YWCA presents honors to female visionaries BY LAYLA FARMER THE CHRONICLE More than 400 people attend ed the YWCA's annual Leadership Awards luncheon last Thursday. Dubbed, "Women of Vision," the annual ceremony has become a signature event for the YW. "We've been honoring women in this community for over 20 years," commented Florence Corpening, CEO of the YWCA, which includes both the Glade Street and Gateway loca tions. "Companies select the women - they decide what women they want to honor within their corporation - we just get the opportunity to honor them." Eighteen women were recog nized at the luncheon, held at the Benton Convention Center this year. "They're all women of vision; they have been productive in this community, not only on their jobs but in the community as well, and that's what we look for in cele brating women who receive this award," Corpening said. "They all have a lot of the same kind of characteristics - dedication, car ing and passion ." Among those honored at Thursday's event was a close knit group of women known as the "Fab Five." Michelle Cook, Lynn Eisenberg, Sarah Holthouser. Mary Jamis and Janie Wilson came together to form The Women's Fund in 2005. "Numerous statistics show and validate exactly why we're doing what we're doing," Wilson said. c "From the domestic vio lence numbers to the poverty numbers to the unequal education numbers - you name it - women get the short shrift, and" that's unfortunate. We're hoping to certainly make a difference." To date, the nonprofit has awarded nearly $150000 in grant money to local institutions and initiatives that serve women and girls. "I was blown away by the void in our community - so many women with so many needs," Cook commented. "We looked at the community and all of the YWCA Photos Dozens of local women of excellence were honored last week. money that goes to issues, but (only) a small percentage of it was going to women and girls in our community." The fund is a donor-advised subsidiary of the Winston-Salem Foundation. Its membership is open to any woman who wishes to join, Holthouser says. "It recognizes that every woman is a philanthropist if she acknowledges it herself," she commented. More than 650 women have become members so far. "Unlike most funds, we're reaching out to our members and asking them, 'How would you spread thse dollars around?"' Jamis explained. "We give them a vote and we've found that it's a very important piece of why they participate in this process ." The work has been powerful for the founders as well, Eisenberg says. "It's been so exciting and enriching to see that women have a voice and a lot of women don't know that they have one," she commented. 'Together, we're making a difference and hopeful ly, that will continue and we will continue to grow." i i Current YWCA CEO Florence Corpening with trailblazer Martha Young, a former head of the agency. As head of the nation's oldest educational institution for women. Dr. Susan Pauly knows a thing or two about women of vision. The Salem Academy and College president spoke at length about the many important roles women play in her keynote address. She urged those in the audience to take time out to smell the roses. "There are hidden blessings in the crazy quilt balance of our lives," Pauly said. "Living fully in the moment can bring surpris ing gifts." The YWCA is just as vital to young women now as when it was founded 100 years ago, Pauly asserts. Susan Pauly speaks. *v "We know this work is far from over," she sAid. "We can choose any category - health, education, literacy - and see we have rrfuch to do." She praised the honorees for their dedication to the cause of helping others. "Each of you set a uniqug. shining example," she pro claimed. "Winston-Salem can only grow stronger for women like you." In addition to the Fab Five, 13 other women were recognized as 2008 Women of Vision. They are: Jean Adams, nominated by Womble, Carlyle. Sandrige & Rice; Betsy Annese nominated by NewBridge Bank; Simona Atkins Allen, nominated by Excalibur Direct Mail / Marketing Services; Karen Bartoletti, nominated by Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust; Dr. Sharon Covitz, nomi nated by Forsyth Technical Community College; Brennan Dawson, nominated by Reynolds American, Inc?.; Annamarie D'Souza, nominated by, Hanesbrands, Inc.; Margaret Ann Hofler, nominated by BB&T; Pam Kahl, nominated by Lois Levin; Sallye Liner, nominated by United Way of Forsyth County; Leigh McMillan, nominated by Annese Public Relations; Willette Mosby-Reynolds, nominated by Wachovia; and Maijorie Rorie, nominated by Truliant Federal Credit Union. WXII's Nicole Ducouer served as emcee and Shirley Shouse served as lunch eon chair. 1929 The Great Depression 1973 The Oil Crisis 1903 *?% 2001 September 11th Attacks WWII 1987 Black Monday 2007 Subprime Mortgage Crisis 2008 A We've remained strong and stable through the last 105 years. So you can rely on us f<3r the next 105. As a country, we've endured many difficult times over the past century. Through it all Piedmont Federal Savings Bank has remained steadfast. No customer of ours has ever lost a penny that was deposited with us. We are one of the top-rated financial institutions in the nation based on our financial strength and stability* And we continu6 to help our customers make the right financial decisions with their money As the economy faces another period of uncertainty, customers of Piedmont Federal Savings Bank can be assured their money and their peace of mind are secure. Piedmont FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK WITH YOU THROUGH LIFE: MORTGAGES SAVINGS SOLUTIONS WWW.PIEDMONTFEDERAL.COM ? 336.770.1000 ? MEMBER FDIC ? Measured by capital ratios and debt to equity ratios

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view