2019 Inland Northwest Women of the Year- Sunday, September 22, 2019

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S U N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 9

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We asked, and the Inland Northwest answered.

We put out a call seeking nominations of impressive women, leaders in business, politics, arts, philanthropy and social services. We received more than 150 nominations, and today we dedicate a special section to our 10 honorees, in addition to five other women honored for their lifetime achievements.

WOMEN OF THE YEAR Ten women of distinction doing good works in the Inland Northwest

TONI LODGE, PAGE 2

SANDY WILLIAMS, PAGE 3

TRACIE MEIDL, PAGE 4

LINDA THOMPSON, PAGE 5

JORDAN STEVENSON, PAGE 6

PAM SENSKE, PAGE 7

WENDY WILLIAMS-GILBERT, PAGE 8

ELAINE DAMSCHEN, PAGE 10

MAURA RUIZ, PAGE 11

THERESA HART, PAGE 12

LEGACY RECOGNITION Five women whose lifetime of work has left an impact on the region

SUSAN KENNEDY, PAGE 13

DR. CAROL GUTHRIE, PAGE 14

SHEILA COLLINS, PAGE 15

SUSAN VIRNIG, PAGE 16

PAULA BULKLEY, PAGE 17

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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Lodge leads through the NATIVE Project

‘A CHAMPION FOR THE DISENFRANCHISED’

TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Toni Lodge moved to Spokane in 1979. A decade later, she was among the community leaders behind creation of the NATIVE Project. It started as a leadership and mental health program for children and adolescents. Now it runs a community health center.

By Treva Lind

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Seconds into a conversation, Toni Lodge taps into humor.

She’s a natural storyteller, too.

But other clues about Lodge soon surface, such as her tenacity and passion for community when talking about the past 30 years of her work in Spokane.

Lodge, 63, is CEO of the NATIVE Project on West Maxwell Avenue in the West Central neighborhood. The center offers integrated medical and behavioral health services, a dental clinic and pharmacy. But there’s more, such as its ongoing work for Native children and youth.

That focus started it all – with summer camps, leadership development and behavioral health.

“Her impact on the Native American community in Spokane has been formative and by extension, our entire community has benefited,” wrote Dr. John McCarthy. “She has been a champion for the disenfranchised and voiceless.

“She began working on the concept of Native empowerment in Spokane 32 years ago.

She helped create a vision of the NATIVE Project.”

A member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe, Lodge grew up in North Dakota and Montana. She moved to Spokane in 1979, at first visiting a sister here.

She soon discovered a broader family.

“I found a very robust urban Indian community here with lots of leaders,” Lodge said.

“They had resources; they were very welcoming. I thought, this is an interesting place.”

A thriving Native American community still exists, she said, perhaps not in the way people think.

“In our clinic here, we serve people from over 300 tribes, so there are lots and lots of Native people who live in Spokane,” Lodge said. “That’s probably our best kept secret, but it’s very connected, very supportive and very thriving.”

I think oratory storytelling is a traditional Native value. I think of all the Native stories, and people who were able to stand up and speak truth.”

Toni Lodge NATIVE Project

Looking at her span of work, Lodge credits an early career as a journalist for shaping her as a person and developing strong writing and storytelling skills to describe community needs.

During the 1970s, she worked as a reporter for Knight Ridder and also in the United Tribes Technical College’s communications office in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Covering stories then coincided with a strong Native American social movement and impactful federal legislation, she said, such as the Indian Civil Rights and Self-Determination and Education Assistance acts.

“As a young newspaper reporter, I got to cover all the exciting political and social change of the ’70s up close,” she said.

“It very much shaped who I am as a person, about the possibility of positive social change, that there is nothing impossible if we organize, and commit spirit and time and resources to making it happen.”

Bismarck also gave her experience “being an urban Indian” before Spokane, she said.

That’s when she laughed again.

“They have much better snow removal in Bismarck than in Spokane.”

Here, she worked for a regional tribe, the YWCA and then in a pivotal job for Spokane Public Schools’ Indian Education Program. Working with kids and families, she saw unmet needs.

“Even though we had a robust community, we didn’t have a lot

of resources for Native kids.

They were getting left out. Our graduation rates were low. Our suicide was high. There were no substance abuse treatment programs.”

She and other Spokane Native American professionals met regularly to seek solutions. In 1985, the group created the Indian Youth Leadership Program as a core organization.

By 1989, she and other leaders decided to create the nonprofit NATIVE Project to provide services such as leadership camp, licensed adolescent substance use disorder treatment, mental health services for children and adolescents, and family counseling and education.

Lodge weaves storytelling into that humble start.

“We all passed the hat one day,” she said. “We got $100, and our accountant who is still our accountant told us that to apply for a Secretary of State license and to apply for 501(c)(3) status, we’re going to need $125.

“One of our board members donated an old car; we took it up to the Kalispel Tribe Powwow and raffled it off. We got like $200, so we had enough to incorporate, and that was 1989.

Last year our budget was $10 million. It’s such a community effort. It wasn’t a Toni Lodge effort.”

In the mid-’90s, an urban Indian health center in Spokane closed, meaning patients had to drive to Indian Health Service clinics in Worley or Wellpinit.

In 1999, the NATIVE Project opened a medical clinic in Spo-

kane.

The NATIVE Project’s clinic is funded by Indian Health Services and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

About eight years ago, it became a federally qualified community health center, with services available to everyone, not just Native Americans.

Along with storytelling skills, Lodge isn’t afraid to speak publicly.

“I’ve written millions and millions of dollars’ worth of grants,” she said. “Writing is my superpower. I learned it taking people’s stories down. When I write a grant, it’s like telling a story.

“I think oratory storytelling is a traditional Native value. I think of all the Native stories, and people who were able to stand up and speak truth.”

Doing that, while working hard, means getting invited more often to the tables of community discussions, she said, “but there are still tables we don’t get invited to.”

One of her goals is to help people who go unheard get heard, from women and people of color to those in poverty.

She also believes in mentoring others and is known for supporting Native American artists, with multiple pieces adorning the NATIVE Project. She and other employees encourage community activities, from dancing to drumming.

Over the years, she’s watched children go through camps and leadership programs, graduate from college and work in differ-

ent fields, some at the NATIVE Project or elsewhere.

In her personal life, Lodge jokes her other “superpower” is being a grandma. She has three adult children and 10 grandchildren. Lodge enjoys going places with grandkids, friends and her 80-year-old mother.

“There’s always something new to try, and that’s my hobby,” Lodge said.

She credits the NATIVE Project’s growth to the nonprofit’s fiscal responsibility, balanced with its mission.

First there was a tiny building. Then it saved enough to buy bits of property until owning half a block. In 2007, the group erected its current structure.

Vandalism doesn’t occur.

“I think it’s because we don’t treat people bad,” Lodge said.

“Sacred hospitality, that’s our mission and the way we want to treat people.”

The NATIVE Project’s logo has seven stones and four feathers, embracing generations.

“From that Indian perspective, that’s what the seven stones are, thinking of seven generations ahead,” she said.

“The four feathers are four directions. If you’re really thinking about the future, it has to be about the kids.”

It’s also about creating community, added Lodge, citing studies about people living longer because they have strong relationships: “The community owns this. It’s not just the Native community, we serve people of all ethnicities now, which is awesome.

“I loved seeing the building built. I’d love to see another building while I’m still here. I’d like to have a children and youth services center, so we can create more activities for children and youth,” she said. “That’s my next goal.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5439 treval@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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Sandy Williams, photographed in front of the future Carl Maxey Center, is a community organizer and publisher of the Black Lens newspaper since 2015. She hopes the new center will give Spokane’s African American community a place of their own.

Newspaper publisher eyes center for African American community

EQUITY DRIVES SANDY WILLIAMS

By Kip Hill

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Even as a junior high student in Cheney, Sandy Williams had no trouble speaking up when she saw something wrong.

“Fairness was really important to me, and when I was in junior high school, girls weren’t allowed to take shop,” said Williams, now a 58-year-old community organizer and, for the past four years, publisher and editor of The Black Lens, a newspaper focusing on issues in Spokane’s black community.

“They could take home economics, and I didn’t want to take home economics. I wanted to take shop.”

The preteen’s English teacher encouraged Williams to pen an essay pushing to change the policy, one that successfully persuaded the school to change its stance. From that experience, Williams said she learned that her voice could make a difference.

“A 12-year-old kid who discovers that she could take an action and you can change something, I think is a big thing,” Williams said.

That sense of fairness, and making sure the story of a community is told, has fueled Williams in her most recent endeavor, the community newspaper.

She has also represented Eastern Washington as a member of Washington State’s Commission on African American Affairs, been the interim executive director at the Odyssey Youth Center, which serves the region’s young LGBT population, and helped establish a Pride Center for the community at Eastern Washington University.

Williams’ latest undertaking is establishing the Carl Maxey Center in Spokane’s East Central Neighborhood, historically the center of the city’s black community. Williams, who returned to Spokane for good in 2006 after moving back and forth from the area to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television production, sees the renovated auto-body shop on Fifth Avenue as a logical extension of the newspaper’s work to establish and tell the stories of a community typically overlooked in Spokane.

“I think the presence of this, just the mere presence of it, helps move Spokane in a direction that it says it wants to be in,” Williams said in an inter-

view last week, placing her palm on the September edition of her newspaper. “I think all I’m doing is challenging Spokane to live up to what it claims. Otherwise, stop saying it.”

Renika Williams, Sandy Williams’ daughter who lives in New York, remembered her mother calling her after driving past the building and sharing a vision for its future.

“She knew that was it, she was going to do something huge in the community with this building,” said Renika Williams, who works as a fashion designer. “She showed it to me, and I think it kind of just looks like a building.”

Renika Williams said she and her mother share the trait of dreaming and talking big, but she’s seen a drive in her mom to establish the Carl Maxey Center that goes beyond that usual lofty thinking and talk.

“This has always been different for her,” said Renika Williams. “She’s been trying to figure out how to make that happen.”

In eight weeks last summer, Sandy Williams led a nonprofit called Friends of the Black Lens in raising $100,000 from the community to buy the building.

An additional $350,000 was included in the state construction budget this year to fund initial conceptual work and the first phase of a remodel, which will begin this fall, Williams said.

The example was set by West Central’s NATIVE Project, a community gathering place and service center for the region’s native tribal population, Williams said. She cited Toni Lodge, chief executive officer of the project, as “my mentor” and an example of the city’s closeknit community of strong female leaders.

“I need to do that, ” Williams recalls telling Lodge. “I need to do what you did, for our community.”

The center will serve as a place for black Spokane residents to organize and push for long-talked-about racial and social justice initiatives that indicators show the city still lags behind on, Williams said.

It was an initial report about Spokane police stopping people of color more frequently that prompted Williams, who calls herself a storyteller and not a journalist, to begin publishing her newspaper. Williams suspects that progress on that issue, and the elimination of dis-

proportionate disciplinary measures toward black students in the city’s public schools, remains elusive.

“We, meaning Spokane, have a real difficult time discussing difficult things,” Williams said.

“I think that’s playing out right now in local politics, and we just want to bury it underground.

That makes us more comfortable than just sort of putting it out there.”

Williams used the quite literal example of a recent proposal, floated in a video by businessman Larry Stone, to bury the Spokane Transit Authority’s downtown plaza as a means of solving the city’s urbanization problems, to show the city’s push-and-pull between growth and what she called “hanging on for dear life” to the city’s political and social past.

“I love Larry, so that’s no affront to him as a person,” Williams said. “That’s how we handle it here. We’d just as soon not

see it and talk about it, and pretend that this is not 2019. You want to be an urban center, but you don’t really want to be an urban center. You want to be a white, little rural town. That’s what you want. Let’s have that conversation, and I don’t think we can do that.”

Mary Ann Murphy, the founding director of Partners with Families & Children in Spokane and a community advocate for children, nominated Williams for the newspaper’s list of women of the year. Murphy cited Williams’ skill at bringing communities together and advocating on behalf of the vulnerable as reasons she deserved the honor.

“She always tells the truth, and the truth will set you free,” Murphy said of Williams, whom she has known for decades. “I think that’s a large part of it.”

The Maxey Center will give office space to the Black Lens, a free publication that succeeded

the African American Voice, a newspaper that artist and Eastern Washington professor Bob Lloyd ran in the late 1990s. Currently, Williams publishes the monthly newspaper out of her home.

The center is also intended to give the black community a place of its own, which Williams hopes will go a long way toward lending legitimacy to the issues they continue to face.

“Fundamentally, it’s about creating a place where the focus of the place is black people,” she said. “You have to say this in Spokane, because people freak out. It’s not that white people can’t come in. No one’s going to stand at the door and say you can’t come in. But it’s about having a place where the focus, and the attention, is on the black community.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5429 kiph@spokesman.com

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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Capt. Tracie Meidl credits the ‘women ahead of me that really paved the way’

A CALLING FOR POLICE WORK

By Adam Shanks THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

It started in high school with a career aptitude test.

Some 30 years later, Tracie Meidl is the highest-ranking woman in the Spokane Police Department, overseeing the department’s southside service area as a precinct captain.

Though she had no family in law enforcement and no inclination to join the profession, Meidl was invited to an open house following the career aptitude test and quickly signed on to the Boy Scouts of America’s Law Enforcement Exploring program, which she participated in for three years.

“Everything I learned, I just loved,” Meidl said.

After high school in Spokane, Meidl went to Eastern Washington University to study business. But it wasn’t long before law enforcement pulled her back in. In 1992, she became a reserve officer with the Spokane Police Department and was hired to attend the police academy in 1993.

Nearly 25 years later, Meidl was appointed in 2017 to her current position, where the region she oversees includes the South Hill, the East Central neighborhood and portions of Latah Valley.

Although married to Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl, a committee of other department leaders interviewed her and appointed her to the position to avoid a conflict of interest.

Ask her husband, and he’ll say that it’s Tracie who should be chief of police.

“As soon as she’s done with that incident or call, she’s on to the next one,” Craig Meidl said.

“It’s really unlike anything I’ve ever seen, her ability to maintain that equilibrium.”

When Meidl joined the force, it was about 10 percent female, a number that hasn’t budged much in the decades since. A 2017 cultural audit of the department found that of the 307 commissioned employees, 29 were women.

But at the time, Meidl didn’t think much of being a woman in a male-dominated field, and never felt like she wasn’t part of the team on patrol.

“It’s almost more in reflection that I think that. You just consider yourself part of the team and you don’t think you stand out at all,” she said.

She credited “women ahead of me that really paved the way,” including Terri Boardman and Judi Carl, “who were among the the first female officers who carved a path for other women.”

Carl, who retired as a captain in 2015 and once supervised Meidl, said Meidl “walks the walk.”

“She’s not ego-driven, and she has a passion for the job, a commitment to the city and a desire for things to always improve no matter what she’s involved in,” Carl said. “And I think that heart is truly critical in any police officer.”

Meidl has noticed the gender difference more at the adminis-

trative level than before, she added.

“I think women do have to work harder to be recognized at times. Not always, and there are people who treat you just the same as they would a male. It’s obviously not an always or never,” Meidl said.

A 2005 study, “Women Police: The Use of Force by and Against Female Officers,” found that female police officers are less likely to use force against a subject than their male counterparts, even though they are just as likely to be met with force.

