A Century of Service: The 2025 Sullivan Showcase and the Legacy of Julie Gehrki

There is an echo in the halls of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, one that reaches beyond the present moment, extending back a full century. The grand, domed Wyatt Center, anchoring the Peabody Esplanade with its stately rotunda, speaks to an era when higher education was less expansive, and philanthropy, less visible. But, come April 11, 2025, this storied campus will exhibit a renewed meaning as the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation convenes an exceptional gathering: the Sullivan Showcase Centennial Celebration.

This occasion will mark one hundred years since Peabody first honored students for their quiet heroism and community-minded leadership, setting into motion a tradition that now extends across the Southern United States. To stand beneath the expansive ceiling of The Wyatt Center this spring will be to witness a confluence of past, present, and future—where the oldest ideals of service blend seamlessly with the cutting-edge ambitions of a new generation. And, in the midst of this shared sense of purpose, one person in particular will claim the spotlight: Ms. Julie Gehrki, the newly named recipient of the 2025 Sullivan Luminary Award.

The Roots of the Sullivan Tradition

The Sullivan Foundation was created just 40 years after the medallion that bears Algernon Sydney Sullivan’s name, established by the New York Southern Society in 1890 to honor his exemplary life of public service. Though Sullivan’s philanthropic sensibilities were first nurtured by his father, the impetus to extend his legacy southward came, in no small part from Peabody College, which would later be absorbed into Vanderbilt University. In 1925, Peabody became the first Southern institution to bestow the prestigious Sullivan Award upon promising students, an award that recognized not simply academic strengths, but integrity, character, and devotion to the public good. From there, a quiet revolution of sorts gathered steam. Other colleges, eventually more than seventy institutions across the South, adopted the award, thus establishing and embracing a shared culture of cultivating both intellect and compassion.

A century on, The Sullivan Foundation continues to trace a broad arc across academia and civil society. Its scholarship and leadership programs extend beyond these campus gates, encouraging undergraduates, alumni, and faculty alike to gather around a deceptively simple concept: that service above self can shape lives, and entire communities, for the better. Now, in 2025, the Foundation returns to its roots. Vanderbilt University will host a high-profile event that promises to celebrate a storied past and offer a fresh vision of what philanthropy might accomplish in the century to come.

The 2025 Sullivan Showcase in Nashville

The Wyatt Center will welcome a diverse group of well-wishers: from philanthropic alumni and friends whose alliances with the Foundation go back decades to college students who may only now be discovering the meaning of community-based leadership. A reception will begin the festivities, providing a moment to engage, reflect, and perhaps hear an anecdote or two about Algernon, Mary Mildred Sullivan, or George themselves. Attendees will also enjoy a seated dinner before the night culminates with the presentation of awards, most notably, the Luminary Award, the centerpiece of the event, which celebrates certain leaders that have carried forth their collegiate spirit of service well into adulthood.

In principle, the Sullivan Award recognizes a moment in a young person’s life, usually at graduation. The Luminary Award affirms that these virtues persist and expand, evolving over time into leadership that often transcends the institution and geography. This year, the Foundation will bestow the Luminary Award on Ms. Julie Gehrki, a figure whose own biography perfectly aligns with the Foundation’s mission.

The 2025 Luminary Award Recipient: Julie Gehrki

From the beginning while at Rhodes College in Memphis, Julie Gehrki was active in service initiatives. She worked with the Laurence F. Kinney community service program, volunteered in after-school initiatives in North Memphis, and learned the art of addressing unmet needs in underserved neighborhoods. This blend of practical immersion and rigorous academics earned her the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award as a senior. Upon graduation, she felt a mixture of gratitude and bewilderment. She was humble and didn’t entirely understand why she was chosen, yet was handed a medallion that symbolized both an honor for the good she had done and tasked to continue that mission in the years ahead.

The next steps of her journey carried her through a fellowship at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, fieldwork in Washington, D.C., and eventually a graduate education at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock. Yet, in a twist that underscores the expansiveness of the Sullivan ethic, she found her way to Walmart. It began as a tentative interview but swiftly became a calling. Today, Gehrki serves as President of the Walmart Foundation and Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at Walmart, overseeing an extensive, far-reaching philanthropic apparatus, Walmart.org, that devotes significant resources to a broad range of efforts, from fighting food insecurity to nurturing small businesses. In a single fiscal year, Walmart and its foundation can distribute well over a billion dollars in grants, community investments, and product donations, placing Gehrki at the helm of one of the largest corporate giving programs in the world.

What does it mean for a person who once handed out soup in a Memphis kitchen to now steward philanthropic strategy for a global enterprise? In Gehrki’s opinion, the underlying principle is unchanged: philanthropy, at any level, is a matter of forging real connections and acknowledging that the line between who serves and who is served is never truly fixed. People providing help and people receiving help can often find themselves in reversed roles or on common ground.

