The Junior League of Birmingham, AL 

In her early League years at the Junior League of Atlanta, Julia Meyers began by rolling up her sleeves and volunteering in the community. She worked alongside other Junior League of Atlanta members to serve people experiencing homelessness and abused women and children. Then when her beloved brother Paul, a public defender for human trafficking victims, passed away, Julia began the Paul Meyers Foundation, where she continued to serve the community through his legacy of defending victims of human trafficking. Continuing his commitment to serving those in need kept her going.

Julia Meyers joined the Junior League of Birmingham, AL, in 2008 and has become an accomplished leader with a fire of inspiration. She has inspired the Junior League of Birmingham and people throughout the state of Alabama. Julia once said, “Once you find your calling, know your purpose, and never give up.” Like Mary Harriman, Julia has relentless drive, passion, and enthusiasm to advocate and protect the most vulnerable.

She brought her fire and passion to Birmingham, where Julia’s propensity for leadership really took off. She brought the idea of an anti-human trafficking committee to the Junior League of Birmingham, but at the time, people were apprehensive as it was such an uncomfortable topic. Julia’s conviction was undeniable. It was clear that she would not take no for an answer. Her committee was approved. It started as a small committee of three volunteers. From there, she grew the program by leaps and bounds.

She connected with END IT Alabama to start proclamations with local mayors. The mayors agreed to sign awareness proclamations, leading to Birmingham-area municipalities declaring their cities as Trafficking Free Zones. This was a pivotal moment for the committee.

From there, Julia and her committee began providing training to businesses and local agencies while simultaneously tirelessly raising awareness about Human Trafficking. Julia had a vision that the Junior League of Birmingham could make a meaningful impact due to its size and influence. The Interstate Corridor, which is the “sex trafficking superhighway,” passes directly through Birmingham. Julia leveraged the Junior League of Birmingham’s non-profit leader and non-partisan coalition-builder role to affect transformational change through advocacy and public policy.

In 2016, Julia pitched the idea of an anti-human trafficking task force to the Junior League of Birmingham’s Executive Board. Julia chaired the committee for four years, developing it from a small task force to a forceful project making statewide waves. Julia’s support, passion, and leadership influenced the passage of Alabama HB 261 in 2019, requiring all applicants to take a human trafficking awareness class to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

Her persistence as a leader was admired, and people were taking notice. In 2019 due to the impact of her committee, 34 area mayors have since signed awareness proclamations, leading to seven municipalities declaring themselves Trafficking Free Zones in 2020. Julia and her Team worked with the Alabama Department of Transportation to install signage in all truck and rest stops and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport that help victims self-identify and get help.

As a result of Julia’s efforts, the Junior League of Birmingham’s anti-human trafficking committee has posted more than 2,500 of these signs, in English and Spanish across Alabama. The committee also led anti-human trafficking training for the workers and volunteers of The World Games 2022, hosted in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout the span of The World Games, law enforcement agencies made several arrests and rescued human trafficking victims in Birmingham.

The anti-human trafficking programs in Birmingham evolve and grow as traffickers change their methods. Thanks to Julia’s vision and powerful influence, the international and illegal enterprise of human trafficking is being forced to change how it operates as communities around Birmingham are being led to end it.

Today, Julia employs rescued victims in her business, Over the Moon, to help encourage them as they get their lives back. Julia continues to inspire generations of Junior League Members with her advocacy work. She has a clear purpose and never gives up. Everything that she does is connected back to helping people.

The Junior League of Indianapolis

Susan Brooks joined the Junior League of Indianapolis in 1992 and has become an accomplished leader with a long history of tackling difficult issues, as a volunteer and public servant. She has served as a strategic advisor to companies, nonprofits, educational institutions, and hospitals during organizational change. She often shares with Junior League of Indianapolis members her incredible journey and encourages them to take advantage of the leadership and networking opportunities the League provides.

It was a Junior League of Indianapolis connection that eventually led to her first foray into public service as deputy mayor of Indianapolis in 1998. Thus began her passion for public service. Ms. Brooks was appointed in 2001 as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana by President George W. Bush 5 days after 9/11. In this role, she implemented the first part-time work policy to better support women and working moms. She continued to advocate for women, promoting and elevating women to leadership positions at every stage of her career.

When she decided to run for Congress, Ms. Brooks enlisted the women she knew through Junior League of Indianapolis to staff her campaign as volunteers because they would bring the same passion and dedication they exhibited in the Junior League to her campaign. In 2012, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Indiana’s 5th District. This circle of women, many who are fellow Junior League of Indianapolis members admired and believed in her and worked tirelessly to ensure her victory in a primary race against six men. They knew more female representation and voices at the table were needed in Congress, too. During her term in Congress, she was eventually appointed recruitment chairwoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, where she recruited record numbers of women and other diverse congressional candidates.

The Junior League of Raleigh and the Junior League of Fayetteville

Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is a woman whose calling in life is service, and she has made deep and lasting impacts on the lives of countless North Carolinians throughout her career — not only with decisions she has made in the courtroom, but also with her immense dedication to engaging with the community.

The North Carolina Supreme Court celebrates its 200th anniversary led by a dynamic, influential Junior League woman. Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is an exemplary public servant who credits the relationships and leadership positions held during her active years in the Junior League of Fayetteville, NC as the launching pad for her judicial career. Her warm, humble demeanor and deep pride for her community are evident in her words and actions, and her passion for public service and promoting the rule of law is unmatched.

While the Chief Justice is a staunch believer in a fair and independent judiciary, she uses her platform to better the lives of all North Carolinians through engaging school systems, law enforcement, faith leaders and other stakeholders in discussions about community issues. She works tirelessly to make the judicial system more accessible for all North Carolinians, from implementing online services to holding court sessions in county courthouses across the state. Chief Justice Beasley is an exquisite example of servant leadership, actively mentoring young women, giving lectures across the country and being consistently involved in her local community.

Chief Justice Beasley is the kind of leader we all strive to be, genuinely caring for others and graciously balancing her roles as a public servant, wife, mother, friend and volunteer. She joined the Junior League during her 10-year tenure as a District Court judge in Cumberland County, NC and because of her unceasing dedication to the League, transferred as a sustainer to the Junior League of Raleigh while serving as an Associate Justice. Chief Justice Beasley has served on the state’s highest court since 2012 and was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper as North Carolina’s first African-American woman Chief Justice in March of this year.

It is apparent that Chief Justice Beasley’s commitment to League leadership and volunteerism while serving in public office as a woman of color opened doors for many women to step up and serve. Joining the Junior League of Fayetteville in 1998, she was one of only a few African American women in that League at the time. “Now there are several, but it was a difficult time because there really had not been," she says. “The League was growing and the League was having lots of success, but it was also having growing pains. Membership grew and it became more diverse, and I hope that in some way that my presence and my service impacted that.”