“A lot of times, what it takes for law enforcement to not use force is they have to communicate very well, be very verbally tactical, de-escalate, and instead of fighting your way into handcuffs, talking your way into handcuffs. I know that’s helped me,” Meidl said.

It was early on in her career that Meidl developed an affinity for proactive, communityoriented policing that she remains recognized for, even as she’s ascended the ladder to captain. Though she’s no longer directly tasked with community policing, that approach is still baked into the way she goes about her work as a police captain.

“I have maintained and tried to increase my community engagement at all levels, just because you can’t reduce crime in the community without having the community on your side,” Meidl said.

It’s a philosophy demonstrated earlier this year when the city held a community meeting to discuss a proposed emergency homeless shelter at the former Grocery Outlet store on East Sprague Avenue. It was Meidl who joined city staff on the stage to hear and answer concerns about the project from neighborhood residents.

Her ability to handle a stressful call or event and quickly move on to the next task is noted by her peers.

“It’s not uncommon, people will be defiant or resistant, (but) she’s always able to be very calm and she does not allow that to be absorbed into her,” Craig Meidl said.

As a dog lover, Meidl jumped at the opportunity to join the department’s K-9 Unit in 1997, which she stayed on until 2005.

It forced her to work not only with the patrol unit, but collaborate with other agencies and organizations throughout the city – even the U.S. Postal Service.

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“She’s not ego-driven, and she has a passion for the job, a commitment to the city and a desire for things to always improve no matter what she’s involved in.”

“You get to be a little more proactive and impactful in a different way, and that’s taking drugs off the street,” Meidl said.

Meidl joined the department’s Patrol Anti-Crime Team as a sergeant in 2011, overseeing a team of officers responsible not for responding to calls for service but for tracking down people who had violated their probation or had warrants for their arrest.

“You can truly make an impact when you’re not just reacting to calls, you are hopefully, in theory, preventing calls from happening just by focusing on some of the worst of the worst of our criminals,” Meidl said.

She was promoted to lieutenant in charge of community, youth and intervention services, and helped launch the department’s chronic offender program, which identifies those who regularly commit property crimes and works to offer them resources.

It was born out of “trying to take a different approach, because we recognize we cannot arrest our way out of the problem,” Meidl said.

Spokane police are “trying to find a root cause and be able to flood these chronic offenders with resources, something that has never been done. But also hold them accountable,” Meidl said.

Under her leadership, the department also expanded its Police Activities League from a single city park to three, engaging youth and working to build bridges because “everybody recognizes that we have more in common than we have differences,” Meidl said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5136 adams@spokesman.com

Judi Carl Retired Spokane Police Department captain

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Tracie Meidl, a Spokane police captain and highest-ranking female within the department, has been named one of our women of the year.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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When Linda Thompson’s 3-year-old son, Trevor, was killed by a drunken driver, it put Thompson on a path toward a lifetime of work on the issue of substance abuse and pushing for policies and programs that would have prevented her son’s killer from being on the road.

Linda Thompson continues her efforts to prevent substance abuse

FOR THOMPSON, THE WORK REMAINS ‘‘

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Preventing drug and alcohol abuse as well as drunken driving is personal for almost everyone who goes through Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council’s doors, especially Linda Thompson, the organization’s executive director.

Her son, Trevor Pierce, was 3 when he was killed by a drunken driver and Thompson has spent the past 30 years making sure the memory of him never disappears. She said his death in 1986, and the trial of the man who drove the car that killed him, sparked a career of activism and advocacy as well as state and local change.

“He took the most precious thing from me,” Thompson said.

“People say, ‘Did you forgive him?’ and I really kind of set him aside and said, ‘What can I do to save another family from this?’ ” The crash that killed her son also took the life of a intellectually disabled young woman, seriously injured her father-inlaw and left her young daughter with minor injuries and years of trauma. The driver had already been arrested for DUI 17 times before the crash, and Thompson said her hope is that the state law and local prevention programs she’s championed for decades will stop situations like that before more people are killed.

“More than anything, I wish he would have had treatment,” she said, “that somebody would have said, ‘Look, instead of saying, don’t mess with him, he’s an old drunk, say ‘What can I do to help you?’ ” Trevor’s photo goes to events with Thompson when she shares the impacts of drunk driving, and it has a place on the wall in GSSAC’s office of other victims of drunk driving and people who have died of drug overdose. Those photos, all people connected to GSSAC employees, are displayed at events like the Walk for Recovery, and are always on display in the office.

Thompson has led GSSAC for 26 years, guiding the organization through state and federal priority changes, with a staff as large as 13 and as small as three.

Before leading the council, Thompson briefly worked in hospital administration and had

“I didn’t want Trevor to disappear.

So I still make time to tell his story.”

Linda Thompson Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council

a 13-year career in banking. She is a 1971 graduate of Central Valley High School, former Miss Spokane Valley and current Spokane Valley city councilwoman.

Thompson has run for office several times and has enjoyed public service, but said she’s known for decades that advocacy and prevention are where she belongs.

She said prevention, through educating youth, reducing risk factors and training law enforcement, and recovery have been her focus for the last several years. Thompson said repeatedly “locking people up” for drug use and DUIs will never change behavior and will make jail overcrowding worse.

Thompson has worked to destigmatize recovery, drug treatment and rehabilitation for decades, saying a conversation she had with a person seeking help for a family member made her realize she needed to expand her focus.

Several years ago, a woman called Thompson asking for information about out-of-state treatment options for her teenage son. Thompson told the woman there were treatment options in-state that were closer, but the woman said her husband was known in the community and they were afraid people might find out.

Thompson said sending someone away for treatment is far less effective then keeping them close, where they can build a support network they will see again, who can continue to encourage a lifestyle of sobriety.

“When he comes back from treatment, he will have the same friends, go to the same school, do the same kinds of things,” Thompson said, “nothing will have changed.”

She’s since worked to educate

the public about treatment and recovery and said GSSAC has probably presented in front of about 100,000 people, many of whom were not court-ordered to attend. She is also a leader for the Victim DUI panel and has taught at at the 24 Hour Jail Alternative DUI Education Program.

Thompson has been handson with many of the council’s programs. She is a frequent speaker at Spokane’s DUI panels, where victims of DUIs and their families share their stories with offenders who have been ordered by the court to attend.

She said the DUI panel, which she helped start in Spokane in the early 1990s, is a jail alternative that helps reduce recidivism. She said one of the most difficult parts of the panel is finding people to share their stories. Once they tell their story a few times, victims and their

families are usually ready to move on. Thompson said she’s been a speaker at the panel for many years.

“I didn’t want Trevor to disappear,” she said. “So I still make time to tell his story.”

Thompson is a member of the Washington Impaired Driving Advisory Council and a founding member of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence, a group that she has advocated for at the state level.

She was a member of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers for many years. Thompson has advocated for lowering the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08, increasing treatment options, utilizing an ignition interlock system and changing the impaired driving sentencing grid.

Tom Lloyd, a long-time substance abuse council board

member, said Thompson was instrumental in starting many of the drug and alcohol programs used in the Spokane area today.

Along with being a board member, Lloyd was a caseworker and liaison for drug court.

He said many of the people involved in those programs probably would still have a version of them without Thompson, but her work to collaborate, fund and lead those efforts kept them going and got many off the ground.

“It wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today without her,” Lloyd said.

Thompson, 66, said family members and friends have talked to her about retirement or looking into other careers.

She said she knows she’s not done advocating for prevention and treatment, however, and wouldn’t be ready to step down until another leader is ready to take her place.

She said every time she hears about a crash where a driver was impaired, she wonders what she, and the community, could have done or what they could still do.

“I love this work,” she said.

“Until we can get more people who are willing to come and help us, I can’t walk away.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5039 rebeccawh@spokesman.com

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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From Planned Parenthood to the United Nations, this Eagle flies high

JORDAN STEVENSON BRINGS ENERGY TO A VARIETY OF AREAS

By Emma Epperly THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

As a child Jordan Stevenson was an overachiever. She competed in speech and debate in high school, graduated with honors and loved to volunteer.

Then, just weeks before she finished high school, she found out her parents were not going to help her pay for college.

“It was completely unexpected,” Stevenson said. “It didn’t occur to anyone in the whole sphere of my life.”

Three years later Stevenson, 21, is a senior at Eastern Washington University studying international affairs. She has traveled out of the country on prestigious scholarships, founded campus groups and completed numerous internships – all in the pursuit of helping others.

Stevenson’s interests may be varied but all focus on helping those less privileged.

The road to college wasn’t easy though.

After high school, Stevenson got a few jobs to save up for college. She worked over 60 hours most weeks.

“I realized that I was feeling sorry for myself for not being able to get an education when there were millions of girls across the world who would never have access to it,” Stevenson said. “And all I had to do was work for it.”

So Stevenson began volunteering for Planned Parenthood, an organization she felt connected to both as a woman and a sexual assault survivor.

“I knew I had to do something else to make myself feel like the time I was spending on this earth was meaningful,” Stevenson said.

That’s when she met her husband and nominator, Tynan.

The pair met at the Vancouver pride parade and it was love at first sight, Stevenson said.

The couple, who are both bisexual, moved quickly. Stevenson proposed while they were talking about college plans, and the couple got married a few days later.

“It’s really a partnership,” Stevenson said. “He is such a supporter of me.”

For Stevenson, working at Planned Parenthood hit close to home.

“I know that Planned Parenthood does a ton of direct service providing health care to people when they can’t afford it,” she said.

Shortly after the couple started dating, Stevenson suffered a miscarriage. The experience pushed her toward serving others and sharing her personal story.

“When I was at my lowest points, I felt like my life was meaningless unless I was serving others,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson and her husband decided that EWU would be a good fit for both of them and transferred from WSU Vancouver in the winter of 2018.

Moving across the state came with its own set of hiccups.

“Oh, it was chaos. When we first moved, our lease did not start for the on-campus house for a month into the quarter,” Stevenson said.

The couple ended up living in a motel until they could move into married student housing.

“It was scary and not fun,” Stevenson said.

That didn’t stop Stevenson from jumping into school and her new job as an office assistant in the School of Global Learning.

“I have so many friends who had given me the advice to slow down first quarter,” Stevenson said. “ ‘Take it in, smell the roses, and try to have a normal semblance of traditional college life,’ but I knew right away that wasn’t going to happen.”

She interned at the Human Rights Education Institute and Planned Parenthood Global among her other volunteering and student leader positions.

In the fall of 2018, she researched political and electoral rights for the United Nations Development Program. That winter she received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman Award to study abroad in India this summer.

The “short” version of her résumé is three pages long; Stevenson acknowledges that she

‘‘

may be a workaholic.

“I just really feel like it’s my obligation but also my responsibility to serve,” Stevenson said.

“That’s what drives me and that pursuit of justice and the call and it sounds really hokey but it’s true.”

That push to serve has taken Stevenson to conferences around the U.S., where she proudly represents the Inland Northwest.

When she attended the United Nation Commission on the Status of Women conference, Stevenson was one of the only women who actually lived in a rural area.

It’s hard to empathize well with the difficulties faced by women and girls living in rural areas if you aren’t one of them, Stevenson said.

Stevenson loves advocating for policy change at all levels of government, but one of her biggest accomplishments is the emergency contraceptives vending machine she lobbied for at EWU. It’s located in the gender neutral bathroom on the first floor of the student union building. Easy access to emergency contraceptives is something Stevenson hopes will help students without health care and reduce the number of students who drop out due to un-

“I just really feel like it’s my obligation but also my responsibility to serve.”

Jordan Stevenson

planned pregnancies.

The vending machine was a personal intersection between her experiences with sexual assault and the health care policies she advocates for in the U.S. and globally.

When she attended a conference for her Planned Parenthood fellowship, she focused on global advocacy.

“It was humbling to talk to women from around the world,” she said.

The conference inspired her to continue advocating for health care rights at home and abroad. It also pushed her to streamline her goals.

“We’re not trying to change individual people from being bigoted or discriminatory, because that seems a little futile,” Stevenson said. “We’re looking at changing laws and enacting widespread change at a government level.”

Stevenson has one year of school left at EWU, and she doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon.

She hopes to go to graduate school in Washington, D.C., and eventually law school to study international and gender law.

The one thing Stevenson hopes she never loses sight of is working to make the world a “more perfect” place.

“I think that one of the things that I learned early on as an advocate is that using your story is the most effective way to advocate for legislation or for laws that matter to you and will make your life better – make your community’s lives better,” she said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5122 emmae@spokesman.com

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Jordan Stevenson is a senior at Eastern Washington University studying International Affairs.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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2019 WOMEN OF THE YEAR Pam Senske was president of Pearson Packaging Systems for many years and turned the company around in an industry primarily dominated by men.

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Pam Senske learned Pearson Packaging Systems from the bottom up

WORKING FOR FAMILY, FINDING SUCCESS

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

When Pam Senske was 8 years old, she was already learning about the family business from her father, R.A. “Lefty” Pearson, founder of Pearson Packaging Systems.

During summer breaks from Washington State University, Senske worked at the manufacturing facility, picking up parts at industrial supply stores, copying blueprints and assisting the company’s accountant with bookkeeping.

“I became familiar with the different kinds of things they did on a daily basis,” she said.

“That was really fun, and I was really interested in the business.”

But it would be a few years before she returned to the family business. She moved with her husband to Cincinnati, where she worked in mental health. When they returned to Spokane, she worked raising her two sons. Then in 1986, Senske joined the company full time, holding administrative and human resources positions before taking the helm as president and CEO in 1992.

Under Senske’s direction, Pearson Packaging Systems developed a capital expenditures plan to improve profitability and integrated computers to streamline production and control inventory.

“I just really felt the responsibility to do something when the company seemed to be struggling,” she said. “I felt a responsibility that you can’t just give up without trying. If you fail, you can at least say, ‘Well, I did everything I could.’ I really had that sense it was important to do that. (The company) was kind of a family legacy.”

Pearson Packaging Systems builds machines that form, pack, seal and palletize boxes for companies such as Dell, Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. The company has distributed more than 20,000 machines worldwide.

Pearson founded the company in 1955 as R.A. Packaging Co. He had worked for Bohemian Brewery, which handmade six-pack containers and cases. That led Pearson to invent an automated six-pack case erector in his garage. His invention was adopted across the country and in Europe.

After Pearson died in 1971, the family retained ownership of Pearson Packaging Systems.

Senske’s mother, Alma, worked at the facility amid changes in the company’s leadership.

Although the company was growing at the time, customers weren’t getting parts on schedule because of an outdated system, Senske said.

“I had said to my mom, ‘I’m just going to come out there. I just want to talk to the managers of each department, just to get a

sense of who they are, what’s going on and their suggestions,’ ” she said. “So I did that and it was really interesting. I expected to maybe be there for two or three months. Well, it turned out being 30 years.”

Senske was part of a 13-person team that studied and applied a system called manufacturing resource planning, which set the framework for the company’s current lean manufacturing practices.

“When she went out there, things started picking up and it was a totally different company,” said Don Pearson, Senske’s brother. “Integrity, work ethic, fairness and intelligence – she had all those things, and that’s what made it work.”

Senske said when she took over the company, most of the managerial positions were held by men. Some employees were surprised to see a woman assume the role of CEO, but they supported her because they wanted the company to be successful.

“I went out there with an attitude of, ‘I just want to understand what you think and how you think things ought to be done and get people involved in decision-making,’ instead of having (the company) just handed down,” she said. “And, you know, it went really well.

