The Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce honored Sunnylands President David J. Lane with its Barbara Sinatra Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award at its annual Rammys business awards dinner on Feb. 12.
Before a crowd of 300 business, non-profit, and government leaders at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort and Spa, Lane was praised for his success in bringing global leaders together at Sunnylands to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. “Ambassador Lane is a bridge-builder who has helped solidify Rancho Mirage’s reputation as a city of international significance. He leads with the same grace and civic mindedness that Barbara Sinatra herself embodied, making him a true champion of our city,” Joselyn Lopez, a member of the chamber’s Young Professionals Network, said in introducing the award.
In a videotaped acceptance speech, Lane thanked the chamber for the award and said the beauty of Rancho Mirage and its “respectful, low-key setting” are vital to the success of the Sunnylands mission.
“That’s what the Annenbergs envisioned here,” he said. “That this could become a place where people could come together with diverse or divergent points of view around global issues and wrestle with them, respectfully, and find common ground.”
For their legacy of service and philanthropy in Rancho Mirage and elsewhere, Sunnylands founders Walter and Leonore were posthumously honored as “Citizens of the Year” by the chamber in 2014.