Chief Justice Beasley continues to make significant impacts on the citizens of North Carolina while leading the state’s highest court and hopes that her public service and volunteerism are inspirational to others. “I know there are women who are right behind me who are preparing themselves in the very same way that I was, and they don’t know it — I didn’t know it — but they are preparing themselves. One day, I will be passing this seat on to the next Junior League woman, and it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

The Junior League of Wilmington, DE

Senator Margaret Rose Henry, a paragon of public service for more than 30 years, displayed fearless determination, trailblazing spirit and undeniable community impact reflective of Mary Harriman herself.

The following are excerpts from a moving and inspiring tribute to Margaret Rose Henry by Mat Marshall, a communications assistant for the state Senate Democratic Caucus who worked alongside the Senator for the last two years of her Senate career.

I can’t overstate what a joy it’s been to work for her over the past two years, or how sad it is to see her leave the Senate. I have never met someone so humble and self-deprecating despite her role in making history. I have never met anyone so unblinking in their commitment to their values or whose worldview was so fundamentally centered on empathy. I have never met someone so unequivocally progressive and yet so respected on the other side of the aisle. I have never met someone who so clearly understands the importance of promoting others over herself. I’m not sure that I ever will again.

She has always been on the forefront of efforts to reform the criminal justice system and a draconian body of drug policies. She has been an advocate for children, for the working class, for the LGBTQ community, for the homeless, for public schools, for affordable housing and health care and for her constituents. If our Party is searching for its soul, it can end its search with Margaret Rose Henry.

After everything – after all her work, after all the attacks she’s weathered along the way, after 24 years of bee-lining towards children instead of microphones – she would have every right to be a little haughty, but she wasn’t. She’s never been anything but self-effacing. Her positions were always clear-cut, honest, and fair.

I’m lucky to be in a field that gives me a firsthand look at public figures’ private selves, and it takes restraint not to tell people about all the good deeds that go unpublicized. But, there’s no use in any of us comparing ourselves to Margaret Rose Henry. She is a once-in-a-generation type of leader and I feel lucky just to have shared some time with her.

The Junior League of The City of New York

It’s a fitting coincidence that this year’s Mary Harriman Award recipient made her name as a community leader in Mary’s own backyard. Just as Mary started a community of women dedicated to changing New York City and ended up sparking a much larger movement, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has used her experiences in both politics and the Junior League as a launching pad for policies that have helped support so many women leaders of tomorrow.

Carolyn moved to New York shortly after college and was looking for a way to embrace her new city and lend her energy and spirit to help those in need. She began by working as a tutor preparing welfare recipients to take their GED exams. Here, Carolyn saw firsthand what a strong educational program can do to help bolster people’s self-confidence and arm them with the tools to succeed. When the program lost its funding, Carolyn approached local legislators, convincing them to bring it back.

The experience had a powerful impact on the way Carolyn would approach her community work in the future, realizing that there was an opportunity to effect policy long before it was adopted. It was this realization—that she needed a seat at the table—that compelled her to run for the NYC Board of Education and the NY State Assembly.

Just as Mary Harriman had worked tirelessly to address the pressing issues of her time, Carolyn has dedicated her career in public service to identifying the challenges women face in becoming powerful forces within their communities and nationwide.

After serving 10 years on the New York City Council, Carolyn was elected to Congress where she has spent nearly 25 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Carolyn has established a record as a tenacious advocate for women’s equality, women’s health, child welfare and much more.

As a Congresswoman, Carolyn has been a vocal champion for ending human trafficking, improving senior citizen care, elevating the lives and opportunities of working families, and nurturing childhood education. Carolyn has passed more than 70 measures in Congress, with ten of her bills being signed into law at official signing ceremonies.

But her work goes even further than that, far beyond New York, striving to improve the quality of life of all women, both domestically and internationally. A passionate supporter of the United Nations Population Fund, Carolyn has spearheaded several initiatives providing crucial maternal health programs to women all around the globe.

Back at home, Carolyn has been a tireless champion for women’s equality, reintroducing the Equal Rights Amendment for the eleventh time to ensure that equal rights for women are reflected in our nation’s Constitution. As a direct result of Carolyn’s work, 100 lawmakers have signed onto the amendment, along with a groundswell of support from key women’s groups across the country.

And yet through all of this success, Carolyn, like many women out there, has come face-to-face with countless systemic barriers attempting to nullify her voice and impede her progress.

While working long, grueling hours to bridge party lines to pass legislation designed to help women across the country, Carolyn constantly faced judgment from her male counterparts who questioned her decision to work while raising a family, which only reminded her of why she was doing this work in the first place—pushing her to work that much harder towards a women-honored future. All the while, she committed herself to being a loving and devoted mother, not to mention hero, to two amazing daughters, Christina and Virginia.

The same passion for women’s equality that Carolyn has demonstrated on Capitol Hill is reflected in all that she does for the Junior League of the City of New York. She has served as a powerful force on the Public Affairs committee, helping to tell the story of progress and change that the League is bringing to all corners of the city—using philanthropy, volunteerism, and community programs as tools to combat some of New York’s most pressing human issues.

Carolyn has proven over and over again her fearlessness in taking risks to stand up for her values and the policies she believes will make life better for everyday Americans. Just as Mary Harriman sparked a movement of women leaders that spread across the nation, Carolyn has carried on that mission, helping new generations of women open up the doors of opportunity and leadership and progress. For that we say thank you, and honor her commitment with the 2018 Mary Harriman Award.

The Junior League of Greensboro

If history is measured by its headlines, a future Junior Leaguer might look back at 2017 as a moment of deep division—in politics, in culture, in faith, and in our very own backyards.

It would be easy to look at the challenges we face today as global citizens and feel a sense of disillusionment, even powerlessness. But there are some of us, like this year’s winner of the Mary Harriman Award, that remind us of who we are and what we’re truly capable of.

Over a hundred years ago, in the heart of the Industrial Revolution, our country was pushing the envelope to define what its future would be—to lift itself out of its hard-won, horse-drawn beginnings into a time of innovation and abundance—while at the same time ignoring the core principles that make us human: graciousness, respect, and charity. It was a time when it became very clear who were the Haves and who were the Have-nots. But where others saw apathy and inevitability, Mary saw an opportunity for us to evolve as a society as a whole. It was this turbulent soup of change that forced us to take a hard look at who we wanted to be as Americans, and what a truly industrious modern society should look like.

Suzanne Plihcik might say that 2017 doesn’t appear all that different from 1901. Where Mary had thrown her heart and soul into the settlement movement—a defining issue of the time—Suzanne has brought that same level of passion and rigor to one of the most difficult issues of today: our country’s enduring and increasingly complicated racial divide.

Suzanne represents that rare quality that you find in true change makers—the will to dig deep. And for Suzanne, that starts with asking the tough questions.

When Suzanne looks at the biases and injustices that have become commonplace, she isn’t asking how we got here, or what we’re getting wrong—but rather why are we allowing it to continue? And that might be the toughest question of all. Because it doesn’t assume that a system is broken—or even society at large. It asks us to look at what’s broken in each and every one of us.

