Studebaker National Museum Wins 2025 Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has named Studebaker National Museum winner of its 2025 Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence. The award recognizes SNM for its continued evolution as a local storyteller, the strength of its Board and committees, and the way it has continuously invested in developing and retaining staff.

During the past ten years, SNM has doubled its staff and capacity thanks in large part to its excellent board and to the leadership of Executive Director, Pat Slebonick. In 2025, the museum expects to set new attendance records, despite a decline in international visits. The organization has more than made up for that decline by engaging local partners in a variety of mutually beneficial relationships.

In just the past two years, SNM has celebrated a pair of major collections victories – adding the #34 Studebaker Special Indianapolis 500 Race Car and the successful restoration of the 1951 Studebaker Commander that was featured in 1979’s The Muppet Movie.

But the museum’s mission is so much bigger than the vehicles it holds in its collection, and the team at the museum has worked hard during the last decade to ensure its continued relevance.

“Studebaker isn’t just old cars and carriages,” says Slebonick. “It’s the story of how our community was shaped.”

The Leighton Award Committee was especially impressed with the way SNM has developed and retained its staff, something Slebonick chalks up to the tireless and unselfish work of the organization’s “fantastic” Board of Directors.

“The Board completely believes in developing and supporting our staff,” Slebonick says. “We are fortunate to have an absolutely fantastic Board.”

As the 2025 Leighton Award winner, Studebaker National Museum receives a $200,000 2:1 endowment challenge grant. The resulting $300,000 will be added to SNM’s endowed fund with the Community Foundation, providing annual resources to support the organization’s mission.

The Community Foundation also named two Special Recognition winners as part of the award process, and each organization will receive a $10,000 grant. These awards recognize local non-profits that are pursuing new standards of excellence within the community.

Unity Gardens is the first winner of this Special Recognition award. The Award Committee appreciated the organization’s exponential growth and the unwavering passion of its leadership – Sara Stewart and Katie Lane. But most of all, the Committee was impressed with the way that Unity Gardens has planned for the future, to ensure that the organization remains strong, stable, and vital for years to come.

The second Special Recognition winner is Reins of Life, recognized for the ambition of its mission and its tireless work to create programs that serve the whole person, not just the immediate need. Reins of Life is just finishing up work on a major expansion, and Executive Director Dorota Janik is looking to create an expanded menu of services and programs that won’t exist at any other equine therapy program in the nation.

Established in 1999, the Leighton Award encourages the community’s nonprofits to pursue excellence at every level of their operations. Previous winners of this award include LOGAN (2000); Center for the Homeless (2001); South Bend Heritage Foundation (2002); REAL Services (2003); St. Joseph Health Center at Chapin Street (2004); Goodwill Industries of Michiana (2005); Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc. (2006); South Bend Civic Theatre (2007), the YWCA of St. Joseph County (2008), the St. Joseph County Public Library (2009), the Women’s Care Center (2010), Family & Children’s Center (2011), St. Margaret’s House (2012), the Center for History (2013), the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association (2014), Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County (2015), the CASIE Center (2017), the South Bend Symphony Orchestra (2019), La Casa de Amistad (2021), and Boys & Girls Clubs (2023).

The next Leighton Award process will take place in August 2027.