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SPOTLIGHT
photo c/o Cape Fear Garden Club
AZALEA AMBASSADORS PROGRAM LAUNCHES
TThe Cape Fear Garden Club’s revamped youth program is part of this year’s North Carolina Azalea Festival. Participating high school juniors and seniors will be at the club’s Garden Tour on April 8-10 as well as other festival events that weekend. This will be the first year the Azalea Ambassadors – now open to male and female students – replaces the Azalea Belles, which featured girls in antebellum-era dresses. Their new look was unveiled during a recent event (above) for those whose gardens are on this year’s tour, and the Azalea Ambassadors’ official introduction takes place at the Ambassadors’ Tea 2-4 p.m. April 3 at the New Hanover County Arboretum.
CREW GIVES ANNUAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS YWCA HONORS WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT BRADDOCK CHAIRS HEALTH FOUNDATION
SANDY SPIERS (above) received CREW’s Career Advancement for Women Award this year.
Cape Fear Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) held its fourth annual Awards of Excellence at the Wilmington Convention Center, spotlighting real estate projects and individuals in the community.
“Sandy has been involved in advancing the careers of women in Eastern North Carolina for many years,” the group says about Spiers, senior vice president, middle market banker at Truist. “She is a mentor with Cameron Executive Network at UNCW and WILMA’s Women to Watch Leadership Initiative. At Truist, Sandy started a women’s book club and has chaired the regional Business Resource Group for the Women of Truist.”
Retired economic developer JENNY MIZELLE received the Beth Quinn Excellence Award.
CREW gave Live Oak Bank Pavilion and Riverfront Park in downtown Wilmington nods, with a Dealmaker Award and Economic & Community Enhancement Award.
For a full list of winning projects, go to capefearcrew.org/about/awards.
The YWCA Lower Cape Fear’s thirty-six annual Women of Achievement Awards last month recognized the work of women ranging from advocacy to public service.
The group’s award ceremony took place virtually March 3, celebrating the contributions of forty-eight women nominated from Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties.
“These women demonstrate excellence and commitment to their careers, schools, and communities,” YWCA CEO VELVA JENKINS says about this year’s nominees.
Award winners were:
SHIRLEY FREEMAN, Advocacy & Social Justice; HEATHER WILSON, Arts & Culture; ISABELA LUJAN, Business; MICHAELA HOWELLS, Education; MIREYA LUPERCIO, Health & Wellness; JC LYLE, Public Service; CATHY WRIGHT (above), Rachel Freeman Unsung Hero; and JORDAN WILLETTS, Trailblazer.
Two youth awards went to: DIANA GOMEZ, Young Leader (Mission); and EMILY LAIN, Young Leader (Merit).
To watch the awards program video, go to ywca-lowercapefear.org/what-weredoing/initiatives/woa.
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LANNIN BRADDOCK was appointed chair for the 2022 Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center Foundation Board.
A principal at The Braddock Group, Braddock’s brokerage firm specializes in commercial and residential real estate, with an emphasis on new development projects.
The Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center Foundation’s mission is to engage and connect donors to Novant Health programs and initiatives “that save lives and improve the health of the communities it serves,” officials say.
Of her recent appointment as chair, Braddock says, “KIMMIE DURHAM brought incredible leadership and vision guiding the Foundation last year. I am honored to continue to build on those efforts and focus on the foundation’s mission to raise awareness and funding that will continue to benefit patients and team members within our community.
“This year, we will focus on communicating the foundation’s ‘why’ more than ever before. Our goal is to create conversation for everyone surrounding the importance of supporting our health care system and the experience an individual or family should have while in the care of Novant Health.”
Braddock began serving on the foundation board in 2016, and during this time, she served as co-chair for the Novant Health Brunswick Medical Foundation’s “A Path Forward” capital campaign, which seeks to raise $3.5 million to help fund expanded behavioral health services.
