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Last updated on Friday, February 17, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - Mayor John Hamilton announced that two local women will be honored during March for their outstanding service to our community. Dr. Judy DeMuth has been named Bloomington’s Woman of the Year. Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer will receive the Emerging Leader Award.
The recipients were selected by members of the Woman of the Year subcommittee of the City of Bloomington's Commission on the Status of Women. The Woman of the Year, Dr. Judy DeMuth, will be honored at the Women's History Month luncheon, to be held on Wednesday, March 22 at the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center.
The Emerging Leader recipient, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, will be honored at the Women's Leadership Development event, which will be held on Thursday, March 30, at City Hall in Council Chambers beginning at 5:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Women's History Month serves as an opportunity to recognize the individual and collective accomplishments of women in our community. In addition, organizations for women and women-owned businesses will exhibit at the history luncheon. The exhibit reservation form is available at bloomington.in.gov/csw.
"The women honored at the Women's History Month events inspire, engage, inform and improve this community every day. Their leadership has guided and shaped this community into the caring, compassionate, bold and proactive place we are so happy to call home. Here in Bloomington and elsewhere, it is women who are leading the way on some of the most important issues of our time," commented Mayor Hamilton.
The theme of this year's event is "Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business." Nancy McCormick will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Nancy served the National AFL-CIO/United Way partnership as the AFL-CIO Labor Engagement Director for United Way Worldwide from August 1991 until her recent retirement in January 2017. As Labor Engagement Director she provided program information, consultation, technical assistance and training for AFL-CIO Labor Liaisons, United Ways and Labor Agencies across the nation. Nancy worked side by side with these organizations to recruit, train and mobilize union volunteers in support of United Way and other partners to build communities across the country. She has been a union member since 1977, serving first as a member of local #1073 UAW since that year and most recently as a member of TNG/CWA local #32035 since 1997 when the Department of Labor Participation organized.
Woman of the Year recipient, Dr. Judy DeMuth, began as Superintendent for the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) six years ago. "In that short tenure she has made a very good school corporation even better," stated Sue Wanzer, member of the MCCSC Board of School Trustees. "She has provided superior guidance and leadership and has made it her mission to ensure that all students feel safe and secure, with her priority being student safety and success." In her time with MCCSC, Judy has initiated several professional staff development programs and has focused on inclusion and the diverse needs of students.
Judy has been successful in advancing and promoting more women into leadership and administrative positions within MCCSC than at any time in the past. When Judy realized that secretaries, who were mostly women, were making a lower salary than custodians, who were mostly men, she called it discriminatory and raised secretary salaries.
Judy has fought and lobbied for increased support for public education. She has been a frequent testifier in state legislature and takes every opportunity she can to speak to local organizations about public education.
The Women's History Month Lunch program begins at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22. Doors will open at 11:15 a.m. for viewing of women's exhibits. The cost is $22.50 per seat or $250.00 for a reserved table for eight; tickets must be purchased in advance through the BCT Box Office located at 114 E. Kirkwood Avenue (11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Saturday-Sunday), or online at bctboxoffice.com. Scholarships are available for individuals who may need assistance purchasing a seat to attend the lunch.
For more information about the lunch or workshop, contact Sue Owens at (812) 349-3468 or owenss@bloomington.in.gov.
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