People could not have been nicer and more supportive.”

Now, women hold half of the company’s leadership positions.

“It is changing in terms of women in the business,” Senske said, referring to the manufacturing industry. “And there are other women who are in charge of packaging and machinery businesses.”

Don Pearson said his sister earned the respect and admiration of employees with her positive attitude and exemplary leadership skills.

“Because of her efforts, we still have the company,” he said.

“It’s everything to this family, but it also carries on a legacy.”

Pearson noted his sister also dedicated time to charities and community organizations, such as the Girl Scouts of America, the YWCA, Mobius Science Center, Second Harvest food bank and the Early Life Speech & Language program. She is also a former board member of Greater Spokane Incorporated.

When the choice to sell or continue the family business arose in 1997, Senske asked her son, Michael, if he was interested in leading the company. He assumed the role of president and CEO in 2003.

Senske said his mother valued the company’s employees and demonstrated that by implementing a comprehensive benefits package to ensure work-life balance.

“I think she really, sincerely cared for and respected the employees. She established a culture of appreciating the contri-

butions of employees and putting people first over the needs of the company,” he said. “The best thing about her is she’s never been in it for herself. She’s done a phenomenal job at Pearson and in the community.”

Pearson Packaging Systems – now a thriving company – gen-

erates more than $100 million in annual revenue with more than 300 employees.

Senske, although retired, remains chairman of the company’s board of directors.

“Would I do it again? I’d have to say yes,” Senske said, referring to leading the company. “I

think there are things I could have done better, but it has been interesting, it has been exciting and it has been rewarding.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5581 amye@spokesman.com

It is with great sadness that Spokane Preservation Advocates honors Ann Price, President who passed away on June 18th from pancreatic cancer. Ann embodied the phrase, “servant leadership” and was an active volunteer in her community along with a career in fund development.

Spokane Preservation Advocates work to preserve and enhance the historic character of Spokane and Spokane County through advocacy, education and preservation. doubt that a small group “Never of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

”

-Margaret Mead.

If interested in volunteering with SPA, please contact us at

info@spokanepreservation.org or 509.344.1065.

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

Brought to you by

2019 WOMEN OF THE YEAR

Williams-Gilbert knows country living, uses WSU position to improve it

A CHAMPION OF RURAL HEALTH CARE

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Wendy Williams-Gilbert is an academic director and professor in the WSU School of Nursing. She’s active in the community and recently received an award for expanding sexual assault examination training in the region.

By Arielle Dreher

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Wendy Williams-Gilbert admits she can get on her soapbox at times. She has an actual, painted wood soapbox in her office to prove it.

“My students made it for me,” she says, laughing. “They all signed it.”

Raised in rural Lincoln County, Williams-Gilbert’s soapbox of choice is standing up for rural health care, from education and training for nurses in rural settings to adequate funding for critical-access hospitals.

“These hospitals are important for a couple of reasons: They serve the constituents of that community but they also serve the passerby,” she said.

She knows a thing or two about rural health care. The daughter of wheat farmers, she sometimes jokingly says she was raised in the “West Plains” of Eastern Washington after her family moved from the Reardan-Davenport area to Cheney when she was 12 years old. Decades later, she would go on to work as a nurse in rural communities and critical-access hospitals.

She knew she wanted to be a nurse from a young age, she says, citing an aunt who is a licensed practical nurse and that her father and uncle were both corpsmen in the Vietnam War. “There was something intrinsically where I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything but being a nurse,” she said.

Williams-Gilbert’s path to nursing school was not traditional, she says. After graduating from high school, she began working in government positions. After jobs at Lakeland Village and the Department of

This last year she has worked tirelessly to ensure that people in Inland Northwest have equal access to care.

Anne Mason Corrections, she moved west to attend Everett Community College, then the University of Washington, where she got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing.

During this time, she got her first taste of rural health care, working at Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Washington, which at that time was more rural than it is today. Then she moved to a much more rural part of the country, relocating with her then-husband to the South. There she began work on her doctorate in nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi.

She worked on her doctoral degree for several years, even back in Eastern Washington when she returned.

After roles at Gonzaga University, Western Governor’s University and Spokane Community College, Williams-Gilbert landed at WSU’s College of Nursing in 2015.

Currently, she is director of the registered nurses degrees and bachelor’s degrees in nursing, as well as a clinical associate professor. She has the opportunity to do research, especially in areas she is most passionate about, she said.

“My research and passions are ensuring equal access to health care for rural America, so anytime people want to do rural work or research or a study, I insert myself,” she said.

Williams-Gilbert is interested in how to train and keep nurses in rural areas, as well as enhance educational opportunities for those working in rural environments.

“I think it’s phenomenal that we’re training physicians to meet the rural need,” she said of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at WSU. “But there could be three nurses to every one physician that you need. We have to invest in getting nurses, really qualified nurses, out to the rural environments and having them stay and really building up that provider infrastructure, whether it’s nurses, lab techs or CNAs (certified nursing assistants).”

Beyond initial training, she is also passionate about nursing education globally. She was accepted to teach advanced master’s nursing courses to students in Vietnam in 2017 for two weeks. Back stateside, this year, she was involved in helping draft legislation to increase the number of sexual assault nurse

examiners, called SANEs, in Eastern Washington. SANEs are registered nurses who have taken 40 hours of classroom instruction and clinical, hands-on learning to be certified.

“How do we ensure nurses in Eastern Washington have equal access to sexual assault education and training, and how do we build that interdisciplinarily?” she said.

House Bill 1942 would have established a program at the WSU College of Nursing to provide online and clinical SANE training and establish a pilot program in the college to increase the number of SANE nurses. The bill did not make it out of the committee, but Williams-Gilbert is far from giving up. She was awarded a Partners in Justice award from Lutheran Community Services Northwest in June for her work on the bill.

Williams-Gilbert also works on opioid-use disorder research at WSU; she was recently approached to provide training and assistance with University of Washington researchers looking at implementation of opioid response grants in Eastern Washington.

She is also supporting the

Medication First program run by the Spokane Regional Health District.

In short, she is a busy woman.

Or as Anne Mason, director of the doctorate of nursing program at the WSU College of Nursing wrote in her nomination of Williams-Gilbert: “This last year she has worked tirelessly to ensure that people in Inland Northwest have equal access to care. She tirelessly gives her time to give voice to the underserved. When working with the rural population, specifically in Eastern Washington, one nurse comes to mind.”

Williams-Gilbert still lives in a rural community, Medical Lake, with her husband and four children. At 47, WilliamsGilbert thinks she is just getting started.

A large part of her job, she says, is to help bridge the intersection between what’s happening with researchers and clinical practice. She also wants to show her students the value in working as a nurse in rural settings.

“I feel sometimes that the nursing community marginalizes critical-access nurses because maybe I’m not a big fancy ICU nurse or not this helicopter nurse, but I can go to work every day not knowing what’s going to come in the door and know that I can competently triage, stabilize that patient and get it to you in a very professional way and that’s what all these nurses do,” she said.

“They are amazing and I feel like they never get the recognition they deserve.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5467 arielled@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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NOMINEES

THE NOMINEES ARE...

Thank you. We asked to hear from you about the fantastic women you know. You answered in a big way, with names of many accomplished and talented individuals. Although we could only profile 15 women from your suggestions, we want to give everyone a little love. So here are your nomination letters. They have been edited for length.

Jessica Bonar Benefits adviser, Advanced Benefits, Lady D’Alenes board member, AA counselor, community volunteer Nominated by Arwyn Robinson I have never heard someone speak who is so uplifting, yet vulnerable. Jessica bares herself for everyone to see and shows us and teaches us that vulnerability isn’t a weakness, but rather creates the opportunity to support each and become even stronger than before.

Karla Porter Owner/operator of Insight Thermal Imaging and cofounder of Beyond Pink, a nonprofit providing access to breast cancer screening Nominated by Darin Watkins Her passion for medicine developed at an early age when she lost her own mother to cancer. She now uses this energy to help save the lives of women right here in our community.

Delores Rustad Lorenz Speech pathologist, co-creator of the Successful Stuttering Management Program Nominated by Annemarie Frohnhoefer A recent study claims that optimism is the secret to a long life. If that is the case, then Delores Lorenz will likely live forever. After earning her masters’ degree in speech pathology and audiology from Eastern Washington University in 1985, Mrs. Lorenz spent 27 consecutive summers working alongside Dr. Dorvan H. Brietenfeldt. They developed the Successful Stuttering Management Program (SSMP).

Robbi Katherine Anthony Owner of Praxis Coworking and Firedove Technology, former candidate for Spokane County Commission.

Nominated by Annemarie Frohnhoefer Robbi’s open heart and mind lean to the left side of the political spectrum, yet she balances what some would see as “weak” traits with all the acumen of a conservative business leader. As a business owner, she has a deep respect for the capitalist business model but doesn’t stoop to greed. ... Whatever Ms. Anthony chooses to do next, Spokane should find inspiration in the fact that she lives here, works here and that she will make our county a much better place for a very long time.

Maryann C. Moreno Spokane Superior Court Judge Nominated by Annemarie Frohnhoefer Who held a hearing in the court’s driveway during a fire drill? Judge Maryann C. Moreno. Who helps quash hundreds of warrants during the annual Spokane Homeless Connect Warrant Fest? Judge Maryann C. Moreno. Judge Moreno is fair and intelligent and I wouldn’t ever want to be a defendant in her courtroom, at least not without a damn good lawyer.

Allison Rose Sattin Owner of marketing firm 1Stop Media, founder of the women’s support organization BuildU Girl Gang.

Nominated by Nancy Hill, Rena McGill As an active leader in our community for 32 years, it is in my opinion that Allison is a woman that stands for what is good in our community. She strives to be a leader by paving the way for other entrepreneurs while also supporting local businesses and building up those that need a helping hand along the way. Her passion for improving our Spokane community is evident in all that she does.

Cori Riddle Community volunteer, with interest in supporting people with autism and epilepsy, and the fight against addiction Nominated by Marissa Shamblin Words can not express this woman; she is compassionate, driven, kind, beautiful and smart. Cori has overcome so much and still decides to give freely to those around her. She is a God-fearing woman that approaches every challenge with an open and honest heart. She has been a positive role model in so many lives and will meet you where you are without expectations.

Nicolle Hansen Manager, Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center Nominated by Chris Pasterz Each and every year Nicolle quietly guides new business owners to successful operation of their dream jobs, and creating over 100 new jobs benefiting our community ...

Nicole’s humble and sincere support comes easy as she intimately knows the challenges faced in the business world.

Having just completed a Whitworth MBA and graduating with honors, she lives out an essential trait of successful leaders, a love of learning.

Julie Kay Webster National Art Honors Society Member, director of ABM at Ignitium, LLC, and Morning Star Foundation board member Nominated by Erin Neal Julie was the first woman we have had on (the Morning Star) board in several years and immediately got down to business. With Julie on the board, we have been able to effectively move forward with plans to help more children in our community including foster families, homeless single mothers, and getting over 400 Title 1 Elementary students outside for learning opportunities. She has been a guide throughout the whole process.

Peggy Doering Executive director, Valleyfest Nominated by Marcia Asmussen Peggy always has many balls in the air and she handles them with precision, respect and integrity. She works with all kinds of people: politicians, volunteers, executives, business owners and youth. Everyone loves her. Valleyfest has grown into a huge production of fun, free activities in September which includes a parade. ... Peggy deserves to be recognized for all the things Valleyfest brings to Spokane Valley.

Kitara Johnson Chief development officer, Excelsior Youth Services Nominated by Earl Moore Kitara is a veteran who has overcome many hardships. ...

With the motivation to not just survive, but to excel, Kitara went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in workforce development and a master’s degree in organizational leadership and management. A former director of multicultural student services for Spokane Community College, she is or has been involved in various causes and organizations. She has the passion to serve wherever she is called.

Krista Larson Science teacher, Central Valley High School Nominated by Debra Long Krista Larson is an amazing teacher at Central Valley high school. Several years ago she started up the green team to make children aware of what could be recycled. Every year she coordinates the making of blankets for Blessings Under the Bridge. Above all she coordinates the community garden. Her endeavors teach our children how to grow and produce food for our community.

Margo Mossburg Director, Dachshund Rescue Northwest Nominated by Shelly Bridges Margo started the Dachshund Rescue and has been the director since 1991 ... We place 150 dogs each year many of whom are too vicious for animal shelters to retrain and rehome. ... Margo will do everything in her power to make sure any dog is safe and in the right home. Also Margo has helped mentor me in the care for dogs and has helped me come out of my shell because when I first met Margo I was very shy and didn’t talk to many people. By working with Margo she has helped me to over come tears of being in public place. Doing events for Dachshund Rescue has helped me be a better person all thanks to Margo.

Earl Moore Delegate, Respiratory Care Society of Washington; member, Spokane Human Rights Commission; president, Ponderosa Women’s Club Nominated by Marguerite DiMauro Comment: Earl is an inspirational woman who is very

active and involved in her community. ... She is always going out of her way to help others and is a nature born Leader. She is always on the go and is very active and would put most 20-year-olds to shame. Earl has a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Peggy Estey Social studies teacher, East Valley High School Nominated by Lori Merkel To say Peggy has affected the students she has taught is an understatement. What she has done is lit a torch that the students themselves have carried and passed on locally and globally. A remarkable educator and a woman, second to none, Peggy Estey will always be a woman of the year to the students and colleagues she works with daily.

Kate Burke Spokane City Council member Nominated by Marggy Burke She is passionate, hard working and continues to fight for the rights of all Spokane citizens. Kate is not afraid to speak out for all who have lost their voices.

Shelly “Jasmine” Bridges Volunteer, Dachshund Rescue Northwest Nominated by Margo Mossburg Shelly is one of our main volunteers at Dachshund Rescue NW since 2010. No matter what kind of day I am having I can’t help but smile when I see her and know she always has the dog’s best interest at heart. It is not often that a gal and her dog both are nominated but these two are a package deal to help us place 150 homeless wiener dogs every year at Dachshund Rescue NW. Because she is such a wonderful volunteer I can count on she has helped us placed around 1,350 dogs in the time since she started volunteering.

Hanncel Sanchez Founder, Mujeres in Action (MIA), an advocacy group that assists the Latinx Spokane community Nominated by Ana Trusty Hanncel is a young woman who persuaded her family to move from Florida to Washington 4 years ago to pursue a better future with access to a great education. Hanncel ... is a volunteer for the Lutheran Community Services as a rape survivors’ advocate. She is hard working, passionate, and motivated to help others.

Lili Navarrete Director of Public Affairs and Raiz at Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho Nominated by Paul Dillon Lili quickly distinguished herself as a conscientious, energetic and hard worker and attended numerous advocacy events in addition to her full time job. It was a no-brainer when it came time to hire Lili for the position of Volunteer Coordinator at our affiliate in August of 2017. It was a position that we had struggled with to define but Lili quickly remade the entire program into a huge success and something we could be proud of - I have enormous respect for her skills and commitment to people. She now manages 200 volunteers who put in over 3,000 hours last year.

Brandi Peetz Spokane Valley City Councilwoman Nominated by Bob West Because she is my daughter. Because she has remained steadfast in her goals to make the Valley a better place for our children. Because she has stood up to Matt Shea and his followers and their relentless attacks against her and our family. Because she is passionate and does her homework on issues at the Valley City council meetings, even in the face of being rebuked by the “gang of 4”.

