Editor's note: The AnnArbor.com Young Citizen of the Year Award recognizes leadership and community service on the part of area high school students. Today, we present the winner and nine finalists.

Before she discovered the Neutral Zone teen center in her junior year, Katherine Ford said she got poor grades and didn’t care too much about school.

But along the way, Ford found the spark of inspiration and her path in life as an advocate for diversity and the arts. It's for her work with the Neutral Zone and her other volunteer efforts that Ford has been chosen as AnnArbor.com’s Young Citizen of the Year.

Ford’s peers at the Neutral Zone, a teen center that emphasizes community leadership and artistic expression, invited her to join the board of directors. And Ford, a graduate of Greenhills School, played key roles in producing Breakin’ Curfew, a teen talent showcase presented annually with the University Musical Society at the Power Center.

• Related article: Young Citizen of the Year finalists

“Neutral Zone helped me because I learned to see what was really important and what I loved to do and that, once you find something you love, you kind of go for it and you don’t stop,” said Ford, 18, who will attend the University of Vermont this fall.

Lori Roddy, associate executive director of the Neutral Zone, said Ford’s strongest qualities were exhibited through her work as lead curator of Breakin’ Curfew, an annual showcase of everything from dance performances to classical music and poetry to rock bands.

Ford also emerged as the leader of a yearlong peer outreach group of diverse teens from the Neutral Zone and the Don Bosco Hall, a nonprofit agency that helps youths and their families in Detroit.

“What is fantastic about Katherine is she is really involved in connecting with youth that aren’t like her, have different interests and different backgrounds, working to build relationships over time,” said Roddy, who nominated Ford for the award. “We need to see more young people making those kinds of efforts. To me, that’s real leadership.”

Roddy added: “She gets her work done. It’s very focused. She sets goals and she gets things done and makes things happen.”

Ford’s list of involvement with the Neutral Zone and greater Ann Arbor community is a long one.

In addition to serving on the board of directors, which is equally split between teens and adult members, Ford served on the center’s Teen Advisory Council, which holds fundraisers and service projects throughout the year. She also headed Breakin’ Curfew’s marketing efforts, overseeing outreach to local media and finding artists to make promotional materials, stepping this past spring into a producer and development role.

“It’s really about finding something where I felt I could contribute and give something back,” Ford said. “Like with Breaking Curfew, it was a really great learning experience. I got to meet all these artists, I got to learn all these things about art that I didn’t know, but then I also got to give all these young musicians and artists from all across Michigan an opportunity to really perform and get out there and do something they would never have been able to do.

“It’s kind of like, you give and you get, and I got a lot out of it.”

Ingrid Racine, the music coordinator for the Neutral Zone, who worked closely with Ford on Breakin’ Curfew shows in 2010 and 2011, said Ford took on the mission of sharing the arts as a creative advocate, even though she’s not technically an artist herself.

“Katherine is ridiculously accountable and reliable,” she said. “She’s the most accountable teenager I know.”

Jeff Beyersdorf, technical director with the University Musical Society, who also worked with Ford on Breakin' Curfew, said Ford came late to the show's planning at a time when many aspects of the production were lagging.

"It was a delight working with her. She was quite an extraordinary young woman. She's very focused, very organized and quite adaptable, which is an important quality to have."

He said there are many variables to manage with the show, including more than 20 acts, many of whom have never before performed live, as well as lighting, video, audio and scheduling.

"The show wouldn't have been nearly the success that it was had Katherine not stepped up into that position," he said. "She did an amazing job."

Ford also found time in her busy schedule to volunteer with Washtenaw Youth Development Initiatives and with SafeHouse Center, a local resource for domestic violence and sexual assault. Ford said the latter experience was particularly eye-opening for showing her how many different people are affected by domestic violence.

Ford also helped kick off the Building Bridges program with teens from Don Bosco Hall in Detroit. The goal of the pilot program is to break down stereotypes between different groups and create positive changes in both communities.

“It’s different compared to a lot of other programs because it’s very much so kind of an emotional challenge,” Ford said of the yearlong program spent holding diversity workshops and touring each other’s hometowns. “We still did work and we still did workshops and other projects and things like that, but it was really trying to get to know another culture.”

Ford was involved in peer mentoring and a group called Students Organized Against Racism in high school and plans to keep active in college. She’s thinking of studying art history and possibly going into arts management, but said she wants to keep active in community diversity issues.

“I probably will have to narrow it down because I will be a full time student and I kind of have to pick and choose,” she said. “I’m excited to go to college and continue to develop this work.”

Sven Gustafson is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at sventg123(at)gmail(dot)com, or follow him on Twitter.