
PAST HONOREES
1988 – 2018
2018
Senator Harriette L. Chandler
Senate President Emerita
Collette Phillips
Founder & CEO, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Dr. Vanessa Calderón-Rosado
Founder & CEO, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Geri Denterlein
Founder & CEO, Denterlein
Helen Drinan
President, Simmons University
2017
Rahki Kumar
Senior Managing Director & Head of ESG Investments and Asset Stewardship, State Street Global Advisors
Kristen Lepore
Governor Baker’s Chief of Staff
Niki Tsongas
U.S. Representative, MA 3rd Congressional District
Linda Whitlock
Principal, The Whitlock Group
2016
Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito
Lt. Gov, Massachusetts
Sylvia Ferrell-Jones
CEO, YW Boston
Rep. Elizabeth Malia
State Representative, Massachusetts
Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan
President & CEO, The Dimock Center
Marcy Reed
MA President, National Grid
Senator Karen Spilka
State Senator, Massachusetts
2015
Mary Kakas
President & CEO, Edward F. Kakas & Sons
Rep. Kay Khan
State Representative, Massachusetts
Mayor Lisa Wong
Mayor of Fitchburg
Josefina Bonilla
Founder & Publisher, Color Media Group
2014
Bennie Wiley
Principal, The Wiley Group
Ann Murphy
O’Neill & Associates
Marion Colombo
Market President, TD Bank
Susan Tracey
President, The Strategy Group
Susan Servais
Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Council
Gloria Fox
State Representative, 7th Suffolk District
2013
Linda DeMarco
Co-President, InterPride
Valerie Mosley
CEO, Valmo Ventures
Alison A. Quirk
Executive VP, State Street Corporation
Kathi-Anne Reinstein
State Representative, Massachusetts
Elizabeth Scheibel
Laura Sen
President & CEO, BJs
2012
Marge Schiller
Dolores L. Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award
Auditor Suzanne Bump
Auditor, Massachusetts
Rosalin Acosta
Senior VP & Managing Director, Enterprise Bank
Deborah C. Enos
CEO, Neighborhood Health
Dianne Luby
President & CEO, Planned Parenthood MA
Jennifer Nassour
Chairwoman, MA Republican Party
2011
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Dolores L. Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award, Senior Fellow, Northeastern University
Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad
Speaker Pro Tempore, Massachusetts
Lauren Baker
First Lady of Masaschusetts, Founder of Wonderfund
Jane C. Edmonds
Senior Fellow, Northeastern University
Ruth Ellen Fitch
President and CEO of Dimock Center
Vicary Graham
Past Chair for Greater Boston Food Bank
2010
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas
Representative MA 5th District
Ruth Bramson
Co-Chair of Diversity Sub-Committee for the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council
Sheriff Andrea Cabral
County Prosecutor
Susan Esper
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Michal Regunberg
Principal, MR Associates
Marita Rivero
Board Member, NPR
Dr. Fran Burke
Professor, Suffolk University
2009
Dolores Mitchell
Executive Director, Group Insurance Commission
Susan Windham-Bannister
President & CEO, MA Life Sciences Center
Marie A. Turley
Senior Policy Analyst for Women & Seniors programs for Suffolk County Sheriff’s Dept.