Katherine Morgan Senior vice president, Bank of America; former president and CEO of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce Nominated by Greg Benner I have known Katherine for about 15 years. She has blossomed in so many ways, both professionally and personally over the years. It has been my honor to know her and witness the changes. Her dedication to her profession, her community, and her family, are

without bounds.

Maggie DiMauro Republican Party activist Nominated by Tonya Tangvald She is extremely active in the Republican Party. She worked side by side with Cathy McMorris Rogers during her elections. She proudly worked on President Trump’s campaign. ... She is involved in more ways than I can count.

Being a proud Republican, getting the word out, and being involved is her life.

Eva Marquette Owner and founder of FreshVue, a strategic organizational design and development firm Nominated by Cami Eakins (Eva’s) unique approach to organizational development, executive coaching and storytelling is helping organizations think more strategically, create culture and environment that is great for employees, customers, and our community. She is active in the Spokane community and making Spokane a great place to live, work and do business.

Brooke Baker Director of business development at Baker Construction & Development Nominated by Alyssa Walsh Brooke is such a powerhouse in the construction community. She has stepped into a “mans world” and really made a name for herself. She is involved in so many leadership and networking groups and has really proven herself in the development of this community. She is always helping young leaders rise above and be a mentor to so many. She is so hard working and keeps a positive attitude no matter what struggles come her way.

Julie Garcia Founder, Jewels Helping Hands Nominated by Jason Green,

Tom Robinson, Rose C. Messick Family Promise/Open Doors lost their kitchen in March and Julie stepped up and provided them meals seven days a week since and continues until they get their new facility. Julie started a Pop-up Cooling Center Aug 7-9 due to high heat and unhealthy air quality. She has a bus, Magic Owl Bus, that travels around to bring basic needs and food to the houseless. She also has a four-stall mobile shower called the Showers of Hope that can provide showers anywhere. Julie has done this all with donations from the community and funded it ourselves.

Linda Lawrence Hunt Educator, co-founder of the Krista Foundation, cancer survivor Nominated by Meredith Banka and Dorothy Bahr Comment: Linda is a legend. ... As an educator she has touched the life of thousands of students. As a mother, who lost her adult daughter in a tragic bus accident in Bolivia, Linda (in partnership with her husband Jim) created the Krista Foundation, a 501c3 that provides micro grants to students serving our communities. As a mentor, she has a countless number of women across generations who she directly guides through life. As an inspiration, Linda is a cancer survivor who is currently battling stage four breast cancer that has moved to her bones ... Linda is a pure example of love, loss and faith – all embodied through the joy of living each day to the fullest.

Rebekah Alice Lilac City Midwifery Nominated by Corey Jeppesen She is a solo midwife in Spokane and there isn’t a more caring, wise and kind woman in our city. She delivers babies

for her clients at their homes, brings them and others gifts when they are having a hard time and takes care of all she knows. She’s heavy on social with her mission and has done so much for those around her.

She runs her company with hustle, passion and inspiration.

Gina Wolf Wolf Chiropractic Nominated by Lori Maupin She started Wolf Chiropractic in the Spokane Valley a little over 12 years ago and has grown exponentially in her practice and is well respected within the medical community of Spokane. With all of her hard work and determination she was able to grow large enough to support 23 employees and help thousands of patients. She was recognized as Washington State Chiropractor of the year in 2016 and is involved nationally in multiple committees for the American Chiropractic Association.

Shauna Edwards Founder, Lumen Charter School for Teenage Mothers Nominated by Kyle Eberth and Drew Lochhead Shauna is is in process of launching Lumen Charter School for Teenage Mothers.

Shauna’s work with this demographic is inspiring and challenging, meeting tangible needs, bringing together local social services to support and launch these young women and their babies. Shauna is dynamic, humble, and mostly undaunted in her work to better the community around her.

Nikki Lockwood Spokane Public Schools’ Board of Directors candidate Nominated by Carla Smith and Mavis Barnes Nikki is running for school board in district 1. She has been a leader behind the

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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2019 WOMEN OF THE YEAR

‘‘

Life has taught me a lesson to not judge the manual labor jobs.”

Elaine Damschen Co-owner, Mainstream Electric

Elaine Damschen mixes business and family as co-owner of Mainstream Electric

AN ELECTRIC LIFE

By Jared Brown

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Along the bend in Innovation Way in Post Falls, Elaine Damschen runs the show with her husband, Todd Damschen, at one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. over the last two years.

Since starting Mainstream Electric in 2000, the couple’s business has grown to include heating, cooling and plumbing.

And this year it was one of only 20 other businesses in Idaho on Inc. magazine’s 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Growing up, Damschen never wanted a career in manual labor because she saw how hard her father, Jack Heston, worked and the strain it put on his body.

Heston served in the Army during the Vietnam War, where he met Elaine’s mother, Ton. He then framed houses as a contractor when he was discharged.

So after graduating from Post Falls High School in 1987, Damschen looked to higher education to have a different life than her father.

“College for me has provided the opportunity that I might not have seen otherwise,” she said.

“It just expanded my mind and my heart.”

She said she also wanted to take full advantage of the options provided to her by her father’s military service and her mother’s immigration to the United States. What her parents gave up sank in when she visited Vietnam for the first time in the mid-2000s.

“My mom never saw her mother again and only saw her father twice,” she said. “I think I just really appreciated it more for the sacrifice they made so I can do things I do in America.”

After two years at North Idaho College and three years at Boise State University, she became the first college graduate in her family in 1992.

Damschen’s degree was in education, and she worked at a middle school in Emmett, Idaho for seven years before moving back to North Idaho to be closer to family in 1999.

Her husband, a journeyman electrician at the time, was itching to be his own boss, so they became business partners and started Mainstream in 2000.

“He knew his entire life he wanted to be an entrepreneur because his father owned a pharmacy-type drugstore,” she said. “I had no plans to be a business woman.”

Together, with his technical electrician experience and her heart for human connection, they built a company that has grown from the husband-wife pair to 35 employees over the past 20 years.

Her husband handles business relations, such as con-

TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Elaine Damsche and husband, a journeyman electrician at the time, became business partners and started Mainstream in 2000. tracts, vendors and new services, while she has become more focused on marketing, branding and recruitment.

Damschen said she’s proud to be an example for other married couples who may want to become business partners.

Plus, two of their employees are the Damschens’ 24-year-old twin sons.

“We have a very close-knit family and it’s delightful to see them every day,” she said “And we know that they will be able

to create a wonderful life for themselves as plumbers.”

Their 17-year-old daughter is starting her senior year at Lake City High School.

Damschen said Mainstream started to take off as a company in 2012 when it joined Nexstar Network, a networking organization for home service businesses.

“What Nexstar does is provide best practices through coaching and training,” Damschen said. “We work hard to

cover our blind spots.”

Three years ago she joined the Nexstar Network board of directors and was the only woman until recently. Now she’s one of two.

“I like working at a national level advocating for the trades and helping steer the direction of Nextstar Network,” she said.

Her attitude toward the trades has almost come full circle at this point since she started college, Damschen said.

When she was a teacher she

saw how not all people are cut out for college. And now going into the trades has become an increasingly lucrative career option, especially as trained workers become more scarce.

“Life has taught me a lesson to not judge the manual labor jobs,” she said. “But I also think the business model that we utilize allows tradespeople to be the professionals that they want to be and earn that income that they need.”

She often visits high schools nowadays to educate students about going to trade school and market the field to women.

“People don’t know what they don’t know and we’re working to close that gap,” she said.

She employs a female plumber and office worker, and still wants to continue recruiting women to work at Mainstream.

“I feel like there is a lot of opportunity for women to join male-dominated fields like the trades,” Damschen said.

Outside the business world, Damschen works with two nonprofits — Troops to Trades and Project Athena.

Partly inspired by her father and husband, who are both veterans and trade workers, Damschen primarily works with Troops to Trades by raising money through a golf tournament at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course each year. That funding helps the organization transition veterans with trade skills into the civilian workforce.

Building some awareness around the cause helped her get involved with the Career Skills Program at Fairchild Air Force Base and offer an internship to an airman with electrician experience. He received 90 days of training at Mainstream while he was still active duty, and afterward he was offered a job there.

“I have deep, deep gratitude for our military and our families,” she said. “And even if I can help just a little bit, I feel like I am doing something to express my gratitude in an action.”

With Project Athena, Damschen has trained to go on four outdoor adventures over the past four years to assist female survivors of medical trauma.

She’s hiked from La Jolla, California, to San Diego and from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon three times. Her fourth trip to the Grand Canyon is set for next year.

“The thing that I’m addicted to is the women,” she said.

“They’re in survival mode, and when we help them complete their adventure, their mindset shifts from survival to living again. And it’s special to be a part of that.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

NOMINEES

WOMEN Continued from 9 scenes in the schools, tirelessly working to better educate and include our children and provide them the skills they need to thrive in the world. She has taken not only an educational but political lead and has a long history of advocacy for education, human rights and fairness.

Marilyn Thordason Nominated by Kristy Hamby, President Spokane Lilac Festival With more than 40 years of service to the Spokane Lilac Festival, she is a festival past president, wrote our book celebrating our 75th year and is currently part of our financial development team. She sits on the Spokane Park Board and helps with the Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.

Amy Khosravi Managing broker, Century 21 Beutler Associates Nominated by Julie Cronin With a life-long love of the Spokane community, Amy lives her life looking for ways to give back. A top producer

and leader in Spokane real estate, small business entrepreneur, and long time volunteer are just a few of her descriptors. An ardent Washington State University alumni and Kappa Alpha Theta alumni officer, Amy is invested in Spokane and Eastern Washington.

Stephanie Vigil News anchor, KHQ Nominated by Jay Underwood Stephanie has served the community as a calming presence on the TV as a news anchor, but she gives back by volunteering her time and talents to help raise funds for several local charitable organizations. She developed her own class and curriculum at Gonzaga University that has become a student favorite called Image and Reputation Management that she continues to teach.

Jude Cormier Advocate for people with disabilities Nominated by Cece Padon Jude is a member of Work Source Accessibility Team, committee member with Access 4 All and the Accessible Communities Advisory Com-

mittee. Jude volunteers with Riverfront Park Accessibility Work group and is currently working with the City Council to get curb cuts put in on Freya. She also volunteers her time at Sheridan Elementary and doesn’t let her own disability get in the way.

Becky Hoogstad Program manager, Salvation Army’s Sally’s House Nominated by Brian Pickering Becky has been the program manager of Sally’s House, the only emergency foster care house in Spokane County for children ages 2-12, for 10 years, but has been involved in this program for 12. This is not an easy position to hold. It involves having a caring and loving heart to help incoming children who have gone through some horrific situations in their lives, as well as patience and understanding to help them in the program.

Barbara Miller Director of the Silver Valley Community Resource Center Nominated by Robert M McCroskey It isn’t easy to conduct grassroots activism in the Pacific Northwest and especially no more so in a company

town culture in one of the nations largest Superfund sites. Barbara Miller has been persistent for many years with education, outreach, door knocking, leadership trainings, research and networking to encourage others to speak out. ... Barbara is well versed in lead education and how to break the cycle of its exposure.

Peg Hopkins CHAS founder and retired CEO Nominated by Ellen Weiser, Melinda Warren Peg Hopkins took on the challenge to start CHAS 25 years ago. CHAS is the health care community clinics that serve many patients in Eastern Washington. Twenty-five years later the success of CHAS has created health care for thousands of residents in Eastern Washington and hundreds of employment opportunities.

Teresa Venne East Spokane Kiwanis Club Nominated by Natalie K. DuPree Teresa is a past secretary and president of East Spokane Kiwanis, and currently serves on the board of directors. She is a past Lieutenant Governor of Northwest District of Kiwa-

nis and will serve that position again in 2020. She is the Lead Volunteer Coordinator at the Salvation Army Backpack Function each August. With her leadership thousands of backpacks are filled and distributed. Additionally she volunteers at Vanessa Behan Nursery, Ronald McDonald House, Mission Outreach Community Center and Meals on Wheels. Nothing is too small for Teresa Venne.

Barbara Olson Retired middle school teacher, Cheney School District Nominated by Joanne Smith She is so loved by her former students that through the years she has invitations to celebrations important to their lives such as weddings and graduations, and she attends as many as she is able. The dedication to her students this master teacher has no bounds which has been acknowledged by her school district and Eastern Washington University.

Yvonne A.K. Johnson Executive director, Spokane Valley Summer Theatre

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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She understands where these students are coming from. She’s been there too.

LC’S MAURA RUIZ LEADS

BY HER OWN EXAMPLE

By Jim Allen

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Maura Ruiz welcomes them every day in her office at Lewis and Clark High School: dozens of young men and women who desperately need her help.

Many live in a world where hopes and dreams wither in the shadows of poverty and homelessness. They want a chance go to college, but don’t know where to begin.

Ruiz tells them to start by “not being ashamed to ask for help.”

Soon they realize that they came to the right person – someone who can not only help them navigate the complexities of college applications and financial aid, but can look them in the eye and say, “I’ve been there.”

Ruiz has endured stinging poverty, prejudice and personal tragedy – hardships she’d rather not dwell on but uses “for the lens that I can give students,” she said.

It’s an eyeful.

Long before earning a master’s degree and becoming LC’s college prep adviser for the College Success Foundation, Ruiz emigrated from Mexico to the United States at the age of 2 – dressed as a boy and carrying false identification.

Her mother had no ID, so she swam across a river to join the rest of their family of five. It was a reunion that happened only because her father had obtained a green card and worked until he dropped to raise the funds to bring his family to the United States.

Citizenship came a few years later, but Maura’s American dream was deferred by homelessness and hard work in the orchards of the Yakima Valley.

Progress was measured by the size of the family trailer until her father landed a construction job and the Ruizes were able to afford a house.

For Ruiz, a character-defining moment came in the eighth grade. Her older sister had applied for a job at Target but had run away with a boyfriend.

A Target representative was on the phone, seeking to set up an interview.

Ruiz seized the moment. She got the interview and the job.

For almost a year, she worked as a cashier for 40 hours a week and once was named Employee of the Month – at the age of 13.

That gig ended when her middle school principal spotted her at the register “and threatened my parents with a CPS call, so I had to quit,” Ruiz said.

Expected to pay for the family’s utility bills, she worked at McDonald’s and a local cherry warehouse until late at night.

Ruiz napped more than she slept, usually from 3-6 a.m.

“I skipped school a lot because I was so tired,” Ruiz said.

Somehow, she managed to graduate in 2010 from Eisen-

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Maura Ruiz, a College Success Foundation Counselor at Lewis and Clark High School, is among our Women of the Year honorees. hower High School in Yakima with a 3.4 GPA and was accepted to Washington State.

At the same time, the family was joined by one of her mother’s sons from a previous marriage. A few weeks into Ruiz’s freshman year at WSU, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Ruiz dropped out, mainly because she couldn’t justify enjoying the college life while her brother was dying and her family was struggling to pay funeral costs.

For the next two years she worked several jobs while commuting from Yakima to Ellensburg, where she pursued a double major in Spanish and social sciences at Central Washington University.

Her choice of emphasis was unique: a combination of social work, law and justice, and family counseling – which turned out to be the perfect combination for her work at the College Success Foundation.

