Announcing the 2025 Tower of Justice Award Recipients
The 2025 Tower of Justice Awards will be presented during Scarritt Bennett Center’s Radical Change Banquet on October 16, 2025. The awards honor outstanding community leaders and organizations that cocreate justice by embodying the tenants of Scarritt Bennett: Women’s Empowerment . Racial Justice . Spiritual Formation . Transformative Education
This year’s theme of Journey Inward, Journey Outward: Towards Hope, Peace & Justice invites reflection and action, encouraging all to journey both inward and outward in pursuit of hope, peace, and justice.
Tower of Justice Honorees
Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education
Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment
Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation
Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice
These honorees exemplify the spirit of radical change and inspire our community to continue the work of justice and transformation.
Creative Girls Rock is rooted in a profound love for creative arts, youth development, and community engagement. Their mission is to educate and empower young girls and women to utilize their creative talents to enhance their lives and the world around them. Established in 2017, the organization has blossomed into a catalyst for empowerment and transformation. At the heart of Creative Girls Rock® lies the core program, The CGR Master Class. Tailored specifically for young girls and women aged 6 and up, this platform is crafted to provide a nurturing environment where creativity thrives, self-expression flourishes, and vital life skills are cultivated.
Rev. Ingrid McIntyre is the pastor at Glencliff United Methodist Church in Nashville and is on staff at Belmont United Methodist Church. She has done boots on the ground justice work for the last twenty-five years that began with her work for Habitat for Humanity through AmeriCorps, In June 2011, Rev. McIntyre co-founded Open Table Nashville as an interfaith homeless outreach nonprofit, which disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized, and advocates through education. Rev. McIntyre’s career has been rooted in dignified care for all.
The Reverend Edwin C. Sanders, II, is the Senior Servant and Founder of Metropolitan Interdenominational Church (established 1981) in Nashville, Tennessee. This congregation attracts a broad cross-section of people with the mission of being “inclusive of all and alienating to none.” Metropolitan has outreach ministries in the areas of substance abuse, advocacy for children, sexual violence, and harm reduction. In Nashville, Tennessee, Rev. Sanders has served as Pastoral Counselor for the Meharry Medical College Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, Director of the Southern Prison Ministry, and Dean of the Chapel at Fisk University.
The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights in order to build a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.
For many years Scarritt has opened its doors, welcomed and embraced without discrimination based on racial, social, or faith issues. Today, Scarritt Bennett remains dedicated to the legacy of Scarritt College and Scarritt Graduate School and the missionaries, educators and musicians who were trained here, by providing a haven for those seeking to gather in an environment that is nurturing, conducive to open dialogue, and available to all faiths and cultures. The Radical Change Banquet is an annual celebration honoring community leaders and organizations who cocreate a more just world.
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