By NITA HILTNER Special to The Press-Enterprise
Six Riverside County women are the recipients of the 24th annual YWCA Women
of Achievement awards, exemplifying the Y’s mission statement: eliminating
racism and empowering women and girls. The honorees are Michele Broad,
Nancy Hart, Jean Easum, Patricia Reynolds, Cindy Roth and Virginia Blumenthal.
Award presentations will be made at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Riverside
Convention Center. More than 800 people are expected to attend the event,
which is a fundraiser supporting YWCA programs such as preschool and toddler
programs, aquatics, heath, fitness and recreation, the Family Stability
Program, YWCA Week Without Violence, YWCA Everyday Heroes and Born Free,
a program for chemically dependent pregnant women and their babies. Judy
Carpenter, a 2007 recipient of the achievement award and chairwoman of
this year's event, said that more than 40 women countywide were nominated.
"These women are all so varied in backgrounds and careers, and they
serve as role models for young women," she said. She said that the
jurors who select the honorees try to have representation countywide and
may even have the nominations done by geographic location next year. No
one is selected a recipient more than once. Recipients are recognized
by the state Assembly and by the governor, said YWCA committee member
Ricki McManuis. Each woman receives an encased chambered half-nautilus
shell, representing all the different facets of a woman. YWCA Executive
Director Samantha Patterson said she is honored to have been a part of
the event for the past nine years and to see the exceptional female role
models who live locally. "We’re starting a campaign to involve
more high school and college age women to help them see what we see and
give them more to aspire to besides celebrities," she said. The accomplishments
of the six women are too numerous to list, but each one is outlined briefly:
Virginia Blumenthal, an attorney for 33 years, began her law office as
the only all-woman law firm in Riverside County. She was selected as one
of the best 77 female litigators in California this year by the Daily
Journal. She is the vice president of Riverside Community College District
board of trustees and has served as president of the Riverside Philharmonic.
Cindy Roth is president and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce
and recently received a civic leadership award from the NAACP. She has
been involved with bring a medical school to UCR, cochaired a $35 million
capital campaign for La Sierra University, and been a voice in preserving
March Air Base for the community. Michele Broad is a certified nurse practitioner,
who speaks to many groups about women’s health issues. She mentors
young women and women business owners through the National Association
of Women Business Owners and the For You Network. Jean Easum is a Department
of Defense civil servant at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Norco
for 27 years. She is active in Corona Soroptimist, the YWCA, the March
Field Air Museum education committee, Festival of Lights, the Dickens
Festival and more. Patricia Reynolds has worked at the Riverside County
Department of Social Services for 31 years, where she is now assistant
director. She has worked to help aid the Latino-American community in
the city of Riverside, as well as Riverside County. Nancy Hart is the
Riverside City Council representative for Ward 6. She worked in the PTA,
becoming the unit council district PTA president. A fixture in the Arlanza
community for more than 40 years, she has been involved in the Arlanza
Neighborhood Advisory Committee, the Fair Housing Council and the Riverside
Housing Development Corporation.