Lt. Governor Kerry Healey
Lt. Governor MA
Senator Joan Menard
State Senator
Attorney General Martha Coakley
Attorney General, MA
2008
Senate President Therese Murray
Senate President, MA
Diane Patrick
Senior Counsel at Ropes & Gray
Mary Breslauer
Executive Producer, Co-host, The Agenda
Judy Butler
Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory, UC Berkeley
Carol Fulp
Senior VP, John Hancock Financial
Mona Harrington
Chief Information Officer, US Election Assistance Comission
Ellen Zane
President & CEO, Tufts Medical Center
2007
Jennifer Davis
Sr. VP of Global Communications, DELL
Joanne Grady
Founder and CEO, Abbott Personnel Consulting
Maria Krokidas
Founding Partner, Krokidas and Bluestein LLP
Renee Landers
Professor of Law, Suffolk University
Susana Segat
Founding Chair and Commissioner, Mass Commision on the Status of Women
Meg Vaillancourt
Sr. VP Coporate Relations and Executive Director of Red Sox Foundation
Ambassador Swanee Hunt
Women and Public Policy Program founder, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
2006
Virginia Buckingham
Deputy Editorial Page Editor, Boston Herald
Marian Heard
President and CEO, Oxen Hill Partners
Melissa Kogut
VP of Development, Riverside Community Care
Barbara Lee
Founder, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Angela Menino
Dress for Success, Rosie’s Place, Women’s Lunch Place
2005
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager, Kerry-Edwards
Joanne Jaxtimer
Senior VP & Director Public Affairs, BNY Mellon
Nancy Leaming
CEO, Tufts Associated Health Plans
Bonnie Newman
Executive Dean, Harvard University School of Gov’t
Samantha Overton Bussell
Director of Parks & Rec, State Enterprise Solutions for Conduent
Joan Wallace-Benjamin
President & CEO, The Home for Little Wanderers
Margaret D. Xifaras
Attorney, Lang, Xifaras & Bullard
2004
Cheryl Cronin
General Counsel to 2004 Democratic National Convention
Janine Fondon
President and CEO, UnityFirst
Janice Loux
MBTA Pension Board Chair
Lois Pines
Former State Representative in Newton, Candidate for Lt. Gov
Jo Ann Sprague
State Senator
Roni Thaler
Executive Director, Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus
Jane Wallis Gumble
Director of Housing and Community Development
2003
Teri Cavanagh
CEO, COBB Marketing & Communications
Hon. Carol Cleven
State Representative
Teresa Heinz Kerry
Chair, Heinz Endowments & Heinz Family Philanthropies
Hon. Shannon O’Brien
State Treasurer, MA
Sherry Penney
Professor, UMass Boston
Sarah-Ann Shaw
Journalist/TV Reporter, WBZ-TV
2002
Rev. Anne C. Fowler
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Paula Groves
Partner, Axxon Capital
Nan Langowitz
Founding Director, Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Babson College
Gloria Larson
Partner, Foley Hoag LLP
Sayre Sheldon
National Board Member and Ed Fund Treasurer, Women’s Action for New Directions
Andrea Silbert
Ceo and Co-founder, Center for Women and Enterprise
Mary Toomey
Teacher, Weymouth Schools
2001
Alison Amoroso
Clare Dalton
Founder of Domestic Violence Institute, Northeastern University School of Law
Jody Dow
Republican National Committee Member, Former Sec of State Candidate
Dr. Paula Johnson
Cardiologist
Judith Nitsch
Founding principal of Nitsch Engineering
Gail Snowden
Managing Director, Fleet Bank
2000
Randy Albelda
Phd., Research Director, MA State Senate Taxation Committee
Vicki Donlan
Founder & Publisher, Women’s Business
Justine M. Liff
Boston Parks and Rec Commissioner
Helene Solomon
Nancy Achin Sullivan
Executive Director, Board of Registration in Medicine
Paula Wright
1999
Beth Boland
Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP
Kathleen Casavant
Treasurer, Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Beverly Droz
Management Development Consultant, Droz Management Consulting
Jean Inman
Chair, Massachusetts Republican Party
Susannah Swihart
CFO, Bank Boston
Rev. Cheng Imm Tan
Founding Director, Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians
1998
Martha Chayet
Owner, Chayett Communications Group, INC.
Hon. Barbara E. Gray
State Representative
Vivien Li
Executive Director, Boston Harbor Association
Fran Rodgers
Chair and founder, WFD Inc.
