Women of Distinction Awards recognize a record number of nominees, from artists to entrepreneurs
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Women of Distinction Awards recognize a record number of nominees, from artists to entrepreneurs
By: Carolin Vesely
Anna-Celestrya Carr, with The Men's Banner, says she's 'humbled and pleasantly surprised' to be nominated.
Shelley Chochinov doesn't think she did anything
distinctive when she refused to stay within the patriarchal confines of
her Jewish faith.
This was at a time when it was considered unacceptable for women to pursue religious studies, but the Winnipegger dove right in.
Outstanding in their fields
Here are this year's award nominees:
Arts
Sheila Spence
Gaetanne Sylvester
Catharine Teichroew
Jacqueline Traverse
Culture
Tina Chen
Shelley Chochinov
Felicia Olarewaju
Education, Training & Mentorship
Karen Botting
Linda Campbell
Cathy Denby
Susana Hawryshko
Cheryl Hoffman
Zana Lutfiyya
Usha Mittoo
Melanie Penner
Colleen Plumton
Lori Schellekens
Leadership & Management
Diane Carriere
Nicole Chammartin
Julie Donaldson
Daryl Dumanski
Majda Ficko
Shelly Glover
Valerie Harper
Linda Lafontaine
Dr. Jeannette Montufar
Annette Osted
Jennifer Rattray
Dr. Jerry Shrom
Dr. Lorna Turnbull
Public Awareness & Communications
Ruth Bonneville
Anna-Celestrya Carr
Science, Technology & the Environment
Judy Chipperfield
Maureen Heaman
Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg
Voluntarism, Advocacy & Community Enhancement
Kenny Daodu
Rena Molinari
Chau Pham
Claudette St. Pierre
Sally Thomas
Wellness, Healthy Living & Recreation
Nadia El-Gabalawy
Janice Lukes
Beth McKechnie
Melinda Mohammed
Jan Schmalenberg
Circle of Inspiration
Soroptimist International of Winnipeg
Diane Redsky, Joy Smith, Dianna Bussey
The UWSA Day-care staff
Young Woman of Distinction
Daniela Conci
Amanda Furst
Candace Maxymowich
Jaysa Nachtigall
Melanie Ngo
Karlee Sapoznik
Gerrie Hammond Memorial Award of Promise
Cherese Matula
Marianne Cortes
"I've never wanted to be a second-class citizen, so I started
studying quietly," says Chochinov, who never really stopped. The recent
graduate of the Florence Melton Adult Education School of Jerusalem's
Hebrew University is one of 79 nominees -- a record number -- for the
2012 YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.
Second-class citizens? As if.
The list of nominees for the 36th annual awards, which salute women
for their achievements and service in fields ranging from arts and
education to business and science, includes a metabolic geneticist
working on a treatment for a rare bone disease, the University of
Manitoba's first female professor of finance and an engineer whose work
has aided the mobility of aging Canadians. There's also the U of M law
faculty's first female dean, a couple of members of Parliament and an
artist who uses male handprints to raise awareness about domestic
violence.
The 12 awards will be handed out at a gala dinner at the Winnipeg
Convention Centre on May 2 that's expected to draw up to 950 people.
When the Winnipeg YWCA launched the Women of the Year Awards in 1977,
41 women were nominated and YMCA-YWCA associations across Canada soon
followed suit. In 1991, to mark the 15th anniversary, the event was
renamed the Women of Distinction Awards.
This year's record 79 nominations represent a nearly 60 per cent
increase over last year's total, says Betty Black, chairwoman of the
awards committee.
"We've increased our efforts significantly this year to get a higher
profile in the community and reach out to more community groups," Black
says. "I think that has really paid off, where more organizations and
groups are aware of the award and our desire to recognize the
accomplishments and achievements of women."
Winnipeg psychologist and U of M professor Judy Chipperfield, whose
research on the psychological aspects of healthy aging has been
highlighted in the House of Commons, says she has received many
professional accolades, but this is different.
"This is the first award that really seems like it recognizes my role
beyond just a researcher," says Chipperfield, who is nominated in the
science, technology and the environment category.
"As I understand the nomination, it recognizes my contribution to the
next generation, to training students and the work I've done to help
people in the community and that's really nice."
Unlike Chochinov, she says there were really no gender barriers for
her to overcome as gerontology, much like nursing, is a female-dominated
field.
"We're interested in babies and we're also interested in what happens
at the other end of the age continuum," says Chipperfield, whose
current research focuses on the devastating effects on older adults who
are sedentary and perceive their world as uncontrollable.
Métis filmmaker and artist Anna-Celestrya Carr, 26, says she's
"humbled and pleasantly surprised" to be nominated in the public
awareness and communications category for her performance art project.
The Men's Banner, which she started in 2007, involves asking male
strangers to add their palm print and signature to a long (her longest
is 25 feet) banner, essentially promising to never use their hands in an
act of violence against women. She takes her banners to rallies,
marches, festivals and, recently, Central Canada Comic Con, where Star
Trek actors William Shatner and Jonathan Frakes lent a hand to the
cause.
"Awards and recognition isn't my sole focus when I work on my
projects, so it's quite lovely to be recognized," Carr, who started
making banners in reaction to the hundreds of missing and murdered
aboriginal women in Canada. She wears traditional dress when she goes
out to collect handprints.
"For me, it's more that I want to spread the word, and I guess want
this to be legitimized. People keep asking me what organization I'm
with, but I'm not an organization. I'm an artist and this is part of my
body of work. And I plan to do it for the rest of my life."
Tickets for the 36th annual Women of Distinction Awards gala are
$160 (with a tax-deductible receipt for the donation portion) and
available at www.ywi
