Community Advocates J’Tanya Adams and Greg Asciutto Honored with 2026 Dr. Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award, Presented by FFTC

CHARLOTTE, NC – Named after a tireless advocate for the humanitarian spirit, the Dr. Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award announced its two most recent honorees, a duo who are helping reshape and rethink Charlotte through civic power: J’Tanya Adams, founder and executive director of Historic West End Partners, and Greg Asciutto, executive director of CharlotteEAST.

The Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award is presented to an individual or group whose creative achievements elevate quality of life and enhance the survival, dignity and well-being of humankind in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. The award was established by Nish Jamgotch – a UNC Charlotte professor and humanitarian who passed away in 2021 – and is facilitated by FFTC, which also holds the fund that supports the award.

“J’Tanya and Greg have had a tremendous impact not only on the communities they serve but on Charlotte, as a whole,” said Tracy Russ, FFTC chief of staff and chief strategy officer, who also oversees the Robinson Center for Civic Leadership, which helps facilitate the Nish award. “Mr. Jamgotch supported the humanitarian ideals of advocacy, equity, sustainability and mobility for all – all facets that permeate the work of both J’Tanya and Greg. Their entire calling is in service of their communities, and I cannot think of two better recipients.”

Adams has spent more than 15 years building the civic and economic infrastructure of Charlotte's Historic West End, home to some of the city's oldest surviving Black neighborhoods. A native Charlottean, she has lived through what she calls "urban removal," watching families, churches and businesses scatter across the city. That history shapes her conviction that communities can solve their own challenges rather than wait for someone to rescue them.

She founded Historic West End Partners in 2010 with like-minded neighbors. Today, it brings together business owners, residents and faith leaders to preserve and revitalize the historically Black corridor. Historic West End is currently developing Five Points parcels near Johnson C. Smith University that will feature a mixed-use, mixed-income development, which includes a 13,000-square-foot grocery store, 145 sustainable housing units, a small business incubator and indoor/outdoor community gathering spaces.

"The Historic West End stakeholders’ self-determination, demonstrated by possessing and activating their assets, resonates with me most,” Adams said. “Together, they are establishing a vivacious Historic West End."

Asciutto brings a teacher's commitment to East Charlotte's civic life. For 10 years he taught English at Garinger High School, where he was named a 2018 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Teacher of the Year.

He became board chair of CharlotteEAST in 2022 and its first executive director in 2024. The nonprofit traces its roots to a 2002 City of Charlotte task force charged with finding a catalytic project to revitalize the Eastland area – Asciutto led the effort to secure that project, the Eastland Sports Campus, which is expected to open in 2028 and bring more than $150 million of annual economic impact.

He has helped the organization, with United Way support, adopt a more people-centered, upward-mobility lens to advocacy. He has also led the community through crises, including the 2025 Border Patrol operation, when he coordinated community response and marketing efforts to support families and pump dollars back into the small business ecosystem. That work earned him a 2026 Excelente Award from La Noticia as the non-Latino person most supportive of the Latino community.

"It's an honor to be recognized alongside a dear friend who has taught me so much about strengthening community and improving quality of life for neighbors,” Asciutto said. “The success of the Historic West End has paved the way for what we’re building in the greater Eastland area, and the whole City is stronger when both of our communities are thriving."

The son of Armenian refugees, Dr. Jamgotch spent his career advocating for humanitarian causes. In the words of Jamgotch, “to be creative means to uncover something new; or to synthesize seemingly unrelated experiences in a fresh and inspiring way; or to provide a foundation for future intellectual and scientific breakthrough that can truly make a difference,” and it is in this spirit that awards should be made.

Previous Nish Jamgotch Jr. award winners include:

• Thereasea Elder, a public health pioneer who was among the first to integrate health care in the Charlotte region.
• Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures and founder of Golden Door Scholars, a nonprofit that creates educational and career opportunities for high-performing undocumented students.
• Jeffrey Balek, a blind man using specially made braille books to volunteer at Y Readers, the YMCA of Greater Charlotte’s literacy program for students in grades K-3 who are reading below grade level.
• Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Major Mike Campagna and Mecklenburg County public defender Toussaint Romain, for their work during the 2016 Keith Lamont Scott protests.
• Riley Howell and Reed Parlier, two promising UNC Charlotte students who died when a gunman opened fire in a classroom on April 30, 2019.
• Sil Ganzó, founder and executive director of ourBRIDGE for KIDS, who transitioned her organization when the pandemic hit from its after-school mission to helping distribute thousands of meals per week to the community.
• Adrienne Threatt, Hope Vibes co-founder and executive director, for her work aiding the community of people without homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Robert Dawkins, community organizer and political director for Action NC.
• Charis Blackmon, West Side Community Land Trust executive director and affordable housing advocate.

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About Foundation For The Carolinas
Founded in 1958, Foundation for the Carolinas is a community foundation serving a 13-county region across the Carolinas. Remarkable impact is at the heart of the Foundation's mission, and the driving force of that impact is the thousands of nonprofits, families and companies who partner with FFTC to amplify the power of giving. Visit fftc.org or philanthropyFOCUS.org. 

Media Contact: Timothy Hager, thager@fftc.org/704.973.4587