The Novato Paint the Town Red, Board of Directors, created the Spirit of Novato award in 2023.
This award recognizes a Novato resident, whose selfless, enthusiastic, helpful volunteer efforts over several years have enriched our community.
Zachary Griggy is a 15-year Novato resident and lifelong resident of Marin County. As a longtime observer of Novato school board and city council meetings, Zachary is passionate about ensuring our democracy is strong and responsive to the people.
Since he was a high school student, Zachary has strived to ensure that Novato’s neighborhoods and communities across Marin County are fairly represented in redistricting and our election districts. He drew the adopted maps for the Novato and San Rafael school boards in 2019 and the College of Marin board in 2022, proposed fair maps to several other Marin County jurisdictions, served as the youngest member of the Marin County Redistricting Working Group in 2021, and recommended changes to Novato’s city council districts in the city’s 2022 redistricting. The city council later named its final map after Zachary and Tracey Ruiz, who drew the council’s original district map in 2019.
Zachary has since gone on to work for and assist two leading redistricting scholars in their efforts to draw fair districts in multiple states. He is currently a law student at UC Berkeley and hopes to use his legal education to fight for our democracy.
Get your tickets to Novato’s 65th Birthday Party starting December 1, 2024 and join us in honoring the new 2024 “Spirit of Novato” Award Winner.