| Donna Neill A Biography Personal: Born in Denver, Colorado on January 17, 1946. Married to Jerry Neill in 1976. Mother of 3 children, with two grandchildren. Moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1989. Moved to Westwood Community in 1993. Education: Two years of Junior College, Business Administration. Community/Volunteer History: Upon moving to Central Phoenix in 1993, Donna discovered that blight, crime, and poverty were rampant throughout her neighborhood. She decided to take a stand. She immediately painted out graffiti on a daily basis. Then reorganized a dying neighborhood association, and brought attention to the problems in the area. Her efforts won the neighborhood a "Fight Back" status from the City of Phoenix. She spearheaded efforts to obtain a park in the neighborhood where no recreational facilities existed. Living in the most densely populated square mile in Phoenix, with over 175 apartment complexes, crime and blight became the norm in the community. She made some positive changes! She contacted local business leaders and formed a business alliance to work closely with the community to resolve problems, as well as give support to the community and its goals. The Westwood Business Alliance has since won the "Award of Excellence" in the new and emerging category of "Phoenix Neighborhoods That Work" awards. Apartment owners and managers were then contacted which led to the formation of the Westwood Multi-Housing Alliance. Shortly after, the city of Phoenix purchased a parcel of land to be developed as a park by donation and fundraisers.Due to the fact that Westwood lacked a park, Donna developed "Kid's Street", which has been a huge success, now in its seventh year. With two awards for "Best Kids Program", this program is now supervised by Parks and Recreation. Each Saturday from October thru May, a city street was closed in the neighborhood and the kids could safely play street hockey, basketball, volleyball and other games, dance contests and other activities. The children are fed a lunch each Saturday with funds she has solicited from business and private donors. This led to much publicity! CBS Eye on People did a segment on National Television; HOPE magazine did a four page story on her; Mrs. Neill was mentioned in the Governor's State of the State address in1997, and was a guest in the Governor's gallery. She attended the City of Phoenix Police Academy, as well as the State of Arizona Department of Public Safety Citizens Academy. She has taught at Phoenix College on how to become involved in neighborhood organization, lectured at ASU and speaks to Valley Leadership Classes. She was nominated for the President's Points of Light Award in 1997, and she was nominated for and received the prestigious "12Who Care Hon Kachina Award" in 1997.1997 also brought honors from Arizona State University and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy with an honorary fellowship to Arizona State University. In 1998 mayor Skip Rimsza appointed Mrs. Neill to the Judicial Advisory Board. She was also appointed to a committee to select a new Chief of Police after the announcement of the retirement of Chief Garrett. She was named to a steering committee for Phoenix Violence Prevention Initiative. She is a board member of the rehabilitation board of appeals, and consulted on the neighborhood resource guide. It wasn't long before Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley joined the action and appointed Donna to review grants for RICO funds received from the "BOOK CELLARS". In 1999 she organized, staffed and catered the very first “Neighborhood Day at the Legislature. 400 people attended the event. This became an annual event now sponsored by “Cities and Towns”. In March of 1999 officer Marc Atkinson was killed in the line of duty. Also an officer from Chandler, Officer Snedigar, and Officer Goelet Boeuf of Phoenix died in the line of duty. Ms. Neill organized memorial marches for all of the officers mentioned. 1999 brought another National Award from Ford Motor Company, called the "Grand Marqius Champions " award, and was featured in Reader's Digest New Choices.1999 brought an international award from the Muslim community for her work with children.She serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Regional Community Policing Institute. Mrs. Neill has been instrumental in getting many pilot projects started with Westwood Community as a model from which others benchmark. Two examples are the Rental Renaissance , and a community based City Prosecutor. Results of her efforts have been the award of three Project Intervention grants from the State of Arizona, and four Proposition 301 grants from the City of Phoenix, for the Westwood Community. The Phoenix Police Department awarded her with a statue of a Police officer and child for her efforts on behalf of law enforcement. As the millennium approaches she has been notified of another award from "The Buffalo Soldiers" to be presented at a dinner on February 12, 2000. Past recipients of this award are General Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary Clinton.Frustration with partisan politics at the legislature, she co-founded a group called N.A.I.L.E.M. in 1996. This is an acronym for Neighborhood Activists Inter-Linked Empowerment Movement. It consists of neighborhood leaders from all over the State of Arizona. The goal is to force politicians to listen to the voice of the people, not just the special interest groups and high paid lobbyists. The group stages rallies and holds anti-crime marches every Saturday night in someone's neighborhood, at their invitation. These are held throughout the entire Valley of the Sun. This led to a proclamation from Governor Hull naming December 13, 1997 as N.A.I.L.E.M. / KIDS STREET DAY. In March of 2000, Kid Street was chosen as the "Best Overall Program"
in the Southwest Regional Parks and Recreation programs in five states.
Arizona, Utah, California, Nevada, and Hawaii. An award was presented
to Donna Neill in Ontario, California at the Regional Conference. |
ABOUT N.A.I.L.E.M. CO-FOUNDER JERRY NEILL |
