Festival & Event Organizers

Kim Cooper (Makers Fest)
Coach Otis “O” Riddley (JSU Ancillary events)
Thabi Moyo (National Folk Festival)
Jana Dear (Pickle Fest)
Maya Morris (Protect Your Peace Festival)
Trina Bee (TOAST Mimosa Festival)
Zita Webb (Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade)
Brad “Kamikaze” Franklin (Jackson Indie Music Week)
Ellen Daniels (Mississippi Book Festival)
Timothy Orey & Shaquita Chapman (JXN Run Club)

Meeting & Group Tour Planners

Zakiya Summers (NAACP State Convention)
Shannon Moore (Annual General Missionary Baptist State Convention)
Timothy Krason (TYCA-SE Conference)
Eddie Burnside (Rare Breed Motorcycle Club)
Molly West (Leadership Greater Jackson)
Maleika Hentz-Brown (Jackson Convention Complex)
Candace Williams (MDAH)
Marcine Freeman (Mississippi Educational Computing Association)

Travel & Tourism Industry Employees

Angel Rohnke (Mississippi Museum of Natural Science)
Theresa Love (Mississippi Agricultural & Forestry Museum)
Kaleb Adams (Jackson Convention Complex)
Chef Hunter Evans and Cody McCain (Elvie’s and the Mayflower Café)
Andrea Patterson (Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum)
Garry Brown (The Patton House)
Chef Damien Cavicchi & Mary Sanders Ferris Cavicchi (Hal & Mal’s and The Walk-In)
Randall Bolden (JXN Food & Wine Festival)
Merry Barnes (Mississippi Museum of Art)

2026 S.U.M.I.T.T. Awards

Attraction of the Year – Two Mississippi Museums
Large Festival/Event of the Year – Mississippi Science Fest
Small Festival of the Year – Smith Park Supper Club
Friend of Tourism – Monique Ealey – Mississippi Children’s Museum
Full-Service Hotel of the Year – The Westin Jackson
Limited-Service Hotel of the Year - Homewood Suites by Hilton Jackson Fondren Medical District
Boutique Hotel of the Year – Old Capitol Inn
Restaurant of the Year – Pulito Osteria

Shining Example Awards

Dr. Ebony Lumumba
Thea Faulkner

Visionary Award

Chef Nick Wallace
Cherre Miller