MARIA'S MINERVAS
Remarkable women have shaped, strengthened and served this state in extraordinary ways from sports to science, motherhood to politics, arts to medicine, in every human endeavor California women shine. They weren't asked or told to do the incredible work they do day-in and day-out; they just do it without hesitation and with great determination. Their selfless service and their "doing" makes an extraordinary mark on our communities and for our state and that's why I'm so proud to honor these women with the Minerva Awards.
The Minerva Awards were created in 2004, which are named after the Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Justice, portrayed on the California State Seal, who symbolizes the dual nature of woman as both warrior and peacemaker. Minerva Award recipients have made extraordinary contributions to California in the arts, health and sciences, community activism, business and technology, motherhood, innovation, education and lifetime achievement. Many of the nominees not only have made a significant contribution to their profession, but they also impart their knowledge and skills to the next generation either by mentoring, or by working for the inclusion and retention of women in their field.
The Minervas Awards are presented at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women in Long Beach -- mark your calendars for this year's conference on Wednesday, October 22. For more information on the conference, visit CaliforniaWomen.org.
THE 2007 MINERVA AWARD WINNERS:
“Sweet” Alice Harris
Over forty years ago, “Sweet Alice” Harris, now 73, began serving disadvantaged youth and families out of her Watts home after witnessing the 1965 riots. What started as an informal, home-based initiative to ease racial friction in Harris’ diverse neighborhood is today a fifteen program organization called Parents of Watts, or POW, operating out of eight houses. Though its numerous services include homeless shelters, parent training classes, immunization programs and employment trainings, one of POW’s central tenets is keeping kids off drugs and in school. In jail at 12, a mother at 14, homeless by 16, Harris, who turned her life around with the support of a caring family, can relate to her clients. Harris asks a simple question of people hedging about lending a hand: “Do you want to be part of the building crew or the wrecking crew?”
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Representative Nancy Pelosi broke the marble ceiling in January when she became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Before her election to Congress 20 years ago, Speaker Pelosi served as Chair of the California Democratic Party. A tireless crusader for international human rights, Speaker Pelosi has always been a staunch advocate for women, children, families and the disabled. She led the fight to preserve San Francisco’s Presidio, worked to secure increased funding for breast cancer and HIV/AIDS research and treatment, fought to eliminate the wage gap between men and women’s earnings and has been an ardent champion for Title IX and equality in education for girls.
Commander Maureen Pennington
With more than 20 years of active duty, U.S. Navy nurse Maureen Pennington is the first Nurse Corps officer to command a surgical company in Iraq. She was awarded a Bronze Star for her service in Fallujah, Iraq for managing teams of life-saving doctors, nurses, hospital corpsmen and Marines in a string of trauma centers located just 10 minutes by helicopter from battle lines. Under Pennington’s leadership, the facilities’ survival rate for combat-wounded patients rose to an unprecedented 98 percent. A mother of two, Pennington served as an operating room nurse during the 1990 Gulf War and has volunteered seven times to help the nonprofit Operation Smile provide reconstructive cleft lip and cleft palate surgery to children in developing countries. Now the Senior Nurse Executive at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Maureen aspires to one day command a naval hospital.
Christy Porter
Christy Porter, a former photojournalist and the founder and Executive Director of Hidden Harvest, is tackling hunger in California’s Coachella Valley and her successes are measurable. Since its inception, Porter’s unique, effective program, which hires local, low-income farm workers to rescue produce left behind in fields after growers finish harvesting their crops, has donated nearly three million pounds of food to those in need. The organization serves 10,000 families or more each month through 61 local agencies in addition to running its own food bank. Hidden Harvest also creates jobs for Valley workers: more than $25,000 in wages go into the pockets of the working poor each year for their help harvesting the produce.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver – Lifetime Achievement
Through her service as Executive Vice President of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation and Founder and Honorary Chair of Special Olympics International, Eunice Kennedy Shriver has launched an international movement demonstrating that intellectually disabled persons are capable of remarkable achievements and deserve the same opportunities and experiences as others.
Shriver was the driving force behind President Kennedy's creation of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development in 1962; helped reform Civil Service regulations to require persons with intellectual disabilities to be hired on the basis of their overall ability, rather than just their test scores; established major centers for the study of medical ethics at Harvard University and Georgetown University; founded "Community of Caring," a character education program adopted by more than 1,200 public and private schools throughout the nation. She also now serves on the Board of Directors of Best Buddies, which was founded by her son Anthony in 1989.
Above all, Eunice is renowned for her landmark creation of Special Olympics, which has grown and thrived since its 1962 founding in her Maryland backyard. Today, Special Olympics is a global phenomenon, sponsored by one of the world's largest corps of volunteers, and including 2.5 million athletes in 165 countries. “Her generosity of spirit is boundless, her grace is extraordinary, and she has brought unparalleled hope and unprecedented opportunity to literally millions of persons throughout the world,” said Senator Edward M. Kennedy of his sister.