Regina Villa
Owner, Chair and President of Regina Villa Asc
Gail M. Leftwith
“Civic Engagement Advisor” for The Voter Participation Center
1997
Elsie Frank
Sandra Henriquez
CEO, Boston Housing Authority
Elizabeth Levin
Senior VP & Principal, Rizzo Associates
Dr. Elizabeth Sherman
Founder & Former Director, Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, UMass Boston
Rina Spence
Dr. Susan Roosevelt Weld
First Lady of Massachusetts
1996
Mary Maples Dunn
Former President of Smith College, Published Author
Sally Greenberg
Esq., Eastern States Civil Rights Counsel, Anti-Defamation League
Kija Kim
MASSJOBS Council Board Co-Chair & Massachusetts Asian American Commission
Paula Meara
Police Chief, Justice
Barbara Quiroga
Art & Fashion Publicist
Nassrine Farhoody
Director, Rape Crisis Center of Central Mass
1995
Kathleen E. Caron
Sheryl Marshall
VP, Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette
Loretta McLaughlin
Groundbreaking Reporter, Former Globe Editorial Page Editor
Frances K. Moseley
President & CEO, Boys and Girls Club of Boston
Evelyn F. Murphy
Former Lt. Gov of Massachusetts
Helen Chin Schlichte
Co-Founder, South Cove Manor Nursing and Rehab Facility
1994
Priscilla Douglas
Assistant Secretary for Public Safety & Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations
Hon. Nancy Gertner
US Federal Judge
Deborah Jackson
CEO, American Red Cross Eastern Mass
Nancy F. Korman
Woman’s Advocate/Campaign Worker for Senator Ed Kennedy
Susan Shaer
Director, Institute of Politics, Kennedy School, Harvard
Cathleen Douglas Stone
Chief of Enviro Sciences, City of Boston
1993
Eleanor Acheson
US Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Policy Development
Sarah Buel
Lawyer and Anti-Domestic Violence Activist
Caroline Chang
Co-Founder, Chinese American Civic Association
Laurie Freida Garcia
Executive Leadership, The Harriet Tubman House, Co-Founder for Committee for Boston Public Housing
Hon. Lucile Hicks
Former State Senator
Dr. Miriam Hirsch
Assoc Prof of Education & Co-Chair of Education Dept., Yeshiva University
1992
Janet Wu
Political & Investigative Reporter
Susan Bailey
Senior Paralegal, Ropes and Gray LLP
Constance H. Buchanan
Associated Dean, Harvard Divinity School
Anna Faith Jones
President & CEO of the Boston Foundation
Mary Lee F. King
Legislative Director, Mass. Department of Fish and Game
Polly E. Logan
Republican Strategist and Women’s Advocate
1991
Margaret Merry
Teresa M. Contrado
Jane Garvey
Director of Logan International Airport
Diana Lam
Retired, Founder and Board Chair Margarita Muniz Academy
Kip Tiernan
Co-Founder, Boston Health Care for the Homeless
Dianne Wilkerson
1990
Mercedes Tompkins
Executive Director, Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc
Jane Alexander
American Author/Actress
Nicki Nichols Gamble
President & CEO, Planned Parenthood League of Mass
Sister Therese Higgins
President of Regis College
Arline Isaacson
Former Director of Governmental Affairs, City of Boston, Political Consultant, Mass Teachers Association
Barbara Neely
Author and Host of “Commonwealth Journal” on Boston Radio
1989
Helen Spaulding
Co-Founder of New England Aquarium, Chairwoman, Boston Foundation
Ellen Goodman
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist
Jackie Jenkins-Scott
President and CEO, Dimock Community Health Care
Patricia McGovern
State Senator
Kattie Portis
Retired, ran her own Drug Treatment Center for Women
Bettie Taymor
Founder, Director, Program for Women in Politics and Government, Boston College
1988
Hon. Joyce Alexander
Chairperson, Judicial Council of the National Bar Association
Dawn-Marie Driscoll
Partner, Palmer and Dodge
Mary Jane Gibson
Assistant Majority Whip/State Representative
Leslie Tarr Laurie
Founder, Tapestry Health
Joan F. Sprague
Architect/Author
Helen Spaulding
Political Activist / Affiliated w/ the Boston Foundation and the New England Aquarium