But there was more work to do. Pursuit of a master’s degree in social work led her to Eastern Washington University – and profound shock.

“Where are all the Latino students?” she asked after arriving in Cheney in 2014.

The answer: “They only go to parties at night. That’s where you can find them.”

Ruiz overcame her shock to not only earn a degree in social work, but also earn practical ex-

perience with Child Protection Services in Idaho.

A year later, she landed the job at LC with the College Success Foundation, a nonprofit that provides an integrated system of support to improve educational equity for underserved students.

The work assists students academically, financially, socially and emotionally beginning in middle school and extending into post-college years.

Spokane Public Schools has a College Success Foundation adviser in all five comprehensive high schools, plus Garry, Glover and Shaw middle schools.

“We’re very grateful for the partnership,” said Shannon Demant, the organization’s regional director. She praised the district for allowing the group to connect with students and allowing Ruiz and other advisers “to do the work that they do.”

That work is complicated, and it isn’t defined by the school day.

“I have witnessed firsthand Maura patiently assist parents, with zero English-language skills, complete the complex and confounding Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),” said Jeff Norton, a college and career readiness specialist who shares an office with Ruiz.

“She has even had to drive parents to the local IRS office to request transcripts of tax re-

turns,” Norton added.

Ruiz does that for 50 seniors and 50 juniors at LC. They are a diverse, challenged group: students of color, English-language learners, and first-generation graduates-to-be.

All are from low-income families. Some are living in foster care or with single parents. Others are at risk of not graduating from high school – let alone thinking about college.

They need hope, but they also need the right touch.

“You have to keep these kids in a cylinder, in the middle,” Ruiz said. “Not too high up in the clouds, but not bottomed out to where they think they can’t do things.

“You start by dispelling the stereotype,” added Ruiz, who felt like an outsider the minute she walked into the doors of LC in fall 2016.

She was a 24-year-old Latina and not part of the LC staff, and her first office was in the basement.

Fellow employees would ask, “What country are you really from?” or compliment her on her English, both of which struck Ruiz as patronizing.

Others told students “to see the brown lady downstairs.”

Ruiz challenged those stereotypes – “I brought the elephant into the room,” she said – but she also found a way to be a bigger presence on campus by coaching volleyball and tennis.

“I try to be as invested as I can in this school,” Ruiz said while wearing an LC volleyball shirt.

The sport was her passion as a youth – until her high school coach required all players to enroll in a camp that cost $800.

“But these kids are here because they want to play,” Ruiz said.

Now beginning her fourth year, Ruiz has a second-floor office she shares with Norton.

Large windows offer a panorama of Fourth Avenue, Interstate 90, fast-food restaurants and tough streets.

Homeless people regularly amble under the freeway alongside students skipping class – two cautionary tales at once for impressionable teens.

Motivation must come from within, but Ruiz primes the pump.

“I love sitting across from her as she quietly prompts a student making a difficult phone call to a college admissions office or the College Board student services office,” Norton said.

“She helps the student own the process, but is right there to comfort the student during a potentially difficult conversation.”

Those talks usually end with renewed hope for the future.

“That’s what keeps me here,” Ruiz said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

NOMINEES WOMEN Continued from 10 Nominated by Marnie Rorholm Yvonne A.K. Johnson is an extraordinary leader in the regional performing arts community. After 8 years at Spokane Civic Theatre, she began her own professional theater company in the City of Spokane Valley, Spokane Valley Summer Theatre. The fourth season just closed with record-breaking attendance.

Through the SVST Conservatory program, Yvonne aims to inspire artistic excellence among the youth of our community in a professional environment. ... Yvonne is a kind and generous servant-leader, improving the arts in the Inland Northwest, one phenomenal production at a time.

Juli Norris Restauranteur and chef Nominated by Kellsey Mar-

tinez, Aubri Mikels Juli is an incredible chef and entrepreneur, she co-owns and operates the Downriver Grill. She is driven, full of ideas, and always putting others before herself. She also owns a consulting company, Savoi Hospitality, and works with several other restaurants in the Northwest to help them with food and labor cost, menu development, brand identity, and management strategies. As a woman in this industry, she has had to prove herself and overcome unique challenges to move forward and find success.

Lindsey Soffes Executive director, SCRAPS Nominated by Crystal Bolster, Diane Versteeg, Carson Mathews Lindsey has changed the way SCRAPS addresses its mission by eliminating euthanasia for too many animals in the shelter. Instead other options have been sought and

found. Her solutions are innovating and continue to encompass the best foot forward for the agency. She believes passionately that not only do animals need to be treated humanely, we need to make options available for them in our community. Education the community about how our animals interact with us is another important roll she is seeking to fill.

Alison Poulsen Executive director, Better Health Together Nominated by Kim Brinkmann Alison’s leadership was instrumental in having BHT become the region’s Accountable Community of Health (ACH), positioning the organization for the opportunity to implement the Affordable Care Act in Washington, as well as facilitate activities and funding from the Medicaid waiver. Under Alison’s leadership, BHT has been leading

more than 100 organizations on collaborative efforts to link primary care and behavioral health; increase integrated care for chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure; and implement activities to address the opioid crisis.

Dia Maurer Executive director, Partnering for Progress; executive director, Transitions Nominated by Gordon S. Jackson Even though P4P is a small organization, with one local support staff person (also part-time), it’s complex. Dia oversees two Kenyan staff members at a distance, as they implement P4P’s programs in nutrition for malnourished infants and toddlers; health clinics; scholarships; economic development; and water/sanitation projects. ... (Wanting) to contribute more in Spokane, Dia accepted the executive direc-

tor position at Transitions, which runs programs for homeless women and children.

Mariah McKay Executive director, Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance Nominated by Mary Benham, Carol Bryan, and Christy Himmelright and Emily Himmelright Mariah has been dedicating her enthusiasm, energy and creativity to the Spokane Community for several years.

She is the executive director at Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance, a board member at Spokane’s University District, and also a former Public Health Educator at Spokane Regional Health District. She also manages Spokane Cohousing, an innovative project known as Haystack Heights in the Perry District, a model for urban cooperative housing.

Robin Redman

Adaptive sports advocate Nominated by Nancy Kiehn Robin has single-handedly organized and spearheaded community support for adaptive sports in Spokane, including nordic skiing, climbing, and paddling. Robin has worked tirelessly and continuously, at her own expense, because she believes that all individuals should have equal access to outdoor pursuits.

She has spent hours meeting with people from the community to promote awareness, secure funding for equipment, provide training, and coordinate all interested volunteers. I Nancy MacKerrow “Susie Tree” founder Nominated by Katherine Rimbach In 2002, retired library employee Nancy MacKerrow lost her daughter Susie. While dealing with grief, Nancy de-

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Theresa Hart, is the founder of Newby-Ginnings, a nonprofit that provides household goods to active or former service members. Everything is donated and they don’t charge the veterans any money.

After her son was killed in Iraq, Theresa Hart channeled grief into action

A MISSION TO HELP

By Thomas Clouse

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Theresa Hart’s grief still shuts her down some eight years after her son was killed in Iraq. Her outlet for all that pain is to make sure other veterans get anything they need, for free, to ease their transition back to what most people know as normal.

Her son, Nicholas W. Newby, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, was killed on July 7, 2011, in Baghdad. He was a specialist with the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, 116th Calvary Heavy Brigade Combat Team out of Post Falls. The same roadside bomb killed Sgt. Nathan R. Beyers and injured Staff Sgt. Jason Rzepa, both also serving in the Idaho National Guard from Coeur d’Alene.

Hart had been working as a registered nurse. But the work seemed empty to her after losing her son. So in 2013, inside her garage, she founded Newbyginnings of North Idaho Inc., a thrift store of sorts where people could donate items that she would then re-gift to any veteran or active service member who needed it.

“It’s been eight years since we lost Nick. I don’t think I have fully accepted it,” Hart said. “I think that’s one of the reasons I started Newby-ginnings. Before I lost Nick, I thought those who died in the service of our country happened to people far away.

“When I became a Gold Star mother, you get pulled into the Gold Star-family fold,” she con-

I want people to remember those we lost and appreciate the cost of our freedom.”

Theresa Hart Newby-ginnings

tinued. “Now I know a lot of mothers who lost children. That is part of my mission now. I want people to remember those we lost and appreciate the cost of our freedom.”

With a humble start, Newbyginnings has only one paid employee who coordinates some 50 volunteers. The thrift store, located at 570 S. Clearwater Loop, Unit A, next to the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Stateline, has more than 3,500 registered veterans and active service members who have used the nonprofit.

“It just keeps getting bigger, bigger and bigger,” Hart said.

“We are already talking about expanding again even though we have expanded four times in six years. The need is great but the generosity of the community is great as well. That is how we are able to do what we do.”

The Veterans Administration and Goodwill Industries International Inc. have programs to help homeless people find housing. But Newby-ginnings then helps the veterans with all the things they need to make those

houses into homes, Hart said.

“Sometimes, they are moving in with nothing but a backpack or a lawn chair. Their case manager brings them in to see us and we give them everything they need for a new home,” she said.

“We give them dressers, a bed, and even washers and dryers.”

One homeless vet was living in his car. “He came in just to get some clothes,” Hart said.

All they need is a government-issued identification card showing they served. “We don’t care what is in their bank account,” she said. “We have so many active service members who come in here to go treasure hunting. It’s just a neat place to hang out and talk to people.”

But she also directs them to her “Hall of Heroes,” where her son and Beyers and four other fallen service members from the area are honored.

“I want them to know that our freedom comes at a very high price,” she said. “I don’t want anybody to forget about Nick. But I don’t want anybody to forget about any of them.”

Her work has drawn accolades from around the region.

Idaho Rep. Russ Fulcher visited the Post Falls facility during Congress’ August recess and tweeted about the experience.

“The resource she has created for our veterans is very impressive. The volunteer-run operation has a strong sense of community, with many of the volunteers being veterans or family members who have also lost loved ones while serving our country,” he said in a statement. “Theresa is most definitely deserving of this award and recognition. During one of the most difficult times in her life, she made the choice to continue her son’s legacy of service to our country, by caring for our veterans and their families.”

Wrong house A couple months before that July day in 2011, Hart had moved into a new home. Her contact infromation hadn’t been updated in the military files, and a government official and a chaplain waited hours for her at the old address to deliver their terrible news.

A neighbor finally told them the family had moved. Then

Theresa Hart got a call from her ex-husband, Wayne Newby.

He “asked me if Nathan, my other son, was home,” Hart said.

“I said, ‘Yeah. He’s right here.’

Wayne said, ‘Don’t let him leave.

I’ll be right there.’”

Wayne Newby drove up and he was followed by the government official and the chaplain.

“That’s how we found out that Nick had been killed that day,” Hart said.

Nathan Newby, who turned 24 last week , had just spoken with Nick Newby a few days earlier.

“He was one of my best friends,” Nathan Newby said.

“As we got older, we went fishing all the time together.”

The younger Newby graduated from the University of Idaho and has applied to attend medical school. He eventually wants to serve as a Navy doctor.

But in his spare time, Nathan Newby works with his mother as a volunteer.

“Every morning, she gets up and every morning she goes there,” Newby said of his mother. “The phone is just ringing off the hook all the time. It’s awesome seeing her build this up.

It’s been incredible.”

Asked what his late brother would think of Newby-ginnings, the younger brother said he would be “extremely proud.”

“He would be astonished by what she has been able to accomplish,” Nathan said of his mother. “To turn something so terrible into something amazing, he would just be so proud of her.”

NOMINEES

WOMEN Continued from 11 cided to plant a tree in honor of her daughter. That first “Susie Tree” in Manito Park has become part of a forest scattered across Spokane and in many spots across the globe.

This is due to Nancy’s drive to improve our environment in honor of her daughter’s passions. There have been approximately 350 trees added to the Spokane environment and many more internationally.

Bindi Tilbury Executive director of the Jonah Project Nominated by Jim Anderson Bindi is a co-founder and executive director of the Jonah Project, a local grassroots organization that helps survivors of sex trafficking and other at-risk women and youth. This incredible organi-

zation has helped many individuals though relocation, advocacy, counseling, and education. They ... This network is making a real and lasting impact by giving freedom and hope to those who have been exploited by sex traffickers.

Bindi is a lovely person who leads with wisdom, humility, and compassion.

Deborah Di Bernardo Owner, Roast House Coffee Nominated by Aaron Jordan Since founding Roast House Coffee nearly 10 years ago, Deborah has remained committed to the values and ethics her company was founded on.

Since then she has donated more than 10,000 cups of coffee a year to a variety of nonprofits and initiatives from the Lands Council to Save Our Wild Salmon to Bloomsday just to name a few. An integral part of sourcing coffee is committed to women-produced coffees and initiatives in ori-

gins around the country (Guatemala, Peru, Sumatra, Colombia among others).

Charlie Brewer Co-founder, Beyond Pink Nominated by Karla Porter Beyond Pink was started 10 years ago to help educate about and fund breast thermal imaging for local women.Her ambition has helped to save many lives locally by providing the education about and the technology that has the ability to see breast disease years before a mass (tumor) has had the ability to form. Because there is no radiation, no compression and no pain, it makes the technology desirable for all women.

Lisa Brown Former state senator Nominated by Golie Jansen Lisa Brown is an outstanding and effective leader. She sets high standards to achieve goals for the common good and she is fighter to achieve them. She credits the people

that work with her and always keeps her eyes on the ultimate vision for a project or initiative. Above all, she is unassuming and is always focused on the cause, without any self interest. She is a very deserving candidate for the nomination of the ‘Wondrous women’ award.

Traci Swanson Our Place Community Outreach Nominated by Gaylene Harris, Kathleen Hay, Jan Giesa, Mary Ann Hartsfield, Mitch Finley, Renee Myron Traci has always been the glue that holds Our Place together. She is kind, cheerful and is always finding ways of accommodating our West Central clients with their needs, beyond what we traditionally offer to them. She also has a kind heart when it comes to her volunteers that may have issues that come up in their life’s. ... She is a woman on a mission helping with

West Central and the homeless that come to Our Place.

Sarah Carlson Founder, Fulcrum Financial Group Nominated by Elli Saywers, Meridith Jemison In a field usually overrun by the “good ol’ boys,” Sarah has made a name for herself by setting her business apart from other similar adviser business a in Spokane. She takes a more personal, bigpicture approach with her clients and specializes with people experiencing a life transition such as: divorce, widowhood, retirement, etc. ... I also admire Sarah for the work she does in the Spokane community. As a board member of the Women Helping Women Fund, she uses her limited free time to help empower, educate, and embolden the less fortunate women and children in Spokane.

Amber Williams Banner Bank

Nominated by Wanda Clifford Not only does Amber manage two Banner Bank branches, she sits on the board of a nonprofit., Cancer Can’t and runs their fund raising auctions. A former board member of the YMCA, Amber is dedicated in her community and shows that with her support of local events. Amber also is an advocate of good health, rising every morning to hit the gym or run involving others to join with her.

Lindell Haggin Board member, Spokane Audubon Society and Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley Nominated by Tina Wynecoop She quietly works for preservation of the environment and the results of her efforts are measurable, loud, and beneficial: She leads Audubon

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LEGACY RECOGNITION

From licking envelopes to a 33-year affiliation with the Spokane Symphony

A MUSICAL FRIENDSHIP

By Azaria Podplesky

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Susan Kennedy’s experience with the Spokane Symphony didn’t begin very glamorously.

