Donald Pettit spearheaded environmental initiatives that helped define the City of Dawson Creek as a leader in sustainability in North America. He was a founding member of the Peace Energy Co-operative that promoted the first commercial wind power project in BC. He created the Citizen's Advisory on Environmental Research and was a leader in the development of Energy House on the Dawson Creek Campus of Northern Lights College.
BC Achievement is an independent foundation established in 2003 that honours excellence and inspires achievement in British Columbia.