But identifying the problem is just the beginning. The next question we have to ask is how do we go about mending it?

As Junior Leaguers we know that results start with doing—finding a challenge we can get our hands around and collaborating with other dedicated hearts and minds to achieve a common goal. When Suzanne joined the Junior League of Greensboro, North Carolina in 1982, she was presented with exactly that opportunity.

The most pressing concern in her community at that time was the merger of three school systems: Guilford County Schools, Greensboro City Schools, and High Point City Schools. Suzanne was appointed to serve on a committee responsible for studying the potential merger and identifying the challenges it would face. As with any large-scale change, the merger was met with passionate opposition from various constituents. It wasn’t until 1993 when the school systems finally merged that Suzanne’s careful and sensitive work was felt across the board—from improved district-wide academic scores, to boosted morale among teachers. The new district has since become a model for other schools around the country looking to adopt strategies for success in the face of overcrowding and tightening budgets.

Through her experiences with The Junior League, Suzanne developed a keen interest in racial bias and institutional racism in education, healthcare, and criminal justice. Suzanne believes that each one of us can influence public policy by studying the racial bias that impacts all systems—from the achievement gap in education, to the disparate outcomes in healthcare, to the differences we see in law enforcement interaction.

Suzanne has committed herself to guiding others to address racism as the root cause of many issues facing our community today. Her work on the Public Affairs committee has influenced other Junior League members to get involved in public policy and advocacy work—helping to lead letter-writing campaigns, and teaching members how to effectively communicate with city and state officials.

Suzanne has spoken at a number of workshops including the National Women's Political Caucus, the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children—and she served as our very own President of The Association of Junior Leagues from 1990-1992. We’re excited and grateful to have Suzanne with us today as the recipient of the 2017 Mary Harriman Award.

The Junior League of Toronto

What can we say about Martie Russel?

She is a consummate leader and fundraiser.

She is a natural mentor, known far and wide for a willingness to share her skills and expertise.

And she is an enthusiastic advocate for The Junior League and the value of voluntarism—not just within the Junior League of Toronto but also through the many community organizations and programs she supports.

There’s another thing you should know about Martie—she’s not afraid to tackle controversial issues.

After returning to Active status after being a Sustainer for many years, Martie was one of the drivers behind JLT’s Lifelong Membership Committee. Her compassionate and collaborative leadership style helped members embrace the changes that are critical to the League’s long term survival.

In 1974 Martie was asked to be JLT’s representative on the board of Planned Parenthood. It had just become legal to provide birth control information in Canada, and there were many violently opposed to this change. Amid this turbulence, she helped to establish a health clinic for youth and made birth control information available to them.

In 1988, she became the Founding Director of Fife House, which provides supportive housing for people living with HIV/AIDS. Her leadership helped evolve Fife House from one residence, in a secret location that served five people, to an organization that now serves 500 people per year and provides 80% of the supportive housing for HIV/AIDS patients in Toronto.

In 1992, using her nursing skills and her Junior League training, she became a Founding Trustee for Wellspring. This Toronto agency provides, at no charge, a network of community-based cancer centers providing support and education to people who are coping with the non-medical side of cancer.

Martie also was at the forefront of the hospice movement in Toronto and is a founding director of The Toronto Commandery Hospice, where she is working hard to help raise $5 million to build a new hospice.

And to top it all off, Martie was an environmentalist pioneer. As a member of the Junior League of Erie, PA in the early 1970s, she challenged executives at the Hammermill Paper Company about their waste disposal system. Later, after moving to Toronto, she was a driver of the “Wipe Out Waste" program addressing pollution and recycling issues there. Looking back on an extraordinary League career, Martie says: “The value of my Junior League experience can be measured in many ways; however, two in particular have allowed me to grow personally: the friendships of 30 years, and the training which gave me the initial skill set and confidence to sit on community boards.”

The Junior League of Dallas

Because she has embodied the vision of our founder in every aspect of her life, Lyda Hill of The Junior League of Dallas is the winner of the 2015 Mary Harriman Award for Community Leadership.

Though she committed to donating the entirety of her holdings to charity when she joined the elite Giving Pledge in 2010, Lyda has never seen her wealth as the limit to her ability to serve in all aspects of her life—as a philanthropist, volunteer, entrepreneur and booster of public institutions.

Her innovations and accomplishments are legion. She created the Volunteer Connection, which sits at the vital juncture of supply and demand, matching volunteers with organizations in need. The concept was replicated in 70 cities across the U.S. and Lyda was honored with the President’s Volunteer Action Award and an appointment to President Ronald Reagan’s Advisory Council on Private Sector Initiatives.

She lent her mathematics know-how to the League by serving in positions requiring financial savvy, and ultimately served as the first President who also was a professional businesswoman, having built her company Hill World Travel, into the largest travel agency in the country at the time. She spearheaded a campaign for $5 million to build a new headquarters.

She not only broke gender barriers by working as a female executive in a male world but she also broke with industry tradition by incorporating computers into her business. In 1975 she was invited into the Young Presidents’ Organization, becoming one of the first women in its membership.

Lyda’s business acumen combined with her own personal battle with breast cancer to inspire investments in game-changing scientific and medical developments. She launched Remeditex Ventures, which invests in early biomedical research by universities and health care institutions, and the Oklahoma Breast Care Center.

In 2013, Lyda became the only living single woman to make the Philanthropy 50, the annual list of America’s most generous donors, her gifts amounting to tens of millions of dollars to date. Among the recipients of her generosity are her alma mater, The Hockaday School, which will use her contributions to fund a STEM program, and the University of Colorado’s UTeach, which prepares a new generation of math and science teachers. She has underwritten a substantive Challenge Grant to Meals on Wheels; funded the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Moon Shots Program as well as the Center for BrainHealth, which aids the recovery of military veterans from traumatic brain injuries; and supported numerous environmental and marine conservation efforts by the Nature Conservancy and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

In addition, Lyda gives her time and ideas to a wide variety of causes including the Visiting Nurses Association, the Dallas Chapter of the World Presidents’ Organization, the Crystal Charity Ball, the Dallas and Texas chapters of the American Heart Association and Easter Seals of North Texas, among many others. For her uber-voluntarism, Lyda was given the Governor’s Award as the Outstanding Volunteer in Texas in 1988.

“I don’t get interested in something that can be done easily,” she says. Mary Harriman couldn’t have said it better.

The Junior League of Mexico City

Causes/Issue Area(s): Education, Child Welfare

For more than 30 years, The Junior League of Mexico City’s Samira Modad has embodied Mary Harriman’s vision. Upon graduating from the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico with the highest honors in her class, Sami, as she’s known, focused on the public sector and completed a 10-month assignment to a poor rural community in the state of Tlaxcala. While on that assignment, not only did she tend to the needs of the population that lacked medical services, but she also contributed her own resources to the purchase of medicines her patients could not afford.