It started with an opportunity from “godmother of the arts� Katherine Gellhorn to handwrite concert invitations.

Kennedy and her husband, Paul, moved to Spokane shortly after from the Bay Area for his work for Old National Bank ( now U.S. Bank), and Paul was asked to be a member of the Connoisseur Concerts board.

Gellhorn, who died in 1997, invited members of the board and their wives to write out invitations for an upcoming Viennese ball. “Labels were considered tacky back then,� Kennedy explained.

The invitation-writing session took place in an office lit by one bare lightbulb. Kennedy recalls the room was so cold that everyone kept their winter boots on and wrote while wearing mittens. “Not all the board members showed up and so she thought we had spunk,� Kennedy said. “She said, ‘Well, (opera singer) Marilyn Horne is coming to perform with the symphony and I’d like to have you as our guests and introduce you to her at the reception afterward.’ “Marilyn Horne was long gone by the time Katherine had introduced us to everybody.�

After that concert, Gellhorn asked Kennedy to help her with the tree she was organizing for the Spokane Symphony Associates’ big fundraiser, Christmas Tree Elegance.

That tree started it all, and Kennedy has volunteered for the symphony for the past 33 years as a member of the Spokane Symphony Associates and as a trustee for the Spokane Symphony Board.

Spokane Symphony development director Jennifer Hicks, who has called Kennedy a friend for more than two decades, nominated her as a Woman of the Year. “She’s such an inspiration,�

Hicks said. “I always tell her, ‘I want to be just like you,’ because she’s so positive and so passionate about what she does.�

Kennedy grew up around music – her father loved show tunes and her mother attended a music college in Texas and played cello and piano.

Kennedy played the piano herself until the age of 12. “I truly think music does something for the soul,� she said.

It was an easy decision then for Kennedy to join the Spokane Symphony Associates.. She especially enjoyed getting to see the behind-the-scenes of organizing and putting on a concert. “When we had the Opera House (now the First Interstate Center for the Arts) as a venue, we in the symphony associates would give tours to people,� she said, recalling that she told guests, “When you sit in your seat, you can look onstage and go, ‘I helped do something for that. I made that happen.’ �

I really do believe in music, what it does to the human spirit.�

Susan Kennedy

Kennedy said the other symphony associates she’s worked with are just as enthusiastic about helping the symphony, be it financially or through making connections in the community.

According to Hicks, making connections is something the Kennedys do very well. “They have so many friends they’ve met through the orchestra or the board or the symphony associates. It’s really been a big part of their lives,� she said. “She and Paul have been tirelessly inviting friends and new people to the symphony.�

Hicks said she and the Kennedys have a special connection themselves. Yes, they work together to raise funds for the symphony, but they’ve developed a friendship over the years.

Hicks worked for the symphony from 1996-2000, before leaving the area for 14 years.

During that time away, she kept in touch with the Kennedys.

When Hicks visited Spokane, Susan would host a luncheon for Hicks and make sure she was still connected with the community. “She’s a very good friend, and I’m really grateful to know her,�

Hicks said.

Kennedy enjoys her work with the symphony because of that familial nature, which she said exists between the symphony office staff, members of the orchestra, the symphony board, the Spokane Symphony Associates board and volunteers, and the Christmas Tree Elegance organizers. “Everybody seems to really get along and really value working to do something that really helps the community and the individual and children,� she said.

Kennedy was previously on the Spokane Symphony Board of Trustees, in a variety of roles, and on the volunteer council board of the American Symphony Orchestra League, now

called the League of American Orchestras.

But the symphony is not the only organization Kennedy has dedicated her time to over the years. She was a member of the board of Wampum, YWCA, Connoisseur Concerts, Spokane Art School and the Spokane Chamber Music Association.

She has also volunteered with the United Way and the American Cancer Society, and is on the Campbell House Committee of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

Looking back on her time with the symphony, it’s difficult for Kennedy to name memorable moments, simply because there are too many to remember.

She was excited that the symphony associates made its largest donation yet to the symphony after the 2018 Christmas Tree Elegance, and she and her husband enjoyed getting to know symphony musicians and staff, guest musicians and each

new conductor who led the orchestra.

She also enjoyed hosting parties after the Labor Day weekend concerts to thank the musicians, a tradition which ended a couple years ago, and getting to see the symphony transition from the Opera House to the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. “It’s been 34 years worth of wonderful memories and friends,� Kennedy said.

If both the Kennedys and the symphony have their way, there will be even more wonderful experiences to come. “In Spokane, we have something very, very special, because I feel like in general, most people try to be kind to others,�

Hicks said. “I think Susie would be iconic Spokane about being warm and friendly and loving to everybody, overlooking people’s mistakes. ‌ Susan is someone that appreciates beauty and seeks to have it in her life but also share it with others. ...

She’s a great ambassador for our symphony. We’re really lucky.� “I really do believe in music, what it does to the human spirit,� Kennedy said. “That’s my goal, really, is to help further that both in the community and elsewhere.�

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5024 azariap@spokesman.com

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Susan Kennedy has volunteered with the Spokane Symphony for more than 30 years. She has also served on the board of trustees.

NOMINEES WOMEN Continued from 12 groups on birdwatching trips, sharing her knowledge of our local avian population. She coordinates and participates in native bird surveys to establish a baseline for populations of species in the shrub-steppe of Eastern Washington.

Her concord grape pie is outstanding and wondrous.

Allison Roskelley Seven2 Nominated by Tom Simpson Allison is an executive with Seven2 in Spokane, an avid outdoors person, wife of the late Spokane climber Jess Roskelley, spin instructor and model.

Lacy Crowder NAI Black Nominated by Tom Simpson Lacy is an up and coming dynamo in Spokane. She is a

CPA and CFO of NAI Black in Spokane. Lacy has also been very involved with Spokane’s startup community and is a private pilot and mountain climber.

Judi Williams Co-founder, Telect Nominated by Tom Simpson Judi has been a powerful leader in both business and community organizations in the Spokane region. Judi and her husband Bill started Telect over 30 years ago and created one of the areas largest and most succesful privately held companies.

Nancy Allen Co-founder, StayAlfred Nominated by Tom Simpson Nancy co-founded StayAlfred with her husband in 2012. The company has since grown substantially, has raised over $70 million in outside capital, is Spokane’s fastest growing start-up com-

pany, and is a leader in its industry.

Sara Neblett Co-founder, etailz Nominated by Tom Simpson Sara is an incredibly talented up and coming entrepreneur. Upon graduating in 2008 from Gonzaga, she cofounded etailz and was a member of its executive team up until the sale of the company in 2016 for $75 million.

Lisa Shaffer Founder and CEO of Paw Print Genetics Nominated by Tom Simpson Lisa is one of Spokane’s most successful female entrepreneurs. She is currently founder and CEO of Paw Print Genetics. Previously, she was co-founder of Signature Gneomics which was sold to Perkin Elmer in 2010 for $90 million.

See WOMEN, 14

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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LEGACY RECOGNITION Dr. Carol Guthrie has specialized in breast surgery for nearly 20 years, serving thousands of women from across the region.

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Dr. Carol Guthrie has been region’s go-to breast cancer surgeon for two decades

A DOCTOR, A GUIDE

By Chad Sokol

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A couple months ago, when Ann Murphy learned she had breast cancer, she had more questions than she would have been able to ask during a typical doctor’s appointment.

Luckily, Murphy says, she didn’t go to a typical doctor. She went to Dr. Carol Guthrie, who has specialized in breast surgery in Spokane for nearly 20 years, serving thousands of women from across the region.

“She spent over two hours with me,” Murphy said, recalling her initial surgery consultation.

“And she actually stayed past when the office closed, because when we were walking out, everything was dark. There was no one else there.”

Murphy, who teaches law at Gonzaga University, said she was stunned to find a surgeon so generous with her time – and relieved when Guthrie offered a hopeful prognosis.

“The other person I brought with me is another law professor, and so you can imagine how many questions the two law professors were asking,” Murphy said. “She just was absolutely amazing and so helpful, and just put my mind at ease.”

Guthrie grew up in Richland, where her mother was a preschool teacher and her father was a physicist at the Hanford nuclear complex.

She didn’t always plan to become a doctor. At Washington State University, she studied chemical engineering for more than a year before realizing it was not her calling.

“I just didn’t have a passion for it,” she said in an interview.

After her sophomore year, Guthrie transferred to Stanford

There’s just such an opportunity to intervene and really help women at this incredible time of need in their lives.”

Dr. Carol Guthrie University, where she majored in biology, and then attended medical school at UCLA, where she discovered an interest in surgery.

Before returning for her final year of medical school in 1986, Guthrie took a year off to travel and consider her career path. After consulting some classmates who had connections in the region, she spent six months working at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, for Afghan refugees who had fled the Soviet invasion.

Guthrie, now 60, said that experience taught her about cultural differences in medicine.

Her husband, Dr. Darryl Potyk, said it also instilled in her “a strong conviction that everyone deserves excellent health care, regardless of their situation.”

Back in Los Angeles, Guthrie completed her residency as well as a fellowship focused on liver and pancreas surgery. That’s also where she married Potyk, an internal medicine specialist and associate dean for the University of Washington’s medical school in Spokane.

In 1994, they moved to Spokane, where she joined Drs. Laurie Bell and Lawrence Schrock in a general surgery practice.

“I think my partner and I were the only two female surgeons in town at the time,” Guthrie recalled.

As a result, she said, they were often the go-to surgeons for breast procedures in the area.

“And then I realized pretty quickly that was my favorite part of my practice,” she said.

When Bell retired in 2000, Guthrie became the first surgeon in Spokane to devote her practice entirely to women who have, or might have, breast cancer. She currently works with Columbia Surgical Specialists and assists the Providence Regional Cancer Center in Spokane.

“There’s just such an opportunity to intervene and really help women at this incredible time of need in their lives,” Guthrie said. “There’s just such a role for the surgeon to really make the journey as pleasant as possible and allay people’s fears.”

Guthrie said she performs 400 to 500 surgeries each year, and about 150 to 200 of those turn out to be confirmed cancer cases.

Many patients come from Moscow, Pullman and Lewiston, she said, while some travel from as far away as western Montana.

She said she values accessibility and credited Columbia Surgical Specialists for accepting most insurance carriers.

The world of cancer care has changed significantly since Guthrie began her career. She noted advancements in detecting

the disease, including a technique that allows surgeons to remove individual lymph nodes, rather than entire clusters, for testing.

Genetic science has played a bigger role, too. For Murphy, the Gonzaga professor, who received a mastectomy from Guthrie in August, good news recently came in the form of a scorecard that compared her cancer cells to a huge database of cancer profiles collected through clinical trials.

Although some cancer cells were discovered in her lymph nodes, that genetic test indicated there’s a 98% chance they won’t metastasize. That means Murphy can finally undergo a plastic reconstructive surgery, which had been postponed.

Murphy said Guthrie showed a personal interest in her wellbeing, and yet she put Murphy in the driver’s seat, never pressuring her to choose one course of treatment over another.

Among other tough decisions, Murphy had to choose between a single or double mastectomy, knowing there’s a slight possibility the cancer can spread in the future.

“She said, ‘It’s your decision.’

She never told me what to do,” Murphy said. “But she was there, basically telling me the good, the

bad, what could happen, where I am in the stage. And then she let me make my decision based on all of the information she gave me.”

Guthrie said she wouldn’t approach her job any other way.

Like any doctor, she tells her patients what they can do to maximize their chances of staying alive. But for many cancer patients, it is not easy to weigh the effects of the disease itself against the grueling side effects of treatments like chemotherapy and hormone regimens.

“Our instinct is to say, ‘What do you mean it’s not worth it to you? Do you want to die?’ But I feel like my job is to educate them,” Guthrie said.

“Some providers look at it as a personal failing if the patients don’t follow their advice, or don’t do everything they can,” she said.

“And I feel like it’s their life, and how arrogant of me to take it upon myself to make them feel worse about it, or make it a harder decision for them.”

Guthrie and Potyk have three children in college; the whole family enjoys Nordic skiing.

In addition to her surgical practice, Guthrie helped launch a local affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation in 2002 and currently serves on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. She has given many talks on breast cancer.

“It’s just such a privilege and honor that women share their journeys with you,” she said.

“And they’re very vulnerable, and I’m just amazed by how strong they are, and how courageous they are, and how many of them just take it in stride.

“It’s pretty incredible.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5047 chadso@spokesman.com

NOMINEES WOMEN Continued from 13 Mari Clack Founder, Women Helping Women Nominated by Tom Simpson Mari is founder of Women Helping Women which has had an incredibly favorable impact on Spokane. Mari is also involved in many, many other impactful community organizations.

Karla Porter Owner, Insight Thermal Imaging Nominated by Lydia Roloff Logsdon She is an influential woman in the therapeutic and complimentary medicine field, providing medical-grade thermal imaging to our community and giving women the opportunity to have an additional tool in their toolkit for breast health.

Alexandra Shute Executive director, Coeur d’Alene Arts and Cultural Alliance Nominated by Maree Boyd Her vision and efforts have transformed the arts and culture in Coeur d’Alene. She has accomplished much in the four years she has been executive director. Take a look at the web site for this nonprofit organization, and you will see all kinds of events she has put together to bring people of all ages together through art and music.

Alison Poulsen Better Health Together Nominated by Erica Hallock Alison is a dynamic, passionate and inspiring leader. She recognizes that one’s health is largely impacted by social factors, including access to housing, healthy foods and transportation. As such, she partners with a wide array of agencies to improve the health of urban and rural East-

ern Washington. Through her leadership, we have seen our region’s percentage of uninsured fall dramatically as well as a more coordinated effort from partners such as law enforcement, housing and traditional health sector players to address physical and behavioral health.

Teresa Skinner ParaSport Spokane Nominated by Barbara Scaroni Teresa and her husband David run ParaSport Spokane, where they train disabled kids to do sports. Teresa has worked with kids over 20 years, and has produced world class athletes. She is also the best, nicest person in the world.

Jan Swanson Co-founder, North Wall Child Development Center Nominated by Lisa Holman In 1981, Jan and her husband, Wayne, opened a school: North Wall Child Develop-

ment Center. The school grew and thrived as local families discovered how its blend of Montessori, Reggio Emilia, gifted and talented, and Christian approaches to education nurtured their children. What began as an in-home preschool became North Wall Schools, an extensive landscaped campus with five buildings housing early childhood, pre-kindergarten, early elementary, and intermediate elementary classes, as well as offices.

Kumiko “Miko” Love Founder, the Budget Mom Nominated by Maddie McGarvey Kumiko Love fought her way out of $77,000 in debt, and her blog the Budget Mom is empowering hundreds of thousands of women locally and across the country to regain control of their financial lives. As seen on “Good Morning America,” People and the New York Times, the Budget

Mom offers tools including the Budget-by-Paycheck Workbook, expert advice and a supportive network.

Liz Moore Director, Peace and Action Justice League of Spokane Nominated by Mary Naber As a volunteer, I can’t possibly know all that Liz does, but my encounters with her in various activities are very impressive. ... Liz exudes confidence and knowledge and it IS contagious. She is such an encouraging leader and has made a difference in our community. I have witnessed how young adults are learning peaceful ways to deal with confl icts during these tense – at time – events.

Teri Koski President, National Alliance on Mental Illness Spokane Nominated by Wilma Koski.

