Leslie Durgin has been named Boulder Rotary’s 2021 recipient of the Jim Swaeby Peace Award.

The award recognizes outstanding achievement for “the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service”.  Awarded annually to a person living or working in Boulder County or to an organization based in Boulder who exemplify the ideals of Rotary.

Durgin has had a lifetime of action and commitment to working for the citizens of the Boulder community.  Her rich history of involvement with non-profit and civic communities includes her role as a director or principal in organizations such as Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, the Association of Operating Room Nurses, the Collage Children’s Museum, the Colorado Chautauqua Association, Boulder County United Way, and the American Civil Liberties Union-Colorado, to name a few.  In addition to working for a number of years in the Colorado State government, Durgin became a member of the Boulder City Council in 1989.  She was elected Mayor in 1990, serving in that capacity until 1997.  Under her leadership, the City greatly expanded its programs to serve unmet community needs, particularly in housing, human services and transportation; redefined the future of the physical development of the community; and significantly expanded open lands owned by the community both in Open Space and in Parks and Recreation.

The Peace Award also commemorates the contribution of Boulder Rotarian Jim Swaeby, who gave his time, talent, humor and passion to build a better world.  He caried out a life mission to “do an unexpected act of kindness or generosity for someone less privileged.”