Award Honorees
Twice each year, Gift for Life selects individuals who have had a significant, positive impact on the gift and home industries, then recognizes them with prestigious awards reflecting their unique contributions. It’s a pretty exclusive club, including industry luminaries, visionaries, and creatives that raise the bar high with their generosity of heart and kindness of spirit.
Our Winter 2012 Honorees
Celebrated at Party for Life, January 2012
John C. Portman, Jr.
Legend for Life Award
The Legend for Life Award is being presented for the first time in celebration of Gift for Life’s 20th Anniversary, recognizing Mr. Portman’s five-plus decades of entrepreneurship and service to several industries, including gift, home, and apparel.
In 1957 he founded Atlanta Merchandise Mart (now AmericasMart)—the largest trade mart/trade show complex of its kind in the world. Across its sprawling 7.0 million-square-foot facilities, AmericasMart’s specialty product takes center stage as the chief attraction for the more than 548,000 attendees who each year participate in its 15 annual markets. Its product mix and essential service standards regularly bring retailers from every U.S. state and more than 80 countries worldwide.
By stimulating trade and tourism, Portman was the catalyst who established Atlanta as one of the nation’s premier convention cities. Three major downtown hotels Portman designed and developed—the Hyatt Regency, Westin Peachtree Plaza, and Marriott Marquis—anchor the convention district.
Following up on his initial success, Portman began an unmatched record of commercial and hospitality development and design in downtown Atlanta and then across the United States in cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York City. During this period, he was noted for his innovative atrium hotel form used in projects including the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles and the Renaissance Center in Detroit. He is perhaps best known for his urban mixed-use complexes, large-scale developments that integrate open spaces and public art into the function of the space.
In 1982, sensing global opportunities, Portman expanded his vision of thoughtful design into Asia. First in Singapore, then in Malaysia and China, he created signature projects that have graced the skylines of some of the most important cities in the world.
He has served as a board member of the Atlanta College of Art, and is Trustee Emeritus of the Atlanta Arts Alliance. He has also served as a Director of the Atlanta High Museum of Art. The Georgia Institute of Technology (his alma mater) presented him their highest honor, the Exceptional Achievement Award, in 1986.
George Kacic
Chuck Yancy Lifetime Achievement Award 
Presented to a special recipient who’s had an abiding impact on the industry through leadership and generosity, George Kacic’s career within the gift and home-décor industry consists of thirty-five years of standout examples, including Ganz USA and Russ Berrie—two powerhouse companies in the gift industry.
As Vice President of Takara USA, Kacic was instrumental in establishing the Japanese-based company within the United States. His industry activities are as deep-rooted as his corporate leadership. Kacic is serving as the Advisory Board Chairman for AmericasMart; is a member of the Gift for Life Board; has served six years on the Gift & Home Trade Association’s (GHTA) Board, acting as President, Chairman Emeritus and, most recently, an ICON Honors founding partner; and is the current co-chair for the GHTA Annual Conference.
Jenny Hammons
Bert Tonkin Gift of Giving Award 
As the recipient of this prestigious award, Jenny Hammons is recognized for her efforts in sustained philanthropic endeavors benefitting the entire industry, emulating GFL benefactor and award namesake, Bert Tonkin. Hammons is a gift industry veteran and owner of Jenny Hammons/Company, which consists of West Coast-based sales organizations servicing the gift and home-décor markets in Northern California and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. She is a former Chair of the board of Gift for Life and tireless fundraiser on GFL’s behalf.
Brandwise
Trailblazer Award
For more than 14 years, Brandwise has been driving the innovation of technology in the gift and home industry by listening to its needs and consistently creating and providing solutions and tools to help Suppliers and Sales Reps sell more, increase efficiencies and in effect, enhancing the retailer’s buying experience.
This journey began back in 1997 when Brandwise brought sales reps out of the stone-age of hand-written orders by introducing the convenience and efficiency of scanning technology.
Ever since, the company, led by Todd and Jannetta Litzman, Chief Technology Officer Randy Quade, and Vice President of Operations Karen Radcliffe, has continually added services and tools that help automate each step in the sales channel; from showroom floor to the road, from back office functions to executive business intelligence and online where the company’s revolutionary bwconnect™ service allows retailers, reps and suppliers to collaborate online to do business. Developing this online platform was a strategic, forward-thinking investment by Brandwise towards keeping the value of the rep/retailer relationship relevant online and for the health of the Gift & Home Industry’s future.
“Todd and I, through our work with Brandwise, have always been dedicated to the health of this industry,” according to Litzman. “But it has been most gratifying working with Gift for Life, which has been literally dedicated to the health and well-being, over the years, of so many in our industry and beyond.”
Our Summer 2011 Honoree
Celebrated at the Retailer Excellence Awards, August 2011
Michael Aram
GFL Industry Achievement Award
Michael is an American artist working primarily in metal. After studying fine art and living as an artist in New York in the late 1980s, he discovered the rich metalworking traditions of India. Today, Michael calls New Delhi home, where he creates designs ranging from tableware to furniture, sold in galleries and specialty stores worldwide.
Appropriately, in Hindi, “aram” means “gently, with peace, with love and care.” Echoing that concept, he has succeeded in making high quality work that is as personal a statement as its appeal is universal.
“Michael’s unique designs are complemented by a deep sense of abiding humanity,” said Leslie Nathan-Street, chair of the Gift for Life board. “We are proud to honor a creative leader who personifies the best qualities of our industry.”
“I am honored to accept this award from an organization whose mission of care continues to support and inspire,” said Michael Aram. “I have observed the fight against HIV/AIDS around the world, and Gift For Life’s determination creates significant progress toward comfort and research.”
