The SPARK Awards Nominations Open Until

August 31, 2025

Nominations open August 1 for our 12th Annual WKNO televised awards show recognizing and celebrating organizations and individuals who are leading by example and making a difference in the Mid-South. 

You can nominate your company, nonprofit, school, child, teacher, principal/education leader, an adult, and/or someone who has dedicated many years of service to our great community. 

Overall, there are 13 categories covering individuals (youth, college student, adult, teacher, education leader, and legacy award), nonprofits of various sizes, corporations of different sizes, and schools. It is a totally FREE, public nomination-driven honor; and nominations are open August 1 through 5:00 PM CDT on August 31, 2025. 

Once the nomination phase is complete, all nominations will be given to the Midtown Memphis Rotary Club, which will ultimately select the winners in each category to be recognized during the special televised broadcast of The SPARK Awards later this year.

Nominations for The SPARK Awards 2025 open 

Friday, August 1, 2025 — Sunday, August 31, 2025 at 5 PM CDT.

Here are The SPARK Awards 2024 honorees in each category:
 

Corporate
50 Employees or Fewer – Woodyard Realty Corp
51-150 Employees – Mr. Handyman of Memphis
Over 150 Employees – FedEx

Nonprofit
Budget under $1 million – Girls on the Run Memphis
Budget $1-5 Million – Overton Park Conservancy
Budget Greater than $5 Million – Memphis Goodwill, Inc.

Education
Leadership – Meah Y. King
Educator – Dr. Susan Elswick
School – Music Box

Individual
Adult – Susan Ewing
Collegiate – Anthony Miles
Youth – Eliza Flores

Legacy
Karen Harrel

The SPARK Awards is an extension of our WKNO-TV series, The SPARK. The SPARK is a monthly 30-minute show, executive produced and hosted by cityCURRENT CEO Jeremy C. Park, about business and community leaders who are fueling change and giving back to the Mid-South. The SPARK airs on the third Friday of each month at 7:30 PM on WKNO/Channel 10. It is a collaborative production between cityCURRENT and WKNO-TV.

Major funding for The SPARK and The SPARK Awards is provided by Higginbotham Insurance & Financial Services with Champion Promotion and Delta Dental of Tennessee as additional major funders for The SPARK Awards.

Additional funding is provided by My Town Roofing.