Two longtime community volunteers have been named as the 2021 Citizens of the Year by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
Kathy Wright and her husband Dwight Tate were honored during the chamber’s 122nd Inaugural Celebration, staged virtually Thursday night, March 24. The theme was “Riverside Come Alive.”
Wright and Tate have supported and contributed to numerous organizations, including the Mission Inn Foundation, Community Connect, Riverside County Philharmonic, Riverside Art Museum, Habitat for Humanity Riverside and the Janet Goeske Foundation, a chamber news release states.
Wright is an educator who worked as a school administrator and superintendent of the Alvord Unified School District, which serves the western Riverside area and part of northeast Corona. She helped develop the Innovative Learning Center, which houses a kindergarten- through fifth-grade elementary school, a preschool/childcare facility and a museum, the release states.
Tate was a substitute teacher, worked at a hospital helping those with developmental disabilities and was a clinical social worker for 20 years before doing financial advising, the release states. He volunteers with nonprofit groups, including a role as chair of the board of The Carolyn E. Wylie Center for Children, Youth & Families.
Other honorees at the event were:
Stater Bros. Markets — 2021 Business of the Year
Part of Riverside since 1948, Stater Bros. employs about 18,000, the release states. It continues to remodel markets and open new stores, including one planned at the former Kmart building on Arlington Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside, the release states. The market also donates to food banks, organizes fundraisers and supports military and veterans causes.
Tom Nightingale — 2021-22 Chair of the Board
Nightingale was saluted for his service in the role as the chamber welcomed Julio Figueroa as the 2022-2023 chair of the board.
Figueroa is director of external and legislative affairs for AT&T in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