Teri has been president of NAMI for the past three years, bringing the organization into national compliance and ob-

taining a grant to pay for ofirst executive director. Because of Teri, this organization has gained momentum going forward in these days of more focus on mental illness.

Myrna O’Leary Spokane Ag Expo Nominated by Kevin Gaffney Myrna spent many years working for the Spokane Ag Bureau, now part of Greater Spokane Chamber. Myrna managed the annual Spokane Ag Expo for many years, and served as a leader in the local ag community.

Judy Wilson Central Machinery Sales, Moses Lake Nominated by Kevin Gaffney Judy was the first woman in North America to be named manager of a Case IH farm equipment dealership. It was Central Machinery Sales in

See WOMEN, 19

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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LEGACY RECOGNITION

Sheila Collins came for the World’s Fair and stayed to help shape Spokane

A LEGACY OF UNITING

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Sheila Collins came to Spokane for a temporary job. She stayed and helped make lasting changes.

Collins was 25, with a degree in political science and living in Sacramento in 1973 when she saw a help wanted ad for the Folklife Festival for the upcoming Expo ’74 in Spokane. She wanted to move, and didn’t want to go to a big city, so Spokane seemed like a good temporary option.

She arrived in Spokane in November of that year, with six months to prepare for the opening of the World’s Fair, which would kick off in April and close the following November.

“I had no intention of staying,” she said.

But working for the festival, where the exhibits changed every week with people and examples of different countries and regions, was interesting and challenging.

“I met my husband, got married, made friends, had kids,” she said.

Her husband was folk singer Utah Phillips, who was hired for the six months of the fair to act as site host and ambassador.

They moved into a house on the lower South Hill, near the end of West 14th Avenue. After they divorced, Phillips left but Collins stayed and eventually started a catering business, Catered For You. It was Spokane’s post-Expo period, when the economy tanked and the neighborhood movement “just popped up all over,” she recalled recently.

“People were really dissatisfied with the decisions being made, and they found common issues,” Collins said. “Zoning was a huge one that united people.”

With her neighbors in what is now the Historic Cannon Addition, Collins challenged plans by an out-of-town company to build a nursing home on property overlooking Latah Creek.

In a long battle that went all the way to City Hall, the developer pulled out and the neighbors won. Polly Judd Park is now on the site.

That was just the beginning of Collins’ community involvement. She was a founding member of the Cliff Cannon Neighborhood Council, the Spokane Neighborhood Economic Development Alliance and the Interstate Sole Source Aquifer Study Group; a board member of the West Central Community Center and Friends of the Falls; an executive board member of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Her community activities led to being tapped for a mayoral appointment to the local Growth Management Act implementation board that was getting citizen participation in the new city Comprehensive Plan, and a gubernatorial appointment to the state Land Use Study Commission for possible changes to that act.

Judy Cole, who worked in

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Sheila Collins was big in the neighborhood development movement and headed Gov. Christine Gregoire’s Spokane office.

community relations for Avista and its predecessor Washington Water Power for some 35 years, first met Collins while helping the city form the neighborhood councils in the late 1980s. After Cole had spoken at a meeting, Collins approached her.

“She said we didn’t share the same language,” Cole recalled.

“I was speaking corporate and that was not necessarily how neighborhood people spoke. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

“She was helpful. She wanted me to be effective.”

The two became good friends, working together on political campaigns and local issues, and watching sunsets together in Collins’ backyard.

“She’s fair-minded. She’s collaborative. She’s honest and highly effective,” Cole said.

Chris Marr was a car dealer in the 1980s when he met community activist Collins.

“I remember being impressed with her understanding of the neighborhoods and being very focused on getting community engagement,” said Marr, a former state senator. Collins also “understood the value of a vibrant downtown” at a time when businesses were pulling out and storefronts were going dark, he added.

For 19 years, Collins owned and operated here catering business, Catered for You. In 1998, she hired a new chef, Romeo Herrera, an immigrant from Guatemala by way of Los

Angeles. Herrera, who would eventually buy the business with his wife, Linette, described Collins as one of the best bosses he ever had.

“She was like a mother, but firm,” he said. “Even though she was the owner, she would say ‘What do you think? How can we do this?’ ” In 2004, a few years after selling her business, Collins was the co-chair of the Spokane gubernatorial campaign for Christine Gregoire.

When Gregoire won a narrow victory in the final recount, Collins’ name came up as a prospect for running the governor’s office in Spokane.

Gregoire said recently she had met and liked Collins during the chaotic campaign, but wanted to talk with her first before hiring her to be the governor’s “eyes and ears” in Spokane.

“We clicked immediately,” Gregoire said, and she came to rely on Collins to explain what programs and projects were important for Spokane and Eastern Washington. “Sheila was always honest. I credit her with being the unsung hero of bringing home opportunities for Spokane.”

From state support for renovation of the Fox Theater and the Mobius Science Center to the push for a medical school in Spokane, Collins was the person who could explain the need and keep her abreast of what was going on, Gregoire said. She was

comfortable with high-ranking government officials and everyday people.

“She was able to relate, and build trust,” the former governor said. “There isn’t anybody that she couldn’t, wouldn’t talk to.”

Marr, who was a state senator for part of that period, said Collins didn’t just focus on Spokane when she was in that office.

Although much of Eastern Washington is governed by Republicans and she represented a Democratic governor, local elected officials “respected Sheila’s willingness to engage and understand where they were coming from.”

Her ability to bring people together came to the attention of Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, who appreciated her communication skills and knowledge of the community.

“I called Gov. Gregoire to ask if I could poach her,” Verner said recently. “She reluctantly agreed.”

As Verner’s government relations director, Collins coordinated issues between the mayor and council offices, and between the city and other local, state or federal government offices.

“She came to work every day wanting to contribute to the community,” Verner said. “She just gets a kick out of helping people … finding solutions and connecting people to resources.”

Collins later returned to Gre-

goire’s local office in the governor’s second term, remained to help with incoming Gov. Jay Inslee’s transition and stayed three years before she “basically retired.”

Now 71, Collins, still keeps active in community organizations. She doesn’t regret sticking with Spokane over a bigger city.

“It’s small enough to build relationships and get things done,” she said. “That fertile ground has given rise to numerous organizations that work for the betterment of the community.”

Major events like Bloomsday, Hoopfest and Spokefest all benefited from community activism, Collins said. The evolution of city government, the growth of local neighborhoods and the city’s development into a system of centers and corridors are all a result of people saying “there are better ways to do this,” she added.

“It’s not done. And it shouldn’t be,” she said.

Cole said Collins still has strong connections and continues to be available to younger activists and community leaders, occupying the important role of “sage adviser.”

Marr wonders what will happen when she completely retires: “What three people are going to replace Sheila Collins?”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(360) 664-2598 jimc@spokesman.com

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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LEGACY RECOGNITION

Susan Virnig continues the environmental activism that first drew her to Spokane

COMING FULL CIRCLE

By Nicholas Deshais

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

About 5 million people came to Spokane in 1974 for the World’s Fair. Most left, but not Susan Virnig.

She was 24 years old, and came to work as a program assistant for the environmental symposia – the “intellectual core of the fair,” according to the definitive history of Expo ’74, Bill Young’s “The Fair and the Falls.”

The symposia covered everything from energy to agriculture, and recycling to environmental law. The first of the conferences featured famed environmentalist and mountaineer David Brower, who said, “This planet is all we have. ... I like the planet so much that I’d like to preserve Earth as a conservation district within the universe, a sort of Earth National Park.”

The symposia were intended to establish a “much-needed relationship between scientific technicians and the people,” said Wassily Leontief, a Harvard economist and Nobel laureate who was on the fair’s advisory committee.

That’s what Virnig came to do, and that’s why she stayed.

“They were for the 5 million people who came to the fair, but also for the Spokane people,” Virnig said of the symposia. “It was both public education and citizen participation. But just because Expo is packing up and leaving town doesn’t mean this sort of education and citizen involvement should stop.”

She’s been educating and getting Spokanites involved ever since. From her founding of Northwest Regional Facilitators – which begat a host of beneficial Spokane organizations – to her leadership of the YWCA to her years teaching poetry to children, Virnig has touched a lot of lives.

“It’s strange to say, but by the time you get to be 70, you have lived a lot of lives,” Virnig said.

“I see my life as a mosaic. There are all these discrete but lovely parts of it. From writing poetry to co-founding a nonprofit that still lives today to teaching and leading backpacking, I just have a wide variety of interests and things I care about.”

Jeff Lambert, executive director of the Dishman Hills Conservancy and longtime member of Spokane Mountaineers, has known Virnig for nearly 40 years.

We can keep giving and participating as long as we’re able.”

Susan Virnig Community developer, environmental activist

“She’s a force,” he said. “She’s an example of somebody who is fair and makes sure everybody gets their turn. She’s always been really good at taking folks who have different opinions, maybe don’t like each other, and boiling it down to common interest. Amazingly, you have a lot more in common than you think you do.”

Smitten with Spokane It wasn’t a matter of not knowing what to do after Expo for Virnig. It was more about what to do first. Virnig and her husband, Bob Stilger, who met in Japan in 1970 as students, were smitten with Spokane and didn’t waste much time.

In 1975, they formed Northwest Regional Facilitators, a community development nonprofit dedicated to “helping individuals, groups and communities overcome obstacles and seize opportunities to create their preferred futures.” Their first contract was with the city, doing community development in the East Central and West Central neighborhoods.

“The city asked us to pilot that program. I remember Bob and I sitting in the city manager’s office, and he said, ‘We need home rehabbing.’ But we didn’t know anything about housing,” Virnig said, with a laugh. “We did know how to work with the neighborhoods.

We knew how to do communication. We knew how to be respectful to people. So we set up that program and ran that program for 16 years.”

Virnig moved to East Central in 1977, and has lived there since. The community development collaboration between City Hall and lower-income neighborhoods was largely nonexistent before Virnig’s group got involved, but now it’s an important facet of what the city does, built on work she did decades ago.

Beyond community development and home rehabbing, Virnig’s group grew over the 22 years she helped run it, and it

morphed into an institution that provided many services to the community. “We encouraged the staff to think about what the community needs,” Virnig said.

In 1980, a staff member told her child care was “going to become a huge issue,” so they started a child care and referral resource program, helping parents find help while they went to work or school.

As NWRF grew, it kept true to its primary goal of finding common solutions among disparate groups.

In 1992, the program that began with a request in the city manager’s office turned into Spokane Housing Ventures, “now the largest low-income housing developer in the state,” as Virnig describes it. The organization currently owns and operates 1,300 units of affordable rental units in 10 Washington counties.

Virnig left the facilitators group in 1997, followed by her husband in 1999. With their departure, the NWRF split into four nonprofits: Spokane Housing Ventures, Northwest Nonprofit Resources, Community Frameworks, and the Child Care Assistance Program, which was born after NWRF’s childcare and referral resource program joined forces with Community-Minded Enterprises.

While still leading the facilitators group, Virnig kept busy and worked to develop organization vision, resolve staff conflicts and create strategic plans for the YWCA, KPBX, Garfield Elementary School, Shaw Middle School and the Unitarian Universalist Church, as well as the state Commission for the Humanities and governor’s Task Force on Hunger.

She organized the first backpacking school for the Spokane Mountaineers, teaching others how to fare in the wild.

In 1995, growth was an issue in Spokane, as it is today. Working on the city’s growth management process, Virnig came up with a campaign called

“50,000 People Are Coming to Dinner . . .and They’re Staying the Night!” More than 80,000 questionnaires were distributed through city utility bills and various local organizations asking, “What do you really love about Spokane?”

‘More in common than we ever imagine’ After she left NWRF, Virnig worked with Colville National Forest to help figure out longterm forest planning and the use of all-terrain vehicles. Over the course of five years and 40 meetings, she talked with backpackers, horse riders, environmentalists, ski resort representatives, county commissioners, lumber industry people and offroaders – “folks who had in common a deep love for the forest,” Virnig said.

At Chewelah City Hall one night, a “little old lady with a walker” approached her. Virnig asked her when she was last in the forest. The woman told her how she had ridden her ATV into the woods for a picnic since she had trouble walking in. She was leaning against her machine when she saw a moose approaching. She thought she was a goner, but instead the moose charged and jumped over her and her ATV. “The moose lept right over me. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the underside of a moose,” the woman told Virnig.

“It’s really easy to have misconceptions about people we’re not familiar with,” Virnig said.

“We all have a lot more in common than we ever imagine.” In the end, all the forest’s stakeholders agreed to increase the 15 miles of ATV routes in the forest to more than 700 miles.

If her work with adults wasn’t enough, Virnig also gave a hand to children.

During her time on the board of the YWCA of Spokane, including a stint as president, she worked with Gonzaga University and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to start a swimming school for homeless

children.

“A child might be in a domestic violence situation, and end up in a shelter in the middle of the night and be at this homeless school in the morning and in the pool by 11 o’clock for lessons,” she said.

Virnig recruited friends to help, like Shari Barnard, who would later become mayor but had been a lifeguard and swimming instructor, and Marion Moos, an outspoken feminist and activist in Spokane. The program ran for nine years.

“Those kids were so grateful.

When I’d come to school and hand out certificates, beginner swimmers or advanced, those kids were so thrilled,” she said.

“Things weren’t going well in their lives and they had this one thing.”

In 2003, she got her master’s degree in creative writing from Eastern Washington University, and began teaching poetry to elementary school children.

Looking back, Virnig’s life may be a mosaic, cobbled together from her decades of hard work to make the world a better place. But her drive today remains awfully similar to what drove her to Spokane in the first place 45 years ago.

“The climate crisis is the seminal issue of our time. I’ve decided to devote my remaining energies, resources, time, whatever you want to call it, to this,” she said, echoing the words of Brower during Expo. “I’m very concerned for the coming generations. We’re in pretty dire straits.”

The future looks bleak, Virnig said. But she knows what she’ll be doing: Never giving up.

Earlier this month, Virnig was in California’s Sierra Nevada. She was alone, finishing something she started decades ago: hiking the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.

She’d done 1,800 of those miles over the years, and had 850 left. This trip would reduce that tally by 150 miles, but halfway through the trip she encountered something that even the 70-year-old could not surmount: snow. So now, she has nearly 800 miles left to hike, and she has plans to. Snow, like any other challenge in life, won’t stop Virnig. ”We can keep giving and participating as long as we’re able,” she said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5440 nickd@spokesman.com

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Susan Virnig, 70, came to work at Expo ’74 and ended up founding what became Spokane Housing Ventures and later becoming president of the YWCA.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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Brought to you by

LEGACY RECOGNITION Paula Bulkley is a full-time volunteer at Shriners Hospital and helps Santa Claus every year as part of the nonprofit Fantasy Flight’s program, bringing Christmas to kids living in poverty.

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Paula Bulkley gives her time to Shriners and Fantasy Flight

‘POWER PAULA’ BRINGS JOY AS SANTA’S HELPER

By Kip Hill THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Paula Bulkley has a saying: Santa doesn’t make mistakes.

“I get very depressed, if I can’t find exactly what the child wants,” said Bulkley, who, in addition to her duties as an elf for the nonprofit charity Fantasy Flight that flies area children each year to the North Pole, has logged nearly 22,000 hours as a volunteer at Shriners Hospital.

“That’s a big one for me. It can be pretty stressful.”

