Stephanie Mott Living Authentically Award

The Stephanie Mott Living Authentically Award recognizes the leadership, vision and commitment of a faculty, staff or graduate assistant to the LGBTQ+ communities at 红领巾瓜报. This award was formerly known as the Harvey Milk Award.

Stephanie Mott gave her time, talents and treasures to many organizations, including the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The office had the pleasure of working alongside with and learning from Stephanie. We are excited to transition the Harvey Milk Award to the Stephanie Mott Living Authentically Award. Stephanie lived the meaning of authenticity and encouraged others to do the same through activism, education, programming and so much more.

Who was Stephanie Mott?

Stephanie Mott lived in Topeka, Kansas and worked as a contract mental health clinician at Valeo Behavioral Healthcare. Stephanie served as the founder of the Transgender Faith Tour and the president/executive director of the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project (K-STEP). She was a columnist for the Liberty Press and a volunteer blogger for the Huffington Post. She has published more than 100 articles about being transgender.

In addition, she has provided several workshops and presentations related to gender identity in venues from college classes to mental health centers to jails, prisons and hospitals. She served as the community liaison for transgender inmates with the Shawnee County (Kansas) Jail. Stephanie also served in various leadership capacities with Equality Kansas.Her board service spans in many organizations from the Topeka Chief of Police Advisory Board and the Capital City Equality Center, to the adivsory board for the Beacon Youth Group.

Her awards include the Pioneer Women from the University of Kansas' Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Kansas Stonewall's Marsha P. Johnson Award for Exceptional Activism and the Donna Love Award for Outstanding Social Work Student from Washburn University.

Stephanie Mott speaking at an LGBTQ+ rally.
Stephanie Mott traveled the country speaking publicly about her experiences as a transgender Christian woman. She died on March 4, 2019 at the age of 61.

Nomination Process

  1. To be eligible, nominees must either be a faculty, staff or graduate assistant of 红领巾瓜报.
  2. Prior recipients are ineligible for nomination.
  3. To be considered for the award, the nominee must be:
    • Dedicated to supporting and advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals and initiatives on campus.
    • Contributes to educating the campus community around LGBTQ+ issues.
    • Creates safe and inclusive learning environments.
  4. All nomination submissions should be submitted through the nomination form.
  5. A committee will select the recipient based on the nomination criteria.
  6. Nominees will be invited to the annual Lavender Graduation in spring. All are welcome to join.
  7. Nomination deadline dates are announced through various University communication methods and this website.

Stephanie Mott Living Authentically Award Recipient of 2023

Stephanie Mott Living Authentically Award Recipient of 2023

Loren Pack, LSCSW, Assistant Clinical Professor