosha-based Open Wings Learning Community in 2012. Her daughter, who has special needs, was the catalyst for founding the school after Dr. Hufferd-Ackles couldn’t find a school environment that met her needs. The school provides a progressive educational program for children and adolescents that celebrates and embraces learners’ neurodiversity.

Open Wings Learning Community’s nominator wrote that the school is “truly an inspiration” and that “Dr. King believed ‘It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.’ A visit to Open Wings brings to light how students of all abilities are given a voice … The students and faculty of Open Wings work hard to get to know one another and reach out to the community. The priority of having a service learning curriculum in their recently opened middle school is another way they are creating a culture of inclusion and social justice -- and learning to live peacefully.”

Open Wings Learning Community Humanitarian video:

https://bit.ly/HumanitarianOpenWings

EDS NOTE: The two videos mentioned were produced by Gateway and are considered public. Feel free to share.