Father Norm Douglas, the co-founder of Heart to Heart Leadership, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Akron Community Foundation’s Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award, named for the former president of Polsky’s Department Store who was also a founding trustee of the foundation. 

Douglas will be the 55th recipient of the award since it began in 1969. It is presented each year to an individual or couple who has shown “selfless dedication to humanitarian causes in Akron,” according to a press release from the foundation.

Father Norm Douglas
Father Norm Douglas, the co-founder of Heart to Heart Leadership, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Akron Community Foundation’s Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award, named for the former president of Polsky’s Department Store who was also a founding trustee of the foundation. (Photo courtesy of Akron Community Foundation)

Ordained on June 8, 1974, Douglas has served multiple churches in Greater Akron, including as an associate pastor at St. Barnabas Parish in Northfield and Holy Family Parish in Stow before becoming the pastor of St. Martha Parish on East Tallmadge Avenue from 1985 to 1999. Since 2016, Douglas has been the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Akron.

Douglas is the co-founder of Heart to Heart Leadership, a nonprofit whose mission, according to its website, is “to develop inclusive leaders who achieve collective goals for transformational change with our communities.” In April, Heart to Heart merged with United Way of Summit & Medina to become the Center for Immersive Leadership.

Douglas has served on numerous boards, including the Akron Bar Association Ethics Grievance Committee, Coming Together Akron, and Leadership Akron.

He is a 1997 graduate of Leadership Akron — in 2002, he received its Distinguished Leader Award along with his Heart to Heart co-founder, Larry Vuillemin. Douglas’ other reawards include the 2005 University of Akron Outstanding Alumni Award, the 2009 Betty Dalton Community Service Award from Greenleaf Family Center, the 2014 Community Medal Award from the Salvation Army of Summit County, and the 2015 Friend of Young Leaders Award from Torchbearers.

Douglas is a graduate of the University of Akron and St. Mary Seminary.

A committee of past honorees for the Polsky award selected Douglas — recent recipients include Synthomer Foundation President Theresa Carter, Akron Marathon co-founders Steve and Jeannine Marks, former Akron Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth, and Stark & Knoll co-founding attorney Thomas G. Knoll.

Douglas will be honored at the annual Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.

Editor’s note: The Akron Community Foundation is a financial supporter of Signal Akron.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.