March 25, 2019 – Midland mayor Maureen Donker was recently honored with the Community Builder Award by the Michigan Municipal League during its annual Capital Conference Awards Gala March 19 in Lansing.
The award honors individuals whose leadership creates positive community change. Through efforts such as encouraging civic engagement, supporting up-and-coming leaders, fostering good working relationships, and thinking strategically, they make their community a place where people truly love to live and work.
Donker was recognized for her outstanding work and leadership to ensure the economic health of the Midland community. The award was presented by Ward 4 City Councilwoman Diane Brown-Wilhelm, a member of the League Board of Trustees.
“The word community drives everything she does whether it’s in her work with special needs individuals or as her role as mayor of our city,” Brown-Wilhelm said. “Maureen Donker is ingrained in the fabric of Midland in every imaginable way. She doesn’t just work for the people of Midland—she works right along with them. She works for positive change and inspires all of us to come along with her. She truly is a ‘community builder’ and is so deserving of this honor.”
Mayor Donker was elected to the Midland City Council in 2007 and has served as Midland’s mayor since 2009. She has been an instrumental leader in the implementation of Midland’s Community Well-Being Survey, which aims to learn what well-being looks like in the community directly from residents and uses this feedback to develop a community-wide plan for continued prosperity.
In addition to her work on this endeavor, Donker has previously served as a League Board member, a Workers’ Compensation Fund Board member, and is active with the Michigan Association of Mayors and the Michigan Women in Municipal Government. She is the executive director of The Reece Endeavor of Midland, a community program providing homes for individuals with special needs. Donker is also active in the Midland community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Arnold Center, Midland Center for the Arts’ Board of Directors, Midland Center for the Arts’ Matrix: Midland Advisory Board, Midland County Health and Human Services Council and MidMichigan Health Advisory Council.
Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. Learn more at www.mml.org.
