David Gorodetski, co-founder and chief operating officer of McLean’s Sage Communications, received the DC Jazz Festival’s John Conyers, Jr. Jazz Advocacy Award at the festival’s annual Trustee Gala on Monday, Nov. 9 at the The Hamilton in Washington, D.C.

The John Conyers, Jr. Jazz Advocacy Award honors individuals and organizations for their devotion and dedication to jazz, and their efforts to ensure its honored place in America’s history. The award is named in honor of Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), a champion of jazz who introduced HR-57, a Congressional Resolution unanimously passed in 1987 that declared jazz a “rare and valuable American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.”

“I am thrilled to receive this award not only because of its prestige, but also because this is a cause that I am passionate about and have been for years now,” Gorodetski said. “I have worked with the DC Jazz Festival for all of 11 years in hopes of preserving and promulgating this original American genre. Through our combined efforts, dedication and hard work, we have made a dramatic impact on music education programs for D.C. Public Schools, elevating the perception and recognition of jazz.”