She had found her passion, and she did not stray. She has tended to the health of indigent peasants, families in extreme poverty, and undernourished children, and served as her neighborhood’s governmental representative to argue for an improved quality of life for those around her. When she lived in an upscale community, she learned that outside her walls lived families that made bricks with mud, branches and manure. They were ostracized because of the foul odor; their children could not go to school, and they were starving and lacking sanitary services. With official authorization, Sami delivered daily rations for 200 culled together from contributions made by 500 school students. Later, to combat the dusty conditions and resulting health problems caused by a deforested school campus, she led a student-run effort to plant trees and hire water trucks.

The Junior League of Collin County

Causes/Issue Area(s): Children, Education, Economic Growth, Security, Transportation

Honors/Achievements: State senator; Mayor of Plano; Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas Woman of Courage Award; Law & Order Award from the Texas District & County Attorneys Association; Collin Council on Family Violence Lifetime Achievement Award

Powerhouse, trailblazer, and dynamic reformer Florence Shapiro won the 2013 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award.

The founder of the Plano Service League, which in 1984 became The Junior League of Plano that is, now known as The Junior League of Collin County, she is admired for the depth and breadth of her expertise, her insight, and the super-human energy she invests in the causes she commits herself to.

Back in the mid-1970s, she recognized the big-city problems that had begun to complicate the quality of life in what was then her small town of Plano—and made a plan to tackle them. At a time when no women’s service organization existed in the area, she recruited 12 civic-minded women with aspirations like her own: to find solutions for needs that were going unaddressed in the community, and to provide a band of volunteers who could help.

With her leadership, this group of women formed the Plano Service League in 1976 and focused on dental care for underprivileged children and supported the Swine Flu Clinic.

Soon she was recognized for her contributions and encouraged to run for an open seat on the Plano City Council. There she ultimately served six terms before being elected Mayor. Simultaneously she served as president of the Texas Municipal League and the North Texas Council of Governments.

In 1993, Florence was elected to the State Senate, where she has served in an array of posts including Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Education and member of the Finance, Transportation, and Homeland Security Committees.

Known as a champion for education, children, security, economic growth, and transportation, Florence counts among her most significant legislative achievements the passage of a bill to provide more money for classroom excellence; raise teachers’ pay; improve college readiness and curb dropouts; and establish the first-ever incentive pay program.

In addition, she spearheaded “Ashley’s Laws,” a legislative package named in honor of a seven-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1993. The laws adjudicate, punish, and track sex offenders and have been used as a national benchmark credited with saving more than 500 children nationally.

Among the countless awards she has received are the Collin County Council on Family Violence Lifetime Achievement Award; the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas Woman of Courage Award; the Texas Legislative Leadership Award from the Nature Conservancy; and the Law & Order Award from the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, among many, many others.

The Junior League of New Orleans

Causes/Issue Area(s): Voluntarism, Environment

Honors/Achievements: Created the "Women of the Storm" initiative

This year’s winner of the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award is Anne McDonald Milling of the Junior League of New Orleans. Milling is nothing short of a powerhouse. She is a passionate and disciplined volunteer who’s never met a noble cause she didn’t get behind, a renegade reformer who is relentlessly committed to the health and welfare of her community, and a persuasive advocate who has used her skills, her network, and her voice to make a positive and enduring impact on her beloved city of New Orleans.

Milling's accomplishments are the stuff of Big Easy legend. From hunger to AIDS, good government to ethics reform, coastal restoration to diversity and inclusion, she has proved herself to be a standard-bearer for civic leadership and an ardent keeper of the Mary Harriman flame.

Among her many good works, one in particular stands out. In January 2006, in the destructive wake of Hurricane Katrina, Milling conceived of the now-famous initiative she called, "Women of the Storm." With a culturally, economically, and socially diverse group of 130 women, she traveled to Washington to extend personal invitations to members of Congress to tour the storm’s devastation first-hand. Having borne witness to the magnitude of the tragedy, these legislative leaders ultimately approved funding for a critical housing restoration initiative for the citizens of New Orleans.

With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in the spring of 2010, Women of the Storm sprang into action again producing a video campaign called “Be the One” that featured several influential celebrities who lobbied for funding for coastal restoration. The campaign garnered some 100,000 signatures in just 100 hours.

A Junior League of New Orleans past President and Sustainer of the Year, Milling has served organizations and institutions in all aspects of her community, including the City of New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, Loyola University of New Orleans, Longue Vue House and Gardens, the NPR Foundation, the Louisiana Superdome Commission, Tulane University, the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Her work consistently bears the hallmark of a true servant leader: a conviction that her greatest power lies in her ability to bring others to the fight and to cultivate in them a passion as unwavering as her own.

The Junior League of Kansas City

Causes/Issue Area(s):  Child Welfare, Diversity

Honors/Achievements: Impassioned advocacy for child welfare and integration in schools

If you looked up the term “civic leadership” in the dictionary, this woman’s name would surely appear among the top entries. Mary Shaw Branton, “Shawsie” to those lucky enough to know her, defines what it means to give a lifetime’s worth of service. Even now, at 90 years old, she continues to serve as a very active volunteer in the Kansas City, Missouri community, and as such, she may be our most senior recipient yet of the prestigious Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award.

By those who know her work, Branton has been hailed as a catalyst who changed the landscape—and the people—of Kansas City forever. A progressively minded innovator who intuited the need for high-quality care for children with disabilities back in the 1940s, she spearheaded the Cerebral Palsy Nursery School (which ultimately became known as Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center), long before the concept of special needs even entered our consciousness as a society.

In the 1950s, a full year before the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, Branton persuaded the board of the nursery school to integrate its students, ahead of the Kansas City school district. In the 1970s, while serving on the board of Planned Parenthood, she worked as a fearless advocate for birth control, and in the 1993, at the age of 73, she became the first female chairman of the board of the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.

In her six and a half decades of service, Branton has served on more than 30 boards of directors, fighting tirelessly and compassionately for her belief that every person, regardless of circumstance, deserves a chance to succeed. Today her responsibilities include co-chairing the board for the Vision Research Center, serving on the advisory committees for both Children’s TLC and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and sitting on the development committee at Bishop Spencer Place, a continuing care retirement community.

The Junior League of Minneapolis

Causes/Issue Area(s): Voluntarism, Women, Leadership Development

Honors/Achievements: A Junior League Leader, State Senator, and advisor to a Governor, inspiring women to make a difference in their communities

A passionate advocate for women's rights and leadership, Emily Anne Staples Tuttle of the Junior League of Minneapolis is the winner of the 2010 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award.

“Emily Anne has devoted her life to voluntarism and inspiring women to share ideas in order to support their communities,” said Delly Beekman, President-Elect of the AJLI Board and member of the Junior League of Monmouth County.  “She is a long-time supporter of women’s issues and continues to encourage women to get involved in leadership roles to make a difference in their communities.”