Sometimes the gift is serendipitous. Bulkley, who devoted her life to volunteering after her husband, Greg, took a job as a commercial pilot, remembered one little girl who had her heart set on a stuffed animal with big eyes.

“She didn’t say what she wanted,” Bulkley said. “That was a popular gift, that year. I had these big, beautiful bags that they give me to put the individual gifts in.

“She opened that bag and started crying. I’d gotten her a white seal that big,” Bulkley said, stretching her arms to about the width of a bread loaf.

The child, who was homeless, had lost a seal the exact same color, but slightly smaller, some weeks before. She believed St. Nick had found her lost “best friend” who’d grown in the time they’d been apart.

“What are the chances that I would have put the right gift in the right bag?” Bulkley wondered.

Steve Paul, president of the Spokane Fantasy Flight charity, said the chances were pretty good given Bulkley’s meticulous attention to detail. Charity workers call her “Power Paula.”

“Her strength of character, her dedication to detail is undeniable,” Paul said. “If you watch her, she’s a force unto herself.”

Joan Jamison, a friend, nominated Bulkley for The Spokesman-Review’s Women of the Year recognition both for her work at Fantasy Flight and Shriners.

“She has the ability to get things done,” Jamison said.

Bulkley developed her devotion to service as a member of U.S. Rep. Tom Foley’s staff during the last decade of the longtime lawmaker’s tenure in office. There, Bulkley completed casework for constituents, such as helping to schedule medical appointments for veterans.

After Foley lost his ’94 reelection bid, Bulkley was asked to deliver some donated binders to a school for homeless chil-

dren being run by the local YWCA. That became her first volunteer position after Greg Bulkley took a job with United Airlines, and she eventually organized the clothing bank for students.

“When they were showing me around, there was a big pile of clothes that the teachers didn’t have time to go through there, to find the size that fits,” she said.

Bulkley helped organize those clothes by size, so that students could quickly pick out what they needed. She continued working at the YWCA school program until 2001, when her husband left his commercial pilot’s job to fly for the Washington Air National Guard following the 9/11 attacks. Paula Bulkley stayed at home for a year, then began working for Shriners.

For the past 17 years, she’s logged close to 22,000 hours of volunteer work, mostly in marketing and business development. She works a little less than 40 hours a week, unless it’s during a fundraising push, like this past weekend, when she estimated she spent around 50 hours in preparation for an open house event.

“My big thing is that I want to be an extra set of hands if somebody needs some help,” she said.

“I try to do that.”

Greg Bulkley interjected as his wife spoke, usually to add an accomplishment she had either forgotten or failed to mention.

He noted that her hair this week is longer than it usually is, because his wife plans to donate to a charity that provides hair for women being treated for cancer, after her own bout with the disease years ago.

Of course, she volunteered at Fantasy Flight through those treatments.

“She has the biggest heart of anybody I’ve ever met,” Greg Bulkley said. “That’s where it comes from.”

That’s especially true when it comes to children. For years, Paula Bulkley would purchase jewelry boxes inspired by the film “Frozen,” bedding emblazoned with superheroes and stuffed animals as large as their realistic counterparts, only to miss the moment the toys were delivered as she helped St. Nick behind the scenes.

In the past few years, the North Pole was reconfigured to allow Bulkley into the room with the roughly 60 to 65 children she shops for each year. Remembering those moments – like the little girl who climbed into her bag to retrieve each individual gift – brings a big smile

to Bulkley’s face.

The experience gives kids a sense of normalcy, even amid turmoil in their lives, she said.

“They don’t have a whole lot to talk about,” she said. “The

teacher will say, ‘Who’s doing stuff. They’re talking about how something fun this weekend?’ great it was to see Santa.”

That’s not necessarily for these kids. But Monday morning, CONTACT THE WRITER: when they’re back, they’re (509) 459-5429 wearing their Fantasy Flight kiph@spokesman.com

RECOGNIZING AN OUTSTANDING

PACIFIC NORTHWEST WOMAN OF THE YEAR IN OUR ORGANIZATION:

n o s a d r o h T n y l i Mar

For her contributions to Spokane with the following organizations: Sacred Heart • Spokane Parks Foundation Board Community Minded Enterprises • Ronald McDonald House Charities Women Helping Women Fund • Spokane Valley Sun City Church

And for her 40+ years with the Spokane Lilac Festival, serving as the first female President in 1989. A salute to the strong women in Spokane for all they do to make our community better!

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

TONI LODGE

SANDY WILLIAMS

TRACIE MEIDL

LINDA THOMPSON

JORDAN STEVENSON

PAM SENSKE

WENDY WILLIAMS-GILBERT

ELAINE DAMSCHEN

MAURA RUIZ

THERESA HART

SUSAN KENNEDY

DR. CAROL GUTHRIE

SHEILA COLLINS

SUSAN VIRNIG

PAULA BULKLEY

THURSDAY, NOV. 14, 7 P.M. AT THE BING CROSBY THEATER

Making life work on your terms

A candid conversation between Karen Wickre and Tess Vigeland about finding your own way to bypass the glass ceiling.

KAREN WICKRE Karen Wickre has been called “the best-connected Silicon Valley figure you’ve never heard of.” She has worked for 30 years in technology as a writer, editor, and communications pro. In addition to working at many startups and tech publications, she both thrived in and survived long stints at Google, which she joined at age 51, and Twitter, which she joined 10 years later (find her @kvox). Apart from her day jobs, Karen’s life-long avocation is connecting people, and enjoying the fruits of her own lively and large web of friends and allies. She wrote “Taking the Work Out of Networking” in 2018 to help others with the persistent challenge of making connections that count. Karen has also written for Wired and Medium, and has been a guest on many podcasts. The opposite of someone who “works the room,” don’t look for Karen at late-night parties or at showy conferences; she’s more likely to be connecting with friends and strangers from the comfort of her laptop. She lives in San Francisco, where she collects art, takes power walks and has too many books.

TESS VIGELAND Tess Vigeland is a veteran journalist and a well-known voice to millions of American radio listeners. Vigeland spent 11 years as an anchor and reporter for public radio’s “Marketplace.” She also anchored NPR’s “Weekend All Things Considered.” She is the recipient of multiple national journalism awards, including the 2019 Gracie Award for Best Host/Anchor, and the 2019 Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage, both earned for her work reporting on the aftermath of the Camp Fire that destroyed the city of Paradise, California. Vigeland has been a contributing writer to the New York Times, the Guardian, among other national and international publications. She is a public speaker and emcee, and the author of “LEAP: Leaving a Job With No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want,” published by Penguin Random House. In August 2018, Vigeland repatriated to the United States after nearly three years living abroad and traveling solo to 20 countries throughout Asia and the Middle East.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

NORTHWEST PASSAGES

TICKETS ONLINE

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AND AT THE HISTORIC BING CROSBY THEATER

www.spokesman.com/bookclub

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

INLAND NORTHWEST WOMEN OF THE YEAR

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NOMINEES WOMEN Continued from 14 Moses Lake.

She accomplished this starting with an accounting degree from Kelsey Baird in Spokane.

Traci McGlathery Director of community relations, STCU Nominated by Michael Dunn Initially a professional with Doubletree and Red Lion Hotels, and with the Public Facilities District, for many years now she has been the Community Relations Director with STCU. In this key role, she has – among other things – led STCU’s recognition efforts for nonprofits and schools, youth and teachers, and has helped this fine organization provide needed financial support.

Michelle Pierce Spokane Healing Rooms Nominated by Tammy K. Summers Michelle Pierce has been a huge influence leading the women of Spokane to help other women here in the Inland Northwest become better women themselves. Michelle provides a loving touch in a corporate atmosphere.

She uses her skills to train with the most current information and gives godly counsel to those in need.

Michelle Girardot CEO, Habitat for Humanity Nominated by Gerry Walton Girardot has positioned Habitat to expand our local conversation about housing, what we need now, what we’ll need in the future, and how four walls and a roof can transform lives in ways that reverberate throughout our community.

Sarah Dixit Senior field organizer, Planned Parenthood Nominated by Adam Swensen Sarah is an activist for reproductive justice and immigration rights. She organized a rally in downtown Spokane as a response to the abortion bans in other states and several hundred people showed up. Hundreds joined her in a rally she helped organize in re-

sponse to immigrant children being kept in inhumane detention centers. She is only 23 years old and has already made a huge difference in this city.

Denise Pilgeram Veterinarian Nominated by Donna Troyer “Dr. Denise� has tirelessly taken on managing the UGM veterinary clinic - a donationonly clinic whose mission is to provide services to the pets of homeless and low-income residents of Spokane. She solicits and coordinates volunteers, seeks donations of supplies and medications from the vet community.

Elsa Distelhorst Civic volunteer Nominated by Marilyn Carpenter Elsa Distelhorst has been a long-time community leader in Spokane. She has served in many organizations, including: the Mayor’s Task Force on Race Relations, Japan Week, Intercollegiate Racial Concerns Committee, the Inland Empire Perinatal Parent Support Group, Nishinomiya Sister City Association, and the Chamber of Commerce in various roles. At Whitworth University, she served as director of community programming for 10 years and director of development for 15 years.

Mary Stamp Editor, the Fig Tree Nominated by Kimmy Meinecke Stamp has been the editor and driving force behind The Fig Tree – a free monthly newspaper filled with stories of people in the Inland Northwest who live out their faith and values through their work, their volunteer efforts, and their community-building action. This region is better because of the knitting together that we do together, and the Fig Tree helps us all to know how we are all doing that.

Renae Wedlake Founder, All Heart Infusion Nominated by Kalli Wedlake Renae has been serving Spokane for 38 years as a registered nurse. In 2017 she started a nonprofit nursing or-

ganization called All Heart Infusion, using her own retirement account to do so. She and her nurses provide expert home infusion nursing care, an essential service, to all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Donna Olson Nominated by Danica Jackson She has changed so many lives by taking them in and taking care of them and setting them on the right path and then some. She has been doing this for over 30 years.

Amber McKenzie Owner/publisher, New Awakenings Northwest magazine Nominated by Ray Fadeley Amber works to connect, educate, and support the natural and holistic living communities of the Inland Northwest. Her publication provides an opportunity for motivated holistic businesses to reach readers who are interested in health, wellness, self-improvement, family wellness, sustainability, and eco-living. ... She possesses the rare combination of positive intention and effective practical skill, and is richly deserving of recognition for her contribution to our city and its people.

Haley Kelly Volunteer, Hope House Nominated by Lynda Launer Every month she collects items for Hope House. Either items they need or food. She has even found people to donate food some months and on those particular months she collect anything else that might be needed. Above and beyond that, she finds out where there is a need in the community and she fills it.

Cynthia E. (Cindy) McMullen Central Valley School Board Nominated by Dennis McMullen She has been on the Central Valley School District board since 1988, except for a 4 year period on the State Board of Education. During that time she has be the CV board president seven times, bond and levy chairperson several times, and headed the bond cam-

paign which resulted in the New CV and U-Hi schools being funded in 1998. She was the city attorney and prosecutor for the city of Medical Lake for 36 years.

Susan McConnell Walker Police historian, author and volunteer Nominated by Patty Wilson Susan has been active with the police department both as a volunteer and an advocate.

She pressed for the new jail gate at the courthouse and campaigned for for new badges for incoming officers with the correct founding date of the department. She co-wrote books with Tony Bamonte on department history. She’s an exemplary person and a credit to Spokane.

Robyn Nance News anchor, KXLY Nominated by Barbara Bentley Works tirelessly as advocate for children. Along with her employer KXLY she has been a leader in the “Wednesday’s Child� segment, dedicated to children in the foster care system needing adoptive families. She also helped established Teen Closet, a place for teens to get new and gently used clothes.

Judy Pellow Flemming Activist Nominated by Daniel Fratini Judy is a tireless activist in support of homeless, hungry both in organizing support and direct support herself. She is actively involved in support, both material and physical of women’s rights issues. She is also a supporter of persons with disabilities, through Special Olympics and other groups.

Leanne Donley Teacher, Central Valley High School Nominated by Krista Larsen Leanne Donley has worked in public education since 1996 and has been involved in student leadership at the state level for the past 20 years. She dedicates her time year-round to the betterment of young leaders. From programs and camps at Central Valley High School to statewide retreats, the focus is always inclusion and love.

Latrice Williams

Nominated by Carmen Pacheco Jones Latrice is an up-and-coming realtor that works diligently to support her community by mentoring to youth, actively engaging in programs that support education and employment and by sharing her talent of song and performance.

Mary McDirmid Managing director and special care planner, MassMutual Northwest Nominated by Rose Backs Mary is a tireless advocate for her daughter and children like her who suffer from rare disease. She is an advocate and educator who continually offers support to others. Her honest, raw and humble approach to sharing her family story is both heart wrenching and inspiring.

Hadley Morrow Director, Better Health Together Nominated by Kathryn A Neraas Hadley Morrow is an extraordinary young woman, a community organizer and storyteller, and at the age of 28 already a leader in Spokane.

Her current work, and passion, is focused on building a whole person care health system in Eastern Washington as a Director with Better Health Together. Impressive.

Kaylee Mellgren Suicide prevention, racial and gender equity, and human rights activist Nominated by Joshua Porter Kaylee Mellgren, a young and driven indigenous woman with a propensity for science ... strives for social justice and equity, bolstering those efforts with hard science. Kaylee recently graduated from North Central High School ... and accepted to the University of Washington. ... She seeks out creative ways to protect our environment, connect with those in need, and help her community.

Debra J. Rauen Communications professional, community volunteer Nominated by Linda Safford She has served as the direc-

tor of communications for Itron, Inc. and Providence VNA Home Health. Her volunteer community leadership includes service to the Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors, Holy Family Adult Day Center Board of Directors, the Providence Health Care Continuum Board of Directors, and the Partners with Families & Children Board of Directors. In 1992, Debbie joined Spokane Rotary Club 21, where she has 17 years of perfect attendance.

Heather Osborne Interim CEO/program director, Big Brothers Big Sisters Nominated by Amanda Chamberlain I am nominating Heather Osborne for the Woman of the Year Award for many reasons. ... She is a hard worker who is fiercely dedicated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters mission of empowering the youth in our community to reach their full potential all while raising two kids of her own. ... She has truly proven herself to be a wise, fair and fun leader who has strengthened the unity of our staff.

Maggie Kazemba Owner/director, Spokane Elite Dance Studio Nominated by Maggie Kazemba Maggie has been an important figure in the Spokane and Eastern Washington dance community as a choreographer and coach. She started her career as a choreographer while only a freshman at West Valley High School. Since that time her choreography has won seven state titles for the E-Gals, including the 2019 2A/3A Dance title this past March.

Amy Swank Director of the Parent and Family Office, Gonzaga University Nominated by Naseeb Bhangal Amy has made lasting impacts in the field of higher education and specifically parent and family programs that seem, to me, quite unparalleled. With only a small office at her disposal, Amy has continued to add to her list of services.

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daaautobody.com

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

You’re an inspiration to us all 4HEÕ Õ7NLEMÕNFÕSHEÕ9EAQÕ(NMNQEERÕAQEÕLAJIMGÕAÕDIFFEQEMCEÕIMÕNTQÕ MEIGHBNQHNND Helping the local economy thrive is just one of the many positive attributes you bring to our area. Extending your abilities and resources to the community through service and other initiatives makes you a true leader.

Visit us at bankofamerica.com/women.

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