Women of Achievement
Each year the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award is presented to a select group of Northeast Ohio women who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments through career success, community service, leadership, mentoring, and dedication to YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. Boasting over 250 honorees, the Women of Achievement Academy is comprised of the most accomplished and esteemed leaders in Northeast Ohio.
Women of Achievement Class of 2025
In June 2025, nine outstanding women will be celebrated for their work in and for the community. This group of honorees represent organizations across Northeast Ohio that are committed to the betterment and progress of women and girls in our community. Save the date to celebrate these women at YWCA’s Woman of Achievement Award Celebration on June 4, 2025 at Severance Music Center in University Circle.
Women of Achievement Class of 2025
Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley - Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta & President Emeritus of the Middle East Policy Council
Trina Bediako - Chief Executive Officer, New Horizons Baking Company
Shontel Brown - Congresswoman, 11th Congressional District, United States House of Representatives
Michelle Hereford - System Chief Nurse Executive, Ethel Morikis Endowed Chair in Nursing Leadership, University Hospitals
Kelly Lamirand - Cleveland Market President, Key Bank
Deborah Lindway - Executive Vice President, Bank Security Officer & Technology Executive for Mergers and Acquisitions, PNC Bank
Jazmin Long - President & Chief Executive Officer, Birthing Beautiful Communities
Claire Rosacco - Vice President, Government Relations & Community Outreach, Cuyahoga Community College
Renee Willis, PhD - Executive Director, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
Women of Achievement Awards Ceremony 2024
The 2024 Women of Achievement Awards ceremony was an incredibly inspiring night filled with heartfelt speeches, moving moments, and empowering messages that raised
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT 2024
VIDEO RECAP
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT 2024
PHOTO RECAP
2024 ACHIEVE MAGAZINE
Women of Achievement Academy
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2022 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Miranda Creel
Robyn N. Gordon
Pastor Courtney Clayton Jenkins
Ann V. Klotz
Sandra Madison
Sondra Miller
Rosanne Potter
Renee Richard2021 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Carrie Carpenter
Gladisa Guadalupe
Kathryn M. Hall
Ariane Kirkpatrick
Susanna Krey
Marsha A. Mockabee
Vanessa Whiting
Lorna Wisham2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Heather E. Burton, PhD.
Suzanne Day
Mary Kim Elkins
Constance Hill-Johnson
Stamy Paul
Patricia A. Shlonsky -
2010 AWARD RECIPIENTS
April M. Boise
Tara Broderick
Catherine M. Kilbane
Janice G. Murphy
Geralyn M. Presti2011 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Linda Bluso
Pamela B. Davis
Carol Latham
Ramona Robinson
Eileen Saffran2012 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Barbara J. DanforthNan Cohen
Diane M. Downing
Lisa A. Rose
Debra A. Simmons
Sharon Sobol Jordan2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Kim Bixenstine
Constance Harper
Lisa J. Oliver
Clara T. Rankin
Lauren Rich Fine2014 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Judge Jean Murrell CapersKristen Baird Adams
Jennifer Bell
Sheryl King Benford
Jodi Berg
Beth Wain Brandon
Denise San Antonio Zeman2015 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Julie Boland
Linda Bradley, M.D.
Katrina (Trina) Evans
Sally Wertheim
Sonali Bustamante Wilson2016 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Micki Byrnes
Kathryn “Kit” Jensen
Kym Sellers
Robyn Minter Smyers
Maryrose Sylvester
Nancy Tinsley
Sue Tyler2017 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Carole F. HooverEmily Drake
Anita Gray
Kerin Lyn Kaminski
Patricia Motta
Teresa Metcalf Beasley
Evalyn Gates Ph.D
Ann Zoller2018 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Congresswoman Marcia FudgeBeth Mooney
Sandra Pianalto
Mary Verdi-Fletcher2019 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Deb Donley
Heidi Friedman
Lee Ann Howard
Marilyn Mobley
Tari Rivera
Enid Rosenberg -
2009 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Women of Achievement
Virginia Albanese
Judith Feniger
Gena C. Lovett
Maria J. Pujana, M.D.