In addition to her role as a leader of the Junior League of Minneapolis, Tuttle has been a Minnesota State Senator, a Hennepin County Commissioner and an advisor to former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.  She was also instrumental in organizing the first Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus, the first Women’s Institute for Social Change, the first Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable and the United Nations Association of Minnesota.

The Junior League of Seattle

Causes/Issue Area(s): Philanthropy, Arts and Culture, Education, Environment, Health and Social Services

Honors/Achievements: Founder of Seattle's Washington Women’s Foundation and CityClub

Colleen Willoughby is a woman committed to making a difference. Not only does she work to create positive change at the community level, but she is also a lifelong volunteer and dedicated Junior League leader. It is her history of leadership with the Junior League of Seattle, as well as her many efforts to bring people together to improve communities, that has earned her The League’s highest honor: the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award, which she received during the AJLI's 87th Annual Conference in Atlanta. The award was sponsored by Talbots.

In 1960, Willoughby joined the Junior League of Seattle and has been an active member ever since. She began in successful committee roles that transformed and complemented existing programs. She later served as Treasurer and President of the Junior League of Seattle from 1974-1975, and in the 1990’s she served on the Board for the AJLI.

Outside of her League involvement, Willoughby is the founder of the Washington Women’s Foundation in order to create a new fund of money from women donors and to train donors to become effective philanthropists. She was inspired to develop the organization by the increase of women's earning power over the years. Each member of this foundation contributes $2,300 per year with a five-year commitment ($1,000 is allocated to the general fund for five large impact grants voted upon by all members, $1,000 is allocated to the member’s nonprofit choice, and the remainder underwrites the Foundation’s operating expenses and educational programs).

Over the past 13 years, the Foundation has granted nearly nine million dollars to over 860 worthy nonprofits, including community groups that work to support five main focus areas: arts and culture, education, environment, health, and social services. Grants have been given to organizations as varied as Mothers Against Violence in America, Community for Youth, Northwest Medical Teams, Washington Women’s Employment and Education, Team Read, the Pike Place Market Foundation, and the Youth Suicide Prevention Program. In 2008 alone, five grants of $100,000 each were given to Artist Trust, Friends of the Children, Washington Farmland Trust (formerly PCC Farmland Trust), First Place (mental health services), and Girl Scouts of Western Washington.

In 1980, Willoughby was one of eight women seeking to contribute to the community's civic dialogue who together formed the CityClub in Seattle. At the time, many civic organizations, such as Rotary International, were open to men only, but the new organization would be open to all and would provide a nonpartisan forum for ideas and debate. Since its first presentation in 1981, the organization has sponsored hundreds of speeches, discussions, and debates from local, regional, and national experts and leaders, contributing greatly to civic awareness. A co-sponsor of the annual Jefferson Awards, CityClub is recognized as one of the region's foremost civic and public affairs organizations.

The Junior League of Greater Orlando

Causes/Issue Area(s): Diversity, Historical Preservation

Honors/Achievements: First elected woman Mayor of Orlando, appointed Florida Secretary of State.

Glenda E. Hood is a woman committed to making a difference. Not only does she work to create positive change at the governmental level, but she is also a lifelong volunteer and dedicated Junior League leader. It is her history of innovative leadership in the public and private sectors, as well as her many efforts to bring people together to improve communities, that has earned her The League's highest honor: the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award.

"Glenda has dedicated over 20 years to putting citizens first and providing strong and compassionate leadership to those in the Greater Orlando community," says Betsy Thompson, Talbots Director of Public Relations. "Her hard work and giving spirit have set a wonderful example within the Greater Orlando community and for women volunteers everywhere, and we congratulate her on receiving this year's Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award."

In 1982, Hood became the youngest President of the Junior League of Greater Orlando, Florida, with the Presidential theme, "A Sense of Community." Her community-oriented perspective contributed to the League's role in the award-winning Hospice Project, the historical preservation efforts of the Orlando Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the awareness-building efforts of the League's Diversity Training Network. She served three terms as the first elected woman Mayor of Orlando and was appointed as Florida Secretary of State by Governor Jeb Bush in 2003.

It has been said of Hood's leadership style, "what you see is what you get." It is this authentic and unaffected approach that has made her a successful volunteer and servant leader. In addition to developing a number of important programs in the Orlando community - within and outside the Junior League - she has served as President of the National League of Cities, President of the Florida League of Cities, Chairman of the Board of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and currently as Chair of the Department of Homeland Security Transition Task Force. Her progressive vision and inclusive nature have helped her build partnerships among 34 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean as part of the Free Trade Area of the Americas for the state of Florida. She also has made a lasting impact on the Junior League of Orlando's diversity, effectiveness, and relevance in the community.

Outside of her League and political work, Hood is currently President and CEO of her own business development and consulting firm, Hood Partners LLC. She helped create, and has been a part of, a number of special programs, including the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) and the Society of International Business Fellows at Georgia State University. She speaks regularly on topics of smart growth, international business, the arts, and women's issues.

Throughout her career, Hood has received many honors, including the American Community Network's Leadership Award for Economic Excellence, the American Red Cross Spotlight Award, the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) Humanitarian Award and the Jewish National Fund's Tree of Life award.

"The significant contributions that Glenda Hood has made to The Junior League, our community, our state, nationally and internationally exemplify the value of voluntarism and commitment to community that Mary Harriman championed," says Betsy Culpepper, President of the Junior League of Greater Orlando. "We are so proud that one of our members is being honored with the highest award given within our Association to an individual member, especially during our 60th Anniversary year."

The Junior League of Dallas

Causes/Issue Area(s): Domestic Violence

Honors/Achievements: Executive Director of Genesis Women’s Shelter, Mayor’s Task Force on Domestic Violence

The 2007 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award winner is Jan Langbein. A member of the Junior League of Dallas, Texas for 27 years, Langbein has made significant contributions to her community through extensive work addressing the issue of domestic violence. Through a Junior League placement at Genesis Women’s Shelter, she became passionately involved in the shelter’s operations, services, and outreach, becoming the organization’s Executive Director only a few years later. Her work has made a lasting impact on local organizations, where she is a well-known guest speaker and influential mentor. Her innovative thinking has led to many new collaborations and tailor-made services for victims of domestic violence.

Langbein’s membership and leadership in the Junior League of Dallas have made a tremendous difference in the League’s ability to serve, improve, and enrich the lives of those in need. She has worked on various committees including the League’s public policy committee, and as an advisor for the Community Assistance Fund. Her work also led to the development of The League's Resource Guide for Ending Domestic Violence: Safe Homes, Safe Communities, which won the 2000 Clarion Award for excellence in communications. What she considers her most exciting contributions to The Junior League, however,  have been her many invitations to speak to Provisional classes across the country on “Making a Difference In Your Community.”

