[Archived] "Salute to Women" Awards Banquet Honors Eight Women and Creates New Award

City Press Release

	City of Alexandia, Virginia Commission for Women 110 N. Royal Street, Room 201 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 www.alexandriava.gov
Telephone:(703) 838-5030		Fax:(703) 838-4976

Women leaders – of Alexandria’s past, present and future – were honored Monday night at the annual “Salute to Women” awards banquet sponsored by the Alexandria Commission for Women, at the Holiday Inn in Old Town. Eight women were honored for their outstanding contributions to the City and a special award was made to recently retired City Manager Vola Lawson.

Lynn Jordan, chair of the Commission for Women, welcomed over 250 people to the banquet, noting that this year is the 20th anniversary of the awards. Jordan also thanked Vola Lawson, who was chair of the Ad Hoc Committee from 1972-1974 that examined the status of women in Alexandria, and later recommended the creation of the Commission for Women. Jordan announced that beginning next year, a new Salute to Women award will be named for Mrs. Lawson and be given to a City employee who, like Mrs. Lawson, affected the status of women in the City of Alexandria.

Proceeds from the banquet benefit programs of the Alexandria Office on Women, including 24-hour domestic violence and sexual assault response programs, job search assistance to unemployed and underemployed women, mentoring for young teens and educational programs on women’s health and other issues effecting women and their children.

Keynote speaker Maureen Bunyan, WJLA news anchor spoke about her experiences in journalism and her work as a founder of the International Women's Media Foundation. Alexandria City Council members Redella Pepper and Lois Walker presented the awards to eight inspiring Alexandria citizens. They are:

NORMA GATTSEK received the Marguerite Payez Award, the highest honor of the Commission for Women Salute to Women awards, for dedicating thirty years of her life to leading, advocating and helping the women of Alexandria. She served in City government in many roles, but most recently as the Director of the Office on Women. Her work on the state and national level have helped to define strategies for supporting sexual assault victims, women caught in the trap of domestic violence and legal aid for abused women. As a member and subsequently Vice Chair of the Commission for Women, this honoree assisted with the development of many new and interesting projects. She implemented a training seminar on
"Women, Credit and the Law," as well as other educational programs for women. She assisted in the development of the Alexandria Rape Victim Companion Program, one of the first two programs for rape victims in Virginia. She lobbied untiringly for legislation and policy changes at all levels of government to improve the status of women. She served as a member of the Alexandria Community Services Board where her priority was services for women and during that time assisted in the opening of the City's first home for women substance abusers.

ELAINE PEOPLES received the Women's Health & Safety Advocate Award for her work to improve the health of women and children in Alexandria. A life-long volunteer, she began her full-time work life as a school nurse in Alexandria's schools. She became involved in lobbying the state legislature for quality school health services. She served as a member of the Alexandria Task Force on Child Abuse and the Alexandria AIDS Task Force. But her most significant contributions during her school career were to the health of special education children, helping their families understand their special health needs and assisting them in obtaining the necessary resources to meet those needs. In 1989 she was nominated for an Outstanding Achievement in Special Education Award. In 1993, she turned to a different kind of nursing, becoming a public health nurse for the City's Health Department. In 1999 she was awarded Virginia's highest nursing honor Public Health Nurse of the Year. Her patients are among the most vulnerable of Alexandria's residents: primarily pregnant women, young mothers, infants and children. Her sincere commitment is demonstrated through her great sensitivity, gentle direction, and reassuring presence.

SHERRY WILSON BROWN received the Cultural Affairs Award for advocating for the arts in Alexandria. She has led the Alexandria Arts Forum, a coalition of artists, arts administrators and patrons to create an on-going dialogue with City civic, education and business leaders about the multi-faceted role of the arts in our community. During her many years with Alexandria Arts Forum, she has inspired many collaborative efforts including her creative bus tour of Alexandria's public art called From Site to Sight. She is the director of management and resources of MetroStage, Northern Virginia's oldest professional theatre. In 1991, she was chosen the theatre's Volunteer of theYear in recognition of her tireless energy. And she is an artist herself. As a creative writer, she has spun tales about the English countryside, created a children's cookbook made up of recipes of dishes found throughout the British Isles, and written fanciful stories featuring her very own godchildren.

