Connect Marquette is proud to announce the winner of the 2026 Tom Baldini Award – Diana Sundberg!
The Tom Baldini Award was created by Connect Marquette to reward members of our community who have shown a fresh interest in community and civic engagement. Tom Baldini, who passed away in December of 2017, was a well-known and active supporter of Connect Marquette and an active member of the Marquette Community. In the spirit of his unwavering commitment to Marquette County, Connect Marquette seeks to foster leadership and civic engagement among the community by presenting this annual award to a deserving local individual. Each year members of the public send in their nominations and one recipient is selected to honor with this award.
New in 2026, the Tom Baldini Award winner can choose a local Marquette County nonprofit to receive a $200 donation in their name, donated by Connect Marquette. For our inaugural year of this donation, Diana has chosen the Ishpeming Kriskindlmarkt! The Ishpeming Kriskindlmarkt is a brand-new holiday tradition and the U.P.’s First Christmas Market coming to downtown Ishpeming in 2026.
Ishpeming has always been home for Diana Sundberg. Born and raised in the community, she has a deep love for the place that raised her and a genuine passion for helping it grow, succeed, and thrive. For Diana, community involvement isn’t just something she does—it has become a big part of who she is.
Diana’s history of service to the community has taken many forms over the years from serving on the Board of Directors for the Greater Ishpeming-Negaunee Area Chamber of Commerce, being a member of the West End Advisory Council, and co-founding Hematite Power Packs: an effort especially close to her heart that helps make sure local children have access to food when they are away from school.
Diana believes that truly being involved in your community means being willing to get on the ground and do the work. For Diana, community work isn’t about getting credit for what gets done—it’s about being there, working alongside others, and seeing what can happen when people come together for a place they care about. Those experiences helped Diana realize something about herself: she is happiest and at her best when she is working in her community.
That passion eventually led her to the Lake Superior Community Partnership, where she now serves as the West End Outreach & Services Specialist, as well as the Ishpeming Downtown Development Authority Liaison. For Diana, these roles feel like a natural continuation of years spent volunteering, building relationships, supporting local businesses, and finding ways to help. She now has the opportunity every day to advocate for the West End and work toward a stronger future for the City of Ishpeming—a community she truly believes in.
Diana’s favorite part of community work has always been the people. She loves bringing people together, making connections, turning ideas into action, and reminding others of everything Ishpeming and the West End have to be proud of. She believes some of the best things happen when people who care about their community roll up their sleeves and decide to make something happen.
At home, Diana is a proud mom of three sons, dog mom to two, and wife to an incredibly supportive husband who has encouraged her through all of the meetings, events, projects, and ideas that come with being someone who has a hard time sitting on the sidelines.
At the heart of it all is a simple belief: community matters. Ishpeming has given Diana a place to call home, raise her family, build lifelong relationships, and find a sense of purpose. Being able to give some of that back, work alongside the people who make the community special, and help shape what comes next is where she feels she belongs.