Outside of her League work, Langbein’s commitment to addressing family violence and her vocalness about women’s advocacy have helped make these accessible and important issues in the Dallas community. Serving as both a volunteer and a professional, Langbein’s experience includes serving on the Mayor’s Task Force on Domestic Violence, as a board member and Public Policy Committee Member of the Texas Council on Family Violence, and as a board member of the North Texas Food Bank.

The Junior League of Nashville

Causes/Issue Area(s): Drug Abuse, Mental Health, Juvenile Justice, Children and the Internet

Honors/Achievements: Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Tennessee Supreme Court, Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, senior policy advisor to two former Governors, Special Envoy to the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union.

The recipient of the 2006 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award, Deborah Taylor Tate is the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Tennessee Supreme Court. She serves as Special Envoy to the U.N.'s ITU for Child Online Protection, and is a former U.S. FCC Commissioner, a volunteer, an attorney, and a mother of three. A member of the Junior League of Nashville for more than 17 years, Deborah has made significant contributions toward recognizing, addressing, and improving the health, economic, and social well-being of women and children. Her work has made a lasting impact on local organizations, as she has served as chairperson for countless committees within her League and has held leadership positions on numerous boards in Nashville.

Deborah's membership and leadership in the Junior League of Nashville have made a tremendous difference in the League's ability to serve, improve, and enrich the lives of those in need. She has continually volunteered to take on the difficult issues facing women and children in the community and has succeeded in bringing agencies, professionals, advocates, and volunteers together to create a systemic change with lasting effects. As President of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), she has increased both the funding and programs to inspire a record-breaking number of League volunteers to represent children in court. Deborah has worked tirelessly on behalf of families in recovery from drug abuse, which led her to co-found the Renewal House, Nashville's first, largest, and most comprehensive long-term recovery community for addicted women and children.

Outside of her League work, Deborah served as a practicing attorney and senior policy advisor to former Governor Lamar Alexander and former Governor Don Sundquist as a senior mental health and juvenile justice policy advisor. She was instrumental in the creation and implementation of a statewide plan establishing a Mental Health Revision Commission, which culminated in the passage of an entire new mental health law for Tennessee. She presently serves as Chairman of the Board of Centerstone, the largest behavioral health provider in Tennessee.

In accepting her award, presented at a special luncheon ceremony sponsored by specialty retailer Talbots during the 84th AJLI Annual Conference, Deborah encouraged League members to continue to build partnerships with local leaders and organizations. She also challenged members to use the Junior League to take the first steps toward accomplishing their dreams, and then inspire others in their community to contribute their resources and human power to make an even larger difference.

The Junior League of Seattle

Causes/Issue Area(s): Education

Honors/Achievements: Founder/CEO of New Horizons for Learning

Dee Dickinson is one of the world's foremost experts on learning and human development. A member of the Junior League of Seattle for more than 50 years, Dickinson has pioneered a number of innovative programs that continue to enrich the lives of countless schoolchildren, parents, and educators. Many of these programs began as League projects. The Northwest Art Project, which she founded in the mid-Sixties to bring the rich heritage of Northwest artists to local elementary school children, trained teachers to use art as a key educational tool. Fifteen years ago, as part of a League research project, Dickinson produced a powerful video, "Day One," which educates new parents on how to raise physically and emotionally healthy children with lifelong learning capacities. The video, recently updated, is used in hospitals and birthing centers across the country and has been translated into Spanish, French and Hebrew.

Like Mary Harriman, Dickinson is an "agent of change" who has created a lasting legacy that sets the stage for future generations to continue improving lives. In 1980, Dickinson established New Horizons for Learning, an international network of educators that provides information on the most effective teaching and learning strategies for all ages and abilities. A critical resource for teachers and other educators, the nonprofit organization provides information free of charge. The organization's award-winning Internet site (www.newhorizons.org) receives four million hits a month.

Indefatigable in her quest to improve the learning experience, Dickinson truly embodies the values and vision of The Junior League. In accepting her award, presented at a special luncheon ceremony in New Orleans during the 83rd AJLI Annual Conference, Dee challenged League members to "keep well-informed" and show what "a large group of committed women can do to make the world a better place."

The Junior League of St. Louis

Causes/Issue Area(s): Women's Health

Honors/Achievements: Missouri State Senator

Senator Elizabeth "Betty" Sims was honored with The League's prestigious Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award, the highest honor bestowed on an individual Junior League. Senator Sims has been a member of the Junior League of St. Louis for more than 48 years and has contributed to the St. Louis community as a volunteer, businesswoman, and state legislator. As the longest standing board member of the Junior League of St. Louis, she has had an enormous impact on the organization.

During Senator Sims's presidential term, the St. Louis League celebrated its 60th Anniversary and expanded its impact through initiatives such as the Mobile Hearing and Speech Unit and the Junior Kindergarten, which served as a model for the national Head Start program. Today, she continues to be a vital force in the League, working tirelessly to train new members, inspire the League's Public Affairs Committee, and raise funds.

Outside of the League, Senator Sims has lent her expertise to numerous organizations, including Girl Scouts of Nation's Capital, United Way of Greater St. Louis, the Salvation Army Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area, the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the Repertory Theater. She was President and founder of the Girls Inc. of St. Louis and the first woman Vice-President of the local United Way.

As a State Senator, Sims has consistently championed initiatives in support of women's health and well-being, including the Governor's Women's Health Initiative, the creation of the Office on Women's Health, and the MC+ for Kids Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). She is the Assistant Majority Floor Leader and Chairman of the Aging, Families and Mental Health Committee. She also serves as co-chairman of the Senate Committee on Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence. She is a member of the Senate Committees on Public Health and Welfare, Transportation, and Appropriations. She was appointed chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Health Care in September 2001.

The Junior League of Charlotte

Causes/Issue Area(s): Women's Health

Honors/Achievements: Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives

Junior League of Charlotte member Martha Bedell Alexander was honored with the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award. As a League and community volunteer and a lifelong advocate, she has made significant contributions to the improvement of the health, economic, and social welfare of women, children, and families.

As a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Alexander has advocated for issues as far ranging as child day care standards and racial justice, to the creation of a Patients' Bill of Rights and the issue of chemical dependency and mental health. She has a long and distinguished history of service with, among others, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center, and the World Service Council of the National YWCA.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, Alexander persevered through her personal illness and emerged as a mentor for others with breast cancer and a spokesperson sharing experiences and offering support to other survivors as well as the families of those lost to cancer. Throughout her life, her example of direct service and political activism has encouraged others to embrace the tradition of community service. As one individual in her community offered, " she is a local hero who has had national impact."

The Junior League of Oklahoma City

Causes/Issue Area(s): Community Leadership

Honors/Achievements: Vice-chair of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Task Force

Junior League of Oklahoma City volunteer Karen Cullen Luke has been honored with The League's Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award. Luke is recognized in her community as a role model for active, effective citizenship, and compassionate yet focused leadership.