That is precisely the argument for awarding her the Sullivan Luminary Award in 2025. As Foundation leaders have noted, she exemplifies how “service above self” is not constrained to a local or regional charity but can be integrated into transnational operations, supply chains, and workforce practices. Where others see the complexities of capitalism and social responsibility as oil and water, Ms. Gehrki sees room for synergy. The result is a career that has not only sustained her passion for service but magnified its impact on an impressive scale.

Looking Back: Past Luminaries and a Tradition of Excellence

While Ms. Gehrki’s selection punctuates a milestone year, it also places her in the company of other distinguished leaders. In 2023, for instance, the Foundation recognized Dr. John McCardell—a 1971 Sullivan Award recipient from Washington & Lee University—whose lifelong dedication to academia and community building has shaped countless students’ journeys. Dr. McCardell’s achievements embody the continuity that defines the Sullivan Award: a seed planted in youth that blossoms steadily over decades.

To some, these narratives might appear as footnotes to grander stories of institutional philanthropy or campus life. But in reality, the Luminary Award reveals the animating heart of the Foundation’s mission. Each year, it reminds us that the virtues we extol in young adults—compassion, humility, industriousness—rarely vanish after graduation. Instead, they flourish in surprising contexts, from the halls of government to the boards of nonprofits and, yes, the corner offices of corporate America.

The Centennial Celebration: Honoring a Remarkable History

Although Gehrki’s imminent recognition a significant highlight of the 2025 Showcase, the evening is also about celebrating one hundred years of the Sullivan Awards. We arrive at this juncture through a series of gatherings designed to shine a light on the Foundation’s earliest days. The official centennial festivities commenced in the fall of 2024 at The Penn Club of New York, the city where Algernon and Mary Mildred Sullivan first established their legacy of advocacy. That series will continue into fall 2025 at The College of William & Mary, with subsequent visits to other founding partner schools through 2028.

At every stop, the Foundation’s leadership hopes to offer participants a blend of historical reflection and forward thinking. While attending the Vanderbilt event those taking part may view the collection of art George Sullivan donated to Peabody College in 1913, or they might hear more recent stories of partner institutions, among them Belmont University and Fisk University, which have more recently joined the Sullivan Network of schools. What unifies these gatherings is a consensus that the ethic of service remains as vital in today’s world as it was in the 1920s.

Embracing the Spirit of Participation

The Sullivan Showcase in Nashville, as well as upcoming Centennial events, offer multiple ways to engage with the Foundation, each an invitation to expand one’s commitment to service, including:

  • Attend the event. Simply by being present, participants show support of those shaped by the Sullivan experience. The dinner and reception are free (with priority access for Sullivan Award recipients).
  • Contribute financially. The Foundation’s scholarship and program funds open doors for deserving students who might otherwise be unable to participate due to financial constraints. In a time of widening inequalities, contributors can help increase the number of tomorrow’s compassionate leaders.
  • Mentor a Sullivan Fellow. Bridging generations through mentorship has a powerful ripple effect: the guidance shared over a coffee or through a thoughtful email exchange can affect the trajectory of a student’s entire life and, by extension, the communities they serve.
  • Nominate another outstanding alum for 2026. Although only one Luminary Award is presented annually, nominations alone honor a range of potential recipients. Each submission of a past Sullivan Award recipient allows us to explore their journey and tell their story.
  • Volunteer or sponsor a table. For organizations that share the Foundation’s commitment to philanthropic leadership, participating as sponsors or volunteers not only helps defray event costs but also broadens the circle of influence.

Beyond the Centennial: A Vision for the Next Hundred Years

Perhaps some may look upon a 100-year milestone as permission to slow down and reflect. For the Sullivan Foundation, it is a call for renewed determination. The social, economic, and environmental challenges we face today are arguably larger and more interconnected than anything Algernon Sydney Sullivan might have imagined in the late 1800s. If the Foundation’s first century taught us the power of granting medallions have on shaping moral leadership, the next century calls on us to explore the synergy between philanthropic foundations, corporate responsibility, and grassroots movements.

This is precisely where luminaries like Gehrki offer a forward-looking template. By embedding philanthropic thinking within a major international corporation, she demonstrates that service can evolve with an era defined by supply chains, digital transformation, and global-scale problems. The Sullivan Foundation, likewise, is evolving. No longer content just to honor the intangible concept of goodness, it invests in structured leadership programs, hands-on service initiatives, Ignite Retreats, and campus-based fellowships that help students to assess challenges, develop solutions, work collaboratively, and report on the results of the process of serving. It is through the Foundation, its network of alumni, students, faculty, facilitators and contributors that a thousand small acts of service can create positive change in our communities.

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