By Alex Junes-Ward
Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe – executive vice president and chief legal officer for Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy – will be presented the Global Eco Adventures (GEA) Lifetime Achievement award during GEA’s sixth annual ECO BALL at Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, Thursday, April 22 – Earth Day.
“This is a special recognition reserved only for those whose commitment to Earth’s increasingly fragile ecosystems and an always dedicated, hard-pledged pursuit of global environmental soundness and sustainability have quite literally spanned a lifetime, certainly a life’s work,” said GEA founder and president Tom Mullikin. “What Kodwo, as done in terms of protecting the environment and seeking solutions to that end through his varying positions of executive leadership and responsibility at one of the world’s largest electric utilities, is simply beyond measure.”
Ghartey-Tagoe credits relationships and a culture of stewardship and investing in the communities served by Duke Energy.
“This award really is a testament to the commitment and hard work of all of my Duke Energy teammates, particularly here in South Carolina, who make environmental stewardship, investment and education top priorities every day,” said Ghartey-Tagoe.
“The award also is a tribute to the many strong and productive partnerships between Duke Energy and environmental organizations. Together, we truly are making a difference.”
Those also receiving ECO Ball awards this year include S.C. Senator Hugh Leatherman, chair of the Senate Finance Committee; and S.C. Lt. Governor Pamela Evette.
“Like Kodwo, Sen. Leatherman and Lt. Gov. Evette are environmental standard-bearers,” said Mullikin, who also chairs the gubernatorially established S.C. Floodwater Commission.
Previous GEA Lifetime Achievement Award recipients have included S.C. Governor Henry McMaster; Diego Quiroga, VP of Research at Universidad San Francisco de Quito – Galapagos; and the late American naturalist Jim Fowler, host of the Emmy-winning television series WILD KINGDOM, among others.
Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., supplies and delivers electric services to approximately 7.7-million customers in the Southeast and Midwest. The company also distributes natural gas services to approximately 1.6-million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Global Eco Adventures was established “to create awareness of environmental sustainability through education of protected areas that are considered natural phenomena with exceptional aesthetic importance and fragile ecosystems for future generations.”
– For more information about Global Eco Adventures, visit globalecoadventures.org/.
