The Salt Lake Chamber presented its 2025 Giant in our City award on Thursday to Lisa Eccles, the president and chief operating officer of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.
“It is the year of Lisa,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, who hosted the event with his wife Mary Catherine Perry, who is the vice president of public policy and government affairs at the Salt Lake Chamber.
Eccles is the 46th recipient of the award. Prior honorees include former governor Gary Herbert, Gail Miller and Kem Gardner.
The Giant in our City recognition is given to those with exceptional public service who also have extraordinary professional achievement, according to the Chamber.
President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber Derek Miller, right, awards President and COO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Lisa Eccles, left, with the 46th Giant in our City award at the Salt Lake Chamber’s 2025 Giant in our City Celebration at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
The award was established by the Salt Lake Chamber Board of Governors in 1969. It is considered the most prestigious award presented by the Chamber.
“Philanthropy is at the heart of Lisa’s life’s work,” Perry said. “At her core, she believes in the life changing impact of a helping hand, in the limitless potential of young people and in the transformative power of the arts to inspire, heal and bring people together.”
The award was presented to Eccles at an event at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. During the event the chamber also presented the Utah Community Builder Award to Joseph Grenny, author and co-founder of The Other Side Academy.
Who is Lisa Eccles?
“I definitely prefer to work behind the scenes,” Eccles said as she accepted the award. “Being recognized as a giant in our city is, without doubt, the most uncomfortable and overwhelming night of my life. But at the same time, I’m filled with such gratitude for the outpouring of love and support I’ve received.”
After graduating from the University of Utah in 1989 with an art history degree, Eccles took a part time job at the charitable foundation started by her Uncle George and Aunt Lolie.
She originally planned to work there for no longer than a year, but three years in, the position became full time, and a few years later she joined what had been an all male board.
President and COO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Lisa Eccles, center, is hugged by friend Rachel Alder, of the 2034 Olympic committee, left, while Alder’s daughter Mae Alder, right, laughs before Eccles is honored with the 46th Giant in our City award at the Salt Lake Chamber’s 2025 Giant in our City Celebration at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Eccles has been leading the foundation’s grant program ever since, even as it has grown significantly. Over the years the foundation has given almost $1 billion to thousands of worthy causes and organizations.
Two other Eccles have been given the Giant in our City award, Lisa’s father Spencer Eccles and her uncle George Eccles. Lisa and Spencer are the first father-daughter pair to both be recognized for the award.
“She is, in my mind — no question, a giant in our city,” said her father Spencer in a video presentation honoring her.
Lisa Eccles co-founded Utah Community Builders, the non-profit foundation of the Salt Lake Chamber. She is a board member of the National Park Foundation and served on the National Trust for Historic Preservation-National Trust Council, as well as the boards of the Utah Symphony, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Salt Lake County Center for the Arts, Natural History Museum of Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts and Intermountain Healthcare’s Community Care Foundation among others.
She has also played a role in preserving and restoring historic cultural and environmental sites in Utah such as Brigham Young Academy and Peterson Dance Hall.
“It’s especially meaningful to be recognized by my peers in the business community, who I admire so much,” Eccles said.
She thanked the Salt Lake Chamber and also recognized her family for being her best friends and working with her to help serve the community.
“We are truly in this together,” she said about her family.
President and COO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Lisa Eccles speaks after being honored with the 46th Giant in our City award at the Salt Lake Chamber’s 2025 Giant in our City Celebration at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
The Utah Community Builder Award
Grenny, who received the Utah Community Builder Award, is an author and co-founder and board chairman of The Other Side Academy and The Other Side Village, where people who struggle with homelessness and addiction are given help, work and support.
He was recognized “for his commitment to addressing poverty, breaking cycles of hardship, and empowering those who face addiction, homelessness and incarceration,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber.
The Utah Community Builder Award recognizes an inspirational individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to address a crucial community issue.
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