Amista Lipot recognized with Voinovich Faculty and Staff Leadership Award

Amista Lipot has been awarded the 2025 Janet and George Voinovich Faculty and Staff Leadership Award in recognition of her outstanding dedication and support for Ohio University and its initiatives, as well as her coordination of cooperative efforts among government leaders in the Appalachian region.

An employee of OHIO’s George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service since 2002, Lipot serves as director of external relations and strategic partnerships and executive director of the Mayors' Partnership for Progress.

“Amista’s dedication to regional capacity building is a true asset for Ohio University and the communities that we serve,” Voinovich School Dean Tracy Plouck said in announcing the award.

“She has built a team of very competent, well-regarded professionals who support the Mayors’ Partnership for Progress, which offers wide ranging training and technical assistance opportunities for local leaders in 27 Appalachian counties,” Plouck said.

Along with helping to secure millions in state funding for OHIO over the years, Lipot recently led efforts to garner a $500,000 grant to bolster MPP, a bipartisan coalition of mayors and city managers from 27 Appalachian Ohio counties. Formed in 1996, the group brings together mayors and city managers from cities and villages throughout Appalachian Ohio to share information and resources and tackle common issues faced by municipalities throughout the region.

MPP is just one of numerous Voinovich School initiatives that have benefitted from Lipot’s involvement.

Her nomination noted she has “advanced economic development, strengthened social well-being, and built enduring cross-sector leadership capacity across Appalachian Ohio and beyond.”

It further stated her work over the years on a variety of initiatives “demonstrate a consistent, measurable, and far-reaching impact that aligns directly” with those three pillars on which the award is based.

Lipot said the award was especially meaningful being named after Voinovich, a former mayor, state lawmaker, governor and U.S. Senator known for his “do more with less” ethos.

“To say I am humbled is an understatement. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to have worked with and learned from the Senator during his retirement years and I appreciate his thoughtfulness in establishing this award,” she said. “Every day I try to focus on how I can make a difference in the communities we all call home and honoring his legacy.”

Lipot was chose for the award by a selection committee that included Matthew Evans, chair of the Ohio University Board of Trustees, Faith Voinovich, the Senator’s granddaughter and former Ohio University student trustee, and Greg Browning, a longtime school advocate and former trustee board chairman.

“Amista has been a foundational figure in the growth of the Voinovich School,” Evans said. “The outreach of the Voinovich School is an important tool that continues to define Ohio University’s leadership within the region and state. Amista’s work makes it happen every day.”