Our Honorees
We’re thrilled to recognize these Members of Congress who have dedicated their career to promoting civic service and bipartisanship, as well as our Corporate Honoree for their valued partnership.
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq, she lost her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was hit by an RPG in 2004. After recovery, Duckworth became a prominent advocate for veterans, serving as the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs and later as an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Obama. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and subsequently to the U.S. Senate in 2016, Duckworth has been a champion for practical solutions, infrastructure development, job growth, and more. Notably, she became the first senator to give birth while in office, leading to a historic rules change allowing senators to bring infants onto the Senate floor. Fluent in Thai and Indonesian, Duckworth, along with her husband Bryan, is the proud parent of two daughters, Abigail and Maile.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Dan Sullivan assumed office as Alaska’s eighth United States Senator on January 6, 2015, and currently serves on crucial Senate committees, including Commerce, Science and Transportation; Armed Services; Environment and Public Works; and Veterans' Affairs. Before his Senate tenure, Sullivan served as Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, where he prioritized protecting Alaskans and initiated the "Choose Respect" campaign to combat domestic violence and sexual assault. As Commissioner, he managed a diverse portfolio, fostering responsible resource development, energy security, and job growth. A Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Sullivan has an extensive military and national security background, including active duty service and deployments in the Middle East and Central Asia. He served in the administration of President George W. Bush as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business, focusing on various international issues. Sullivan holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and a joint law and Masters of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, have three daughters.
Representative Don Bacon
Congressman Don Bacon, who grew up and worked on a farm in Illinois, draws on his firsthand experience of hard work and commitment in his role representing Nebraska’s Second Congressional District. A graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelors of Political Science, Bacon began his nearly 30-year military career in the U.S. Air Force one year after marrying his wife Angie. Serving as a Brigadier General, he specialized in electronic warfare, intelligence, and reconnaissance, with highlights including command positions at Ramstein Airbase in Germany, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Bacon, a veteran of four Middle East deployments, earned multiple military decorations and two Masters Degrees. Following retirement in 2014, he served as a military advisor and Assistant Professor at Bellevue University before his 2016 election to Congress. Currently, Congressman Bacon is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agricultural Committee. He and his wife have three sons, one daughter, and eight grandchildren.
Representative Chrissy Houlahan
U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan, the first woman to represent Pennsylvania's 6th District in Congress, brings a diverse background of military service, engineering, entrepreneurship, and education to her role. As the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she grew up in a military family and earned an engineering degree from Stanford through an ROTC scholarship before serving in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves. Houlahan has played leadership roles in companies like AND1 and B Lab and served as a chemistry teacher through Teach for America. Committed to a vision of a united nation, she advocates for quality healthcare, gun safety, government transparency, and a strong, stable economy. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, she worked on bipartisan legislation addressing global malnutrition. Houlahan has been honored with the Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award and three Congressional Management Foundation Democracy Awards, making her the first member of Congress to win two categories in a single term. Driven by a spirit of service, she strives to solve real problems for the people and communities of Chester and Berks Counties.
CJ Group
Founded as a sugar and flour manufacturer in South Korea in 1953, CJ Group has grown to become a leading global lifestyle brand with affiliates in the food, biotech, logistics and entertainment sectors. CJ Group’s beloved food brands include Bibigo dumplings and Red Baron pizza. Located in the heartland of Iowa, CJ Bio provides animal nutrition supplements to American farmers. Illinois-based CJ Logistics helps secure U.S. supply chain. And American audiences applaud CJ entertainment products, from the Oscar-winning “Parasite” to the top Netflix hit, “The Glory.” CJ Group’s three-color blossom logo symbolizes the company as a flower in full bloom, open to the global market and its customers. CJ Group strives to shape a healthy, happy and convenient lifestyle that people around the world can enjoy together.