BETH TEMPLE received the Legislative and Public Policy Award for her work in legislating and politics. A dedicated advocate of women's issues, she "figured out that while lobbying elected officials was a worthwhile endeavor, electing officials already predisposed to supporting these issues would be an even more effective way of improving the status of women," as her award read. Her leadership and campaign savvy has contributed to the successful campaigns of several of the elected officials with us this evening. For the past six years, she has been Vice Mayor Bill Euille's Administrative Assistant. Her constituent service is exceptional using her expertise on municipal issues and legislative activities to liaison between citizens and
City leaders. She is an active volunteer serving for seven years as a member of the Board of the Community Partners for Children (formerly Ho Ho Ho). She has been a tireless fund raiser for Vanguard Services (a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program), Christmas in April and as director of development for Capital City Opera.

JO ANN E. MILLER received the Woman to Woman, Making a Difference Award, given for only the second time, her vocation lending a helping hand to women in need. Her volunteer work has taken her from educational endeavors to the arts and from families in need of shelter to women in abusive relationships. She served with Vola Lawson on the ad hoc committee that recommended the Commission for Women and became one of its first Commissioners. She has been a supporting friend of ALIVE, assisting families less fortunate to find medical care, housing, jobs, and other services. She dedicated several years as a counselor at the Alexandria Women's Shelter. She has served as a member of the Community Services Board and is currently a member of the Alexandria Commission on Aging where she is chairperson of the Public Security Subcommittee. Her committee assists seniors with information on health care, employment opportunities, housing, recreation and security. In addition, she has served the United Way, been a Board member of the Athenaeum, and is a past president of the Alexandria branch of the American Association of University Women.

DIANE P. DELLEFIELD received the Career Development and Education/ Training Award for her work developing safe, affordable and exemplary child care through the Campagna Kids program. Dellefield is a national leader in the development of School-Age Child Care not only as a profession, but having national standards and accreditation programs. Creating new programs takes dedication and boundless energy, but she has also found the funding to put those programs in place. Securing grants to offer an enriched after-school learning environment resulted in more than a dozen programs, from Reading is Fundamental to Comic Book Writing, being offered to Alexandria's children while their parents worked. She provided a safe, secure environment to over 8,000 children during the course of her career. This is truly a bittersweet moment of honor, because she has just retired from her position with Campagna Kids and will be missed by one and all.

KIM KOCH received the adult Youth Community Service award for her work helping victims of child abuse. As program director for SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now), she is responsible for overseeing and managing both the Alexandria Court Appointed Special Advocate
Program, and the Parent Nurturing Program. Through her leadership, volunteers and staff work diligently to help children who may be victims of abuse or neglect, their mothers and family members. She is currently a member of the Northern Virginia Turn Off the Violence Coalition and is President of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Fairfax County Victim Assistance Network. She has been involved in the Alexandria Social Services Advisory Board and the Alexandria Early Childhood Commission. She has been very active with an innovative project called Kids, the Court, and the Arts, which attempts to provide kids who are interacting with the Court alternative outlets through artistic expression.

PATRICE GREEN received the youth Youth Community Service Award for being a role model for the youth of Alexandria and an inspiring citizen for all of us. As a member of the Alexandria Youth Policy Commission, she has been lauded for her energy, intelligence, insight and leadership. A junior at T.C. Williams High School, she has a rigorous schedule of honors and advanced placement courses. But she also finds time for the Spanish Honor Society and the King Street Singers honor choir. And she served as President of both her freshman and sophomore classes. Her volunteer activities are many and varied. She is active in the Alexandria Police Athletic League Explorers Post, a veteran Peer Mediator, and served with distinction on the planning committee of the City's successful Call to Community Youth Forum. As a founding member of the Alexandria Youth Council, she represented Alexandria's youth at the National League of Cities meetings in Los Angeles, California. In being nominated, Green was described as "holding firm values, including tolerance, inclusiveness and justice chief among them."