Luke's most prominent work has included building many of the first, most influential, and most innovative leadership programs in the community, and providing overwhelming support for the urgent recovery and rebuilding of Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. As vice-chair of the 350-member Memorial Task Force, she organized and empowered volunteer teams, raised money, comforted survivors and families of victims, created a mission statement, helped design the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, worked to convince Congress to designate the Memorial a National Park, and successfully lobbied the Oklahoma legislature to fund the Memorial's five million dollar construction.

She has been honored by her community with the Downtown Now Award for promoting and nurturing active leadership, the Girl Scouts of America Woman of Distinction Award, and the Oklahoma City University Society Woman of the Year Award.

The Junior League of Dallas

Causes/Issue Area(s): Voluntarism, Hunger, Philanthropy

Honors/Achievements: The first person in the United States to receive all three national service honors — the Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year Award from the National Society of Fundraising Executives, the National Alexis de Tocqueville Award of the United Way of America, and the Distinguished Service Award given by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler was honored with the 2002 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award. Altshuler of Dallas has devoted her life to philanthropic and charitable interests and a variety of business activities. She served as vice chair of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, as chair of the Communities Foundation of Texas, and on the board of trustees for Zale-Lipshy Hospital.

Altshuler, the first woman to serve on the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, is a lifetime member of the Salvation Army's National Advisory Board. She was the first woman to be elected to the board of Goodwill Industries International and serve as vice president of the Goodwill Foundation. She was chair of the Highland Park United Methodist Church Executive Board, served on the Dallas County Grand Jury, and served on the board of the Dallas Citizens Council. She was also the first woman to serve as chair of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University. Altshuler is also a life trustee of the Hockaday School and the only woman to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Junior League of Dallas.

In 1991, the Texas House of Representatives honored Altshuler with a resolution commending her service to Dallas and the State of Texas. She is the recipient of many notable honors including the Linz Award, Golden Plate Award, United Way of America's 1993 Volunteer of the Year Alexis de Tocqueville Award, and the Humanitarian of the Year Award. She also received the Outstanding National Alumna Award from Mortarboard in 1997.

In 1992, Altshuler was named Outstanding Trustee in the Nation by a private university and the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities. The National Society of Fund Raising Executives also named her Outstanding Philanthropist in the Nation in 1999.

The Junior League of Cincinnati

Causes/Issue Area(s): Social Services, Girls’ Leadership

Honors/Achievements: President of the  AJLI, President of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Enquirer Woman of the Year, Great Living Cincinnatian Award.

Marjorie McCullough Lunken Ittman Hiatt Motch was honored with The League's 2000 Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award. Motch of Cincinnati, Ohio saw beyond racial boundaries in the early 1950s when the nation was still segregated, by serving on the board of her city's Urban League and co-founding the Urban League Guild. She also served as national president of The Junior League and the Girl Scouts, and founded Cincinnati 's children's theater and a preschool program for the deaf.

A member of the Junior League of Cincinnati, Motch has demonstrated her leadership locally as well as internationally through her unflagging commitment to causes ranging from public health to the arts and civic affairs. Her decades-long work includes supporting the staff at Cincinnati's General Hospital during World War II to ensure that medical attention reached the poor, and participating in a $300 million capital campaign for the University of Cincinnati and a $13 million campaign to establish and maintain green space for the campus. She was also the Honorary Chair of the Junior League of Cincinnati's 80th Anniversary Committee.

The Junior League of Nashville

Causes/Issue Area(s): The Arts

Achievements: Chairman of Ingram Industries, Chairman of Vanderbilt University Board of Trust

When asked about The Junior League, Martha Rivers Ingram said, "I never expected to find myself serving as Chairman and CEO of a major American corporation. You may never expect to run a business, to be head of a household, or to lead a nonprofit board. Yet, effective Junior League training can prepare you for these experiences and many others."

She became a corporate chairman upon the unexpected death of her husband, who ran his family’s business, Ingram Industries, but her life as a civic leader preceded her business career.

A member of the Junior League of Nashville in the 1970s, Martha was an early and energetic supporter of the idea that Nashville should become a regional cultural center. By 2000, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center had an endowment of over $20 million, which allowed more than a million Tennessee children to experience symphony music, drama, and dance.

Her love of the performing arts began at Vassar College when she became a classical music DJ, assuming the pseudonym of Elizabeth Crawford and lowering her voice to conceal her youth. As a Provisional in the Junior Leagues of Charleston, South Carolina, New Orleans, and Nashville, and as a Nashville Active member, she learned how to share her love of music with an even greater audience.

That love of the arts can be seen in many of her other activities. Martha served as a board member of the Spoleto Festival USA, Martha serves on the board of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Ballet. She is also the Chairman for the Nashville Symphony Association, and the Vice-chairman for the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which she was instrumental in founding.

Martha is a former Chairman of the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University and an active supporter of the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music.

She has received the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic efforts and was honored by the Americans for the Arts for her exemplary national leadership, which demonstrated extraordinary artistic achievement. She also received the Eli & Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts.

The Junior League of Phoenix

Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 - December 1, 2023) holds a revered place in American history as the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1981 to 2006. Beyond her groundbreaking judicial career, Sandra was an esteemed member and Past President of the Junior League of Phoenix, Arizona. 

Recognized for her exceptional commitment to community service, Sandra received the 1998 Association of Junior Leagues International Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award, highlighting her dedication to bringing greater quality to the lives of others. Her legacy within the Junior League family is marked by a passion for advocacy and a profound impact on the lives she touched. 

In addition to her legal accomplishments, Sandra Day O'Connor served as a beacon of inspiration, embodying the values of justice, equality, and public service. Her trailblazing journey and impactful contributions continue to inspire Junior League members to lead with purpose and make a positive difference in their communities. 

May Sandra's enduring legacy serve as a guiding light, inspiring generations of Junior League members to strive for excellence in both service and leadership. 

Causes/Issue Area(s): Public Service, Constitutional Law

Honors/Achievements: First female Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009

It may be difficult for women who weren’t there at the time to understand, but Sandra Day O’Connor’s swearing in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 30 years ago was a very big deal.

The first woman to serve on the Court, she was widely acknowledged during her 25-year tenure as a careful and thoughtful jurist who ruled on many of the most important legal issues of her time.

Even before spending a quarter of a century on the Supreme Court, however, the former Junior League of Phoenix President led a life of public service.

Born and raised on a cattle ranch in Arizona, an experience she chronicled in a book she wrote with her brother, Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest in 2003, she graduated from Stanford Law School, where she served on the Stanford Law Review. Unable to find a job with a law firm in California, she became a county prosecutor.

She entered Arizona politics, first as Assistant Attorney General and later as a member of the Arizona State Senate, later becoming the first female majority leader in a state legislature.

In 1981, after serving on the Arizona Court of Appeals, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, making her the last Supreme Court Justice to have started out in politics.

Nearly 30 years later, in 2009, Justice O’Connor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Barack Obama. It was a fitting capstone on a fruitful life in public service.

