The United Way of Oxford-Lafayette County named Pam Swain its 2019 Board Member of the Year.

Serving as the senior vice president at the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce, Swain has been a member of the UWOLC Board of Directors since 2016 and assisted on several community-focused initiatives throughout her term.

The Board Member of the Year award was created by the UWOLC Board of Directors earlier this year at the recommendation of Board president Ryan Upshaw in order to annual recognize the exemplary service of a selected board member.

“It is always special to recognize the work of people who go above and beyond to serve our community,” Upshaw said. “This award was created to do just that. Pam Swain truly embodies the heart of a community servant through her work with United Way and the many other efforts she is committed to.”

Members of the Board submitted nominations for the award and the organization’s executive committee reviewed the submissions before making their selection to receive the inaugural honor.

The award was presented to Swain as a surprise by Upshaw and UWOLC executive director Kurt Brummett during the December board meeting at the Chamber of Commerce.

“It is such an honor to be presented with the first-ever United Way Board Member of the Year award,” Swain said. “It is my pleasure to work alongside such a hardworking group of individuals who partner together to do good for the people of our community through United Way.”

Swain was nominated by fellow Board member Doug Odom who stated in his submission that, “Pam is an incredibly hard worker (and) the fact that she is able to fully commit to so many different causes and organizations, all while being such an involved parent, certainly deserves recognition.”

Along with her roles with the UWOLC and the Chamber of Commerce, Swain is the Lafayette Endownment Fund for Education president and serves on various other boards and committees that impact the LOU community.