Mayor Madeline Rogero presented Fourth and Gill resident Katy Hawley with the Diana Conn Good Neighbor of the Year Award at the Neighborhood Conference, held Saturday, May 18, at the Knoxville Convention Center. 

At the time of her nomination, Hawley served as Social Committee Chair for the Historic Fourth and Gill Neighborhood Organization—planning and participating in numerous group activities and fundraisers. Her key contributions include spearheading a campaign that promoted residents’ investment in The Birdhouse, the historic house that serves as the neighborhood’s center and a gathering place for many local organizations. Her efforts to engage neighbors in cleanups, renovations and events helped raise $12,000 toward the costs of constructing a new, historically accurate porch. (A different board member submitted a successful grant application for The Birdhouse porch project to the City’s Façade Grant Funding program.) 

“Katy’s hard work, attention to detail and can-do attitude is a huge driver of our neighborhood’s connectedness,” fellow board member Brent Waugh wrote in her nomination. “Her contribution as event chair takes countless volunteer hours, as well as assertiveness and a diplomatic spirit.” In February 2019, after Waugh submitted her nomination, Hawley was elected board president of the Historic Fourth and Gill Neighborhood Organization Board. 

All finalists received proclamations and were honored for contributing their time, energy and personal expense to making their neighborhoods better places to live.



Those finalists are:

• Liz Diviesti, Whittle Springs Duplexes
• Douglas Miller, We Care Neighborhood Watch
• Donna Teeters, The Highlands Homeowners Association
• Deborah Thomas, Oakwood Lincoln Park
• Christine Winton, Mechanicsville Community Association

All Diana Conn Good Neighbor of the Year Award nominees demonstrated the qualities exemplified by the late Diana Conn, for whom the award was named and given posthumously. Members of the Old Sevier Community commended Conn as a generous, caring and devoted neighbor. 

Produced by the City’s Office of Neighborhoods, the Neighborhood Conference connects residents with area service organizations, elected officials and candidates for office, as well as neighborhood leaders and organizers. Visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/neighborhoods for those details as well as information on the Office of Neighborhoods and its many programs.