MAWA Executive Director Receives Prestigious Award
Century Colleges Chooses 3 Women of Distinction
News Release 11/17/05
Century College has chosen three women to be honored at its first annual Women of Distinction dinner on Dec. 8 at Dellwood Hills Golf Club. The winners of the Women of Distinction awards are:
Marian Bemis Johnson, a pioneer in the development of girls and women’s sports; Nyango Melissa Nambangi, founder and executive director of the Minnesota African Women’s Association, and Ann Schrader, chief operating officer of HealthEast Care System.
Marian Bemis Johnson is recognized as the foremost woman sports historian in Minnesota and has co-authored a book called "Daughters of the Game." A former instructor at Stillwater High School, Hamline University and the former Lakewood State Junior College, she developed the women's intercollegiate athletic program at Lakewood. In the early 1980s, she received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Minnesota Community College system. She retired in 1987.
Nyango Melissa Nambangi, founder and executive director of the Minnesota African Women's Association, came to Minnesota in 1992 as a Hubert Humphrey International Fellow at the University of Minnesota. She founded MAWA to provide a forum for African women to network, address the challenges of making a home in Minnesota, and provide a venue for women to share and connect with community resources. Recent initiatives of the group include a program for African girls ages 9 to 18, a college preparation program for junior and senior high school girls from low-income immigrant and refugee families, and a training workshop for African girls designed to encourage political participation.
Ann Schrader, chief operating officer of HealthEast Care System, has been a passionate advocate for workforce development issues within the care system and the greater community, and has served as a mentor and role model for women in a variety of leadership positions. Schrader also was the driving force behind the East Metro Health Career Institute. This initiative was a collaboration of community colleges with government resources and hospitals to create a career ladder model. During the three years of the project, over 70 percent of the participants were women.
The Women of Distinction dinner will be held Dec. 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Dellwood Hills Golf Club. Cathy Wurzer of Minnesota Public Radio will be the guest host. The awards will be presented at that time and awardees also will be invited to visit the college at least once to engage in dialogue with Century students.
Century College developed the Women of Distinction award to celebrate the fact that more women gain access to higher education through community/technical colleges than through any other type of post-secondary institution. The college sought nominations from the community to honor women who have demonstrated accomplishments in their fields of expertise, have a record of working to increase opportunity and equality for women or girls and have an appreciation of the value of community/technical colleges.
The Women of Distinction awards are sponsored by Century College, the Century College Foundation and the Century College Women’s Studies Department.
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