Justice O'Connor’s other commitments have included serving as Chancellor of The College of William & Mary and as a trustee of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The Junior League of Jacksonville

Causes/Issue Area(s): Child Welfare

Achievements: Innovator in children’s services

Pamela Yardley Paul gives credit to The Junior League for teaching her organizational skills. It was a lesson well learned.

After receiving Provisional training in New York and Jacksonville, Pamela helped to develop a Junior League of Jacksonville referral hotline-- the area's first-- for families in need. Through this experience, Pamela became aware that calls to the hotline, which later became First Call for Help, almost always included a plea on behalf of children.

That experience as a League volunteer led to a career in voluntarism that has mixed hands-on service and advocacy. In the early 1980s, as president of the Florida Center for Children & Youth, she transformed the Tallahassee-focused think tank into a statewide, membership-supported advocacy organization. She also became the first woman to chair the United Way of Northeast Florida, overseeing a campaign in which 12,000 volunteers raised more than $14 million, setting a record as the highest increase in total contributions of any United Way in the nation.

During the 1970s, she also co-founded a group to tackle child abuse in the Jacksonville area, which led to the creation of the state-funded Children's Crisis Center. Looking to fund other programs to help children, she worked with then-State Attorney Ed Austin to put a referendum on the ballot for a Children's Services Board.

The initiative failed, but she worked in Jacksonville’s city government for 12 years—at a dollar a year—first with Austin, when he was elected mayor in 1991, and later Mayor John Delaney. Under Austin, Pamela helped create the Jacksonville Children's Commission to finance children's services, including after-school care.

More recently, she’s been focused on forming Jacksonville’s New Town Success Zone to support at-risk children from birth through their teenage years.

The Junior League of Kansas City

Causes/Issue Area(s): Philanthropy, Voluntarism, Child Welfare, Education

What’s her impact?

As a Junior Leaguer and a dedicated philanthropist, Adele Hall believed in a world in which children would be healthy and well educated, families would have decent livelihoods, and all people, regardless of status, race, gender, or religion, would have decent opportunities to pursue the comforts of successes in life. Narrowing the gap between that vision and reality was the mission to which Adele she devoted her career.

A long-time member of the Junior League of Kansas City, Adele spent decades involved in philanthropic efforts that made her family name—the Halls of Hallmark Cards—synonymous with charity as well as voluntarism.

After being named the first female president of the United Way of Greater Kansas City, she went on to found the Women's Public Service Network to provide a forum for women in Kansas City to focus on social issues.

Guided by an enduring interest in children's welfare and education, Adele served in leadership roles for the American Academy of Pediatrics Partnership for Children, Children's Mercy Hospital, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Partnership for Children, and Crippled Children's Nursery School as well as De La Salle School and Genesis School.

Her commitment to creating lasting community impact was evident in her other leadership roles, including those for the University of Kansas School of Nursing Advisory Board, Junior Achievement, Negro College Fund, the Youth Volunteer Corps of America, the Library of Congress Trust Fund, and Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The Junior League of San Angelo

Causes/Issue Area(s): The Arts, Diversity, Education, Child Welfare

What’s her impact?

Helen Lowenfield "Tilly" Chandler received her first Junior League award in 1958 as a Provisional of the Junior League of El Paso for her work on a tough assignment. One of her first placements was in an understaffed child welfare office. Seeing the problems caused by lack of funding, Tilly wrote her first grant proposal for a special adoptions department, which the agency used to place more than 30 children in the first 18 months of its operation.

A fourth-generation Texan, she moved to San Angelo in the late 1970s and, after transferring to the Junior League of San Angelo, soon became known as "a one-woman gang" for her work in education, diversity, civic pride, art museums, and historical celebrations. Among her many other roles, Tilly co-chaired the town's centennial celebration in 1989 and developed tourism programs, including a cowboy breakfast.

The Junior League of Parkersburg

Causes/Issue Area(s): Child Welfare, the Disabled

Achievements: National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities, the Jefferson Award, YWCA Lifetime Achievement Award

Confined by muscular dystrophy to a wheelchair since age 13, Jane Burdette never let her disability slow her down. In fact, she used her experience as a platform for a lifetime of advocacy for the disabled.

An outstanding volunteer since childhood, the Junior League of Parkersburg member and former vice president didn’t join the League until she was 33. As the executive director of the Parkersburg YWCA, she came to JLP because of its commitment to community projects. When asked, she tells people that the attraction of League membership was two-fold. First, it provided an opportunity to be involved in major projects in the Parkersburg community and, second, it gave her access to the League's training program.

Her career has encompassed both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors but her focus has been on organizations that help others, particularly the disabled. Working first as a fundraiser and recruiter for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, she moved on to SW Resources, a non-profit, community based rehabilitation facility in Parkersburg that provides employment opportunities to client-employees with disabilities. More recently, she was the executive director of the YWCA of Parkersburg before becoming a consultant.

She maintained her volunteer status in the community, serving in leadership roles for the Wood County Commission on Crime, Delinquency and Correction, the Parkersburg Community Organization on Disability, the West Virginia Rehabilitation Advisory Council, the West Virginia Task Force on MDA, and the Children’s Discovery Center Museum.

More recently, in order to provide support for charitable causes important to her, Jane established an advised fund at the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation.

Jane’s commitment to lasting community impact has not gone unnoticed. She has been accepted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities and has received the Jefferson Award for West Virginia, the Helping Hands Award, the Good Neighbor Regional Award, the MDA Personal Achievement Award for West Virginia, and the Jennings Randolph Award from the West Virginia Rehabilitation Association.

The Junior League of Miami

Causes/Issue Area(s): Public Service, Entrepreneurship

Junior League of Springfield, Missouri

Causes/Issue Area(s): Education, Public Service

Achievements: Former Missouri State Senator, education advocate

Roseann Knauer Bentley first became an agent of change when she chaired the Junior League of Springfield's committee that brought public television to the city in the early 1970s after only 16 months of courting the Public Broadcasting System. She went on to become JLS President.

Roseann’s biggest impact, however, came in public office.

She was the first woman elected to the Missouri State Senate from Southwest Missouri and also the first to serve on the Senate Finance Committee, which handles the state’s budget. She served in the Senate for eight years, the maximum allowed under term limits.

Roseann also has been a long-time advocate for education. She served as president of the Springfield School Board, the Missouri State Board of Education, and the National Association of State Boards of Education, where she was honored to be asked to meet with President George H. W. Bush to consult on National Education Goals.

She elected as a Greene County Commissioner in 1994 and 1998.

She has lent her leadership skills to the United Way of the Ozarks, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Mayor’s Commission for Children, the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, FACT (Families and Children Together), and the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood.

Recognition for her accomplishments in public life has included the Springfieldian Award, the Hero for Kids Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Woman of Distinction Award, and the Humanitarian Award from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

The Junior League of St. Louis