Marcia J. Wexberg2008 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Linda M. Kane
Natalie A. Leek-Nelson
Stephanie McHenry
Beth E. Mooney
Rita N. Singh2007 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Linda Abraham-Silver
Caprice Bragg
Tracey Lind
Denise Reading
Wendy Shiba2006 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Jeanne Hauer
Deborah Z. Read
Diana Stano
Bang-Huei Yu2005 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Elizabeth K. Balraj
Martha F. Brooks
Sari Feldman
Patricia Kennedy-Scott
Cynthia V. Schulz2004 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Patricia A. Blackmon
Kathleen B. Burke
Olga Gonzalez-Sanabria
Joy A. Jordan
Helen R. Marter
Sandra Pianalto2003 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lillian W. Burke
Adele Malley
Ellen S. Mavec
Marilyn McGrath
Cynthia Moore-Hardy
Karen Sweeney
Rosalind Thompson2002 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Farah M. Walters
Women of Achievement
Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis
Marcia L. Fudge
Janette M. Louard
Nancy McCann
Janet L. Miller
Lauren Wolf2001 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Inajo D. Chappell
Nancy Cronin
Heather R. Ettinger
Phyllis Seltzer2000 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Daisy Alford-Smith
Katherine Brandt
Jennie S. Hwang -
1999 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Goldie K. Alvis
Jo Ann Charleston
E.P. Degenfelder
Susan L. Eagan
Mareyjoyce Green
Laura K. Hong
Lolita M. McDavid
Madeline A. Sivak
Wilma Smith
Mary Verdi-Fletcher
JoAnn White1998 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Carol DiLillo-Kenney
Rocky Hwasta
Dolores K. Minter
Edwina H. Moss
Myrtle I. Muntz
Jean Salmon-Campbell
Mary Lou V. Stricklin
Ruby L. Terry
Claire A. Van Ummersen
Farah M. Walters1997 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Margot Copeland
Nancy S. Dye|
Alyson Y. Ownes
Onelida Santiago
Patricia M. Sweet
Pauline H. Tarver
Mylion D. Waite
Margaret W. Wong1996 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Ione M. Biggs
Mary G. Bounds
Carolyn Buhl
Cheryl Goggans
Joan Lamson
Yvonne Pointer
Virginia G. Saha Roberta Steinbacher
Jerry Sue Thorton1995 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Jacqueline F. Woods
Women of Achievement
Mary H. Ashbrook
Carol A. Cartwright
Sister Maureen Doyle O.S.U.
Doris A. Evans
Jean B. Gaede
Adrienne Lash-Jones
Rubie J. McCullough
Chris Trepal
Lesley B. Wells1994 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Artha W. Lubaugh
Gail Long1993 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Zelma Watson George
Women of Achievement
Jane L. Campbell
Marguerite I. Harkness
Magnolia Jackson
Frances P. Taft1992 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Barbara Galloway
Catharine M. Lewis
Marla Loehr
Donna K. Rego
Carol Rivchun1991 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Mary Bill
Mary Boyle
Janet Bullard
Margaret L. Murphy
Billie K. Rawot
Karen W. Spero
Rose Wong1990 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Alexandria J. Boone
Helen Brown
Janice G. Douglas
Sally Gries
Sally K. Griswold
Florence Hangach
Mary Rose Oakar -
1989 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Betsy Alexander
Wilma Bergfeld
Monica Crespo
Donna L. Cummings
Denise M. Fugo
Dorothy Fuldheim
Kathryn Karipides
Janice Nelson-Neville
Mary M. Smith
Lynn Wolfram
Stella Zannoni1988 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Victoria Cargill
Peggy Z. Fisher
Gloria Pace King
Anne McManamon
Patricia Mead
Lizabeth A. Moody
Barbara S. Robinson
Linda Rocker
Jana Van Vliet
Farah M. Walters1987 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Betty Eschuk
Carol Frankel
Bernadine Healy
Sandra Johnson
Denise Knecht
Miriam G. Lugo
Patricia W. Nobili
Eunice Podis1986 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lynne B. Alfred
Martha Cathcart
Ann Dunning
V. Latrelle Hogg
Martha Joseph
Edith Paetow
Mary M. Reinhard
Beryl E. Rothschild
June Vereeke-Hutt1985 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Grace C. Brown
1982 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Marjorie Hall-Ellis
1981 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Barbara Brown-Daniels
Mary Fabish
Marie Wing
Peggy Yohner1980 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Jeanette G. Brown
Carole F. Hoover
Eleanor B. Schwartz -
1979 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Dorothy Chlad
Joan Campbell
Ranelle Gamble
J. Helen Slough
Pauline Smith
Joyce Whitley1978 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Alicia Alvarado
Betty Del Duca
Mary C. Guzman
Joan Kriikku
Sarah Marcus
Lois McGuire
Mary A. Mendelson1977 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Rena Blumberg
June Kirk
Jean Krizman
Joan P. Lambros
Beverly Pyle