Main Spotlight: How Rural Oklahoma Main Streets Have Weathered Change
Learns how rural places across Oklahoma have survived through booms and busts, and how they are leveraging the Main Street Approach to build sustainable and vibrant futures.
Celebrating 2025 Mary Means Leadership Awards recipient Claudia Loya. Photo by BeauMonde Originals
We are excited to share that we’ve just opened our 2026 Mary Means Leadership Awards application! We invite you to join us in celebrating the incredible accomplishments of exceptional leaders shaping the Main Street movement by nominating your organization’s stellar team member for this prestigious award. Tell us about your community’s visionary volunteer, board member, or staff person by Friday, December 5.
About the 2026 Mary Means Leadership Awards and Call for Nominations
Introduced in 2019, the Mary Means Leadership Awards recognize exceptional local leaders for their extraordinary vision, determination, and commitment to community-led transformation, in honor of the outstanding and steadfast leadership of Main Street America’s founder, Mary Means. Our call for nominations for the 2026 recipients is open from October 27-December 5, 2025.
Who is Eligible: Current employees, board members, and volunteers of a Local or Coordinating Program with an active Main Street America membership.
How to Nominate: You may nominate yourself or others by submitting a completed application, consisting of short responses and letters of support. Preview the application here.
What are the Criteria: Nominees will be evaluated on the ways they demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities, such as building local capacity, centering equity, bringing together diverse stakeholders through a shared vision, and exhibiting innovation and ingenuity.
By When: All completed applications must be submitted through the online portal by Friday, December 5, at 11:59 p.m. CT.
How Recipients are Recognized: The 2026 Mary Means Leadership Awards recipients will receive complimentary Community Transformation Workshop and 2026 Main Street Now Conference registration, media relations support, a special feature on the Main Street America website, and public recognition at the 2026 Main Street Now Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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Photo by BeauMonde Originals
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Courtesy of Tulsa Tours