By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA––San Diego Rotary 33 will honor its 70th Mr. and Mrs. San Diego recipients, Ben and Nikki Clay, of Mission Hills, with the prestigious award on December 5.
San Diego Rotary selected the Clays for their dedicated years of service to the San Diego community.
“San Diego Rotary Club 33 is excited to select Ben and Nikki Clay for the Mr. and Mrs. San Diego 2024 award,” says Mia Harenski, club president, San Diego Rotary. “We are lucky to witness a couple like the Clays, who’ve given so much to San Diego, and continue to do so even as they’ve retired. They are a San Diego gem and an inspiration to me and so many others, and most deserving of holding the title.”
The Clays have called America’s Finest City their home for over 50 years. They met while attending San Diego State University in the late 1960s, the place they like to say helped launch them. However, upon graduation in 1968, the future looked grim. Mrs. Clay recalls the challenging times for them as the restored military draft and increase of the height limit which had previously exonerated her husband, no longer applied. He immediately enrolled in the Army Medical Service and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps from 1969 to 1972. While he was serving on active duty, she worked as the Education Director at Walson Army Hospital and helped Vietnam veterans earn their high school diplomas and college credits.
Upon returning to San Diego after military service in the early 1970s, Mr. Clay provided legislative representation for the City of San Diego and County of San Diego, where he served as the director of the Intergovernmental Affairs Office and was responsible for supervising legislative advocacy activities in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. In 1984, he founded The Clay Co., a government relations firm providing strategic counsel and implementing effective government relations programs at the federal level with offices in San Diego, Sacramento, and Washington D.C. In 1986, Ken Carpi came on board, and the company became Carpi & Clay. Ben oversaw the development and government relations activities at the City and County of San Diego, the Port of San Diego, and the Water Authority Commission. For 35 years, Mr. Clay specialized in legislative and administrative advocacy at the State of California, representing public agencies, private companies, and not-for-profit organizations. In addition to running a successful advocacy firm, he was also involved in many civic and philanthropy-focused initiatives across the state. He retired from Carpi and Clay in 2009.
Mrs. Clay started her career at the County of San Diego serving in many capacities including Citizens Charter Review, Waste to Energy and Recycling, and Budget oversight while establishing a job sharing program. She served as a senior vice president for Stoorza, Ziegaus, & Metzger, the largest public and government relations firm in San Diego for over ten years. By 2000, she joined her husband and established The Clay Co. where she fully retired in 2020. Over the years she has served numerous non-profit, civic, and charitable organizations in San Diego, Sacramento, and Washington D.C.
Together, the Clays have become important figures in San Diego; their civic leadership paved the way for some of the region’s most iconic celebrations and initiatives. Their mutual support toward one another has opened doors for women in leadership, in various roles typically held by men.
Mrs. Clay became the first female board chair of the Downtown San Diego Partnership and the San Diego Holiday Bowl. She was also the first woman to serve on the Board of the National Solid Waste Association of North America. She has been a proud San Diego Rotary member since 1992, having served on numerous Rotary committees and is serving on the Foundation Committee.
She continues to inspire new generations of women leaders and has followed through with her commitment to public service. She actively serves on the Boards of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, The Old Globe, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Diego State University Mission Valley Enterprises Board, and Scripps Health Board of Trustees. Previously, Mrs. Clay has served as chair of LEAD San Diego, SDSU Campanile Foundation Board, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Board of Forestry overseeing Cal Fire and Forestry practice in California. Over the years, various mayors have appointed her to Chargers and Padres Task Forces.
As a former president of the San Diego Symphony, Mr. Clay serves on their board. He served 13 years as the Board Chair of The San Diego River Conservancy, where former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger originally appointed him. He also serves as the Chair of the USS Midway Foundation Board and also serves on the USS Midway Board of Directors. Ben has served on the boards of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, The Maritime Museum of San Diego, and The San Diego Natural History Museum, and as a member of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation’s Strategic Roundtable. He joined San Diego Rotary in 1978, serving as a past president, and chaired the club’s Centennial Celebration in 2011.
The Clays have helped fund various projects in Sacramento and San Diego. In Sacramento, they established a fund to replace storm-damaged trees in and around the State Capitol. In San Diego, They co-chaired the San Diego State University Centennial Celebration in 1997 and the City of San Diego’s 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. They are very active alumni of SDSU, helping wherever they can.
A 1968 graduate of San Diego State University, Mr. Clay holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration and, along with his wife, was recognized as one of the 50 top graduates of the school of public administration. Mrs. Clay received her undergraduate degree in 1967 and a Master’s in Public Administration in 1972 and was awarded a doctorate of humane letters in 2022 from San Diego State University.
In 1997, they co-chaired the University’s Centennial Celebration and awarded an internship scholarship in their name to support students in the School of Public Affairs. In 1998, the Clays were honored as SDSU’s “Alumni of the Year.” In 2016, the Clay Gateway was opened as the formal campus entrance with shining plaques in their honor inscribed with “Through These Gates Will Pass Our Future Leaders.”
The Clays support SDSU’s Presidential Scholars, the Ben and Nikki Clay Scholarship in Public Affairs, The Campanile Foundation Endowed Chair, the Veterans Program, Fowler Scholars, the Alumni Center, Mission Valley Park and Bike Trail, Athletics Directors Cabinet, and the Performing Arts District at San Diego State University. They continue to serve on various advisory boards at SDSU.
The Mr./Ms./Mrs. San Diego Award is the most prestigious award granted to a San Diegan. This longstanding San Diego tradition dates back to 1952 with the Grant Club and has been with the San Diego Rotary Club since 1976. To be nominated and qualify as a recipient, you should be a living person, not now in government elective office, who has contributed outstanding community betterment to the San Diego region in various ways, through his/her efforts over a long time. The Mr./Ms./Mrs. San Diego Award is not a fundraising tool or sponsorship, it solely exists to recognize a worthy recipient who has made a significant improvement to San Diego.
Award recipients are chosen by the San Diego Rotary Club’s past presidents who are more closely involved in the community and those making the largest impact through a voting process after reviewing all qualified nominations.
Previous recipients include Father Joe Carroll, Cecil Steppe, Leon Williams, Jerry Coleman, Malin Burnham, Jerry Sanders, and most recently, the late Peter Seidler. Though initially given only to men from 1952 to 1991, the award has also been given to multiple women, with standouts like Betty Peabody, Patti Roscoe, Yvonne Larsen, and Deborah Szekely. This is the fourth time in the history of the awards program that a married couple is honored.
