CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE 2026 ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE SOCIETY HERBERT H. PEARCE AWARD
Diane Young Turner & The Honorable John Turner
Diane Young Turner and the Hon. John Turner have spent nearly five decades building a shared life rooted in service, leadership, and responsibility to others. Their story in Greater New Haven began in 1978, when John joined New Haven Legal Assistance and Diane began her career at Yale University. Though they only expected to stay a few years, they found a community that drew them in.
Both trace their commitment to giving back to the communities that shaped them during their childhoods. Diane grew up in Louisiana, where she experienced the power of collective care after her father passed away during her junior year of high school.
“I’ve been the beneficiary of that kind of support,” Diane recalls. “And I know the difference it makes.”
John’s upbringing, shaped by parents who lived through the Great Depression and the Great Migration, carried similar lessons about neighbors supporting one another in difficult times.
Those experiences shaped his legal career. At New Haven Legal Assistance, John worked with families facing housing instability and financial hardship, while also seeing how important United Way funding was to sustaining that work.
“United Way knows the community,” he says. “It meets the specific needs of neighborhoods and supports both short-term emergencies and long-term issues like education and housing.”
For Diane, involvement with United Way began through workplace campaigns at Yale and grew into leadership roles, including campaign chair, board chair, and helping launch Women United. One especially meaningful project was helping establish a library at the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Learning Center after discovering the preschool’s library had no books for students. United Way mobilized the community to fill the library with books, creating a resource that continues to serve children today.
Grounded in a shared faith, Diane and John have long approached service as an expression of their values. Whether organizing book drives, supporting Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, or building volunteer networks through their church and community organizations, they have consistently brought others into the work, including their three children.
“In some ways, we’re investors,” Diane reflects. “We’re investing in people, investing in communities, and helping to create something better for the next generation.”
For John, the motivation is simple: “Love is not just an emotion, it’s also action.”
Today, Diane and John remain deeply engaged in issues such as housing, food access, literacy, and economic stability, while continuing to encourage others to recognize their own ability to make a difference.
