2010 Bonnie Dayan Memorial Award Presentation

Transcription

1 2010 Bonnie Dayan Memorial Award Presentation As Marci s welcome letter mentioned, reading your Honor Roll applications is something we look forward to each year. With the creation of the Bonnie Dayan Memorial Award, we have an added treat of reading about some very special individuals in your organizations. Another talented group was nominated this year. Before I introduce them to you, I want to acknowledge David Saltzman, Bonnie s brother. Continued thanks to you and your family, David, for allowing us to honor Bonnie s life by giving this award. If our nominees are present, please stand after I ve finished presenting information about you. Fran Durekas has always had passion for children and families and a love of working with ~ as well as for ~ them. She managed and owned a before and after school program just out of college, and grew the venture into multiple centers, hence the beginning of Childrens Creative Learning Centers (aka CCLC). Fran s nomination included input from a number of colleagues. Common themes spoke of her willingness to take responsibility and risks, her follow through, her great ideas, and her inspirational business leadership skills. At CCLC, she has created a culture of thanks, where employees feel rewarded. She always looks for ways to improve the organization and opportunities for employees to thrive personally and professionally. Taking the easy way out and cutting corners is not an option for Fran and her team is motivated by her example to go the extra mile to provide top-notch child care and to get involved in their communities. As a dedicated Early Childhood Education professional, Fran works tirelessly and innovatively to improve the health and well-being of all children, their families, and their caretakers. One way Fran volunteers is her board membership for California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo s Psychology and Child Development Department. She has been an advisor, mentor, recruiter, and donor for child development students and graduates entering the workforce. Fran is also an advocate for environmentally safe child care environments. All CCLC centers have been endorsed as Eco-Healthy Child Care environments by the Oregon Environmental

2 Council. Fran encourages other child care providers to take heed and take the steps necessary to create toxin-free surroundings and to promote healthy life-long choices. In her role as Chief Development Officer, she is in daily communication with organizations nationwide educating them about the needs of today s working families. Fran couldn t be with us today. We congratulate her on being a phenomenal leader and on being CCLC s Bonnie Dayan nominee! Leslie Lerude has been nominated because of her commitment to Kimpton s culture of heartfelt care and valuing of individuality and diversity. Each day, she reinforces that culture with her coaching, recruiting, and responding to employee matters. All levels of management rely on her input and judgment for situations concerning employees. Her advice is always based upon achieving a fair outcome that is honest and compassionate. She is also fluent in Spanish, which is valued tremendously by Kimpton s Spanish-speaking employees. Leslie started with Kimpton in 1995 as a cook at Scala's Bistro and Harry Denton s Starlight Room while attending culinary school. Within four years, she ascended to an Assistant General Manager for another one of Kimpton s restaurants. At one point in her career, Leslie left Kimpton but returned in 2002 as an Employee Relations Manager. Since her return Leslie has held several roles in Human Resources. Unfortunately, Leslie was also unable to be with us today, but that won t stop us from giving her a round of applause! Kathleen Thompson is CB Richard Ellis Group s Eastern Division Administrator. In addition to that critical role, she is a top leader of CBRE Cares, the company s corporate philanthropy program. Kathleen s leadership of CBRE Cares ensures U.S. employees have access to signature philanthropy programs that fit their charitable interests. Specifically, Kathleen has championed two signature programs, Birthday Cakes and More for Homeless Children and CBRE Celebrations in a Box: Birthday Cakes for Homeless Children Program gives personalized cakes to children in shelters to honor their birthdays. Since its inception in 2001, the program has grown to

3 serve over 75 shelters in 52 cities. In 2009, 1,343 cakes were delivered. Each child gets his or her own cake, a gift that gives them a slice of their childhood back. Celebrations in a Box provides party supplies to young patients and their families, thus enabling them to have a fun way to escape daily medical challenges. Additionally, Kathleen leads the company s Washington-Baltimore offices in their disaster response. She is CBRE s liaison to the American Red Cross and other organizations to ensure her colleagues can easily and quickly donate where needed. Coworkers value Kathleen s leadership of CBRE Cares. In her nomination, they describe her as an effective single point of contact directing them to volunteer opportunities, someone who goes above and beyond, one who inspires others to make a difference, and a tireless advocate and living example of philanthropy at CBRE. We celebrate Kathleen Thompson as CB Richard Ellis Group s Bonnie Dayan Award nominee! Please stand, Kathleen, so we can see you while we applaud you. Linda Bartleson is well regarded at Bright Horizons Family Solutions. As Judy Oliva, Linda s supervisor wrote in her nomination, Linda is one of the most caring, compassionate people I know. She leads by example and has a heart of gold. She encourages her team to do community service and [to] embrace diversity and inclusion. Even with her busy schedule managing seven centers, she finds time to do volunteer work in her community. Linda is currently working on her 7 th play space construction project. Many of Linda s team members participate in an annual fundraiser that has grown from raising $20,000 to almost 10 times that in three years. The donations are used to help families in crisis. At one of Linda s six centers, employees volunteer efforts are featured in a newsletter. This keeps the importance of service visible to employees and sparks additional volunteer activities.

4 Not only does she influence her Center Directors and teachers to serve their communities, but she also inspires them do their best for the families and children they serve. They are well aware of the important work they do each day. Linda has received Bright Horizons most prestigious Make a Difference Award, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate a commitment to raising the quality of life for children and families in their community through exemplary leadership. Congratulations, Linda, for receiving that award and for being one of our 2010 Bonnie Dayan Award nominees! Please stand for your applause. We are very pleased to have Karen Mathews at our event again this year and to recognize her as a 2010 nominee. She has woven the 10 characteristics of a company that cares into her strategic goals. Karen uses benchmarking results to raise the bar for WellStar in how they care for employees, families, and their community. She works closely with Human Resources and has strong alliances with WellStar s business units in the metro Atlanta community. Karen is a role model for other leaders. She enthusiastically supports WellStar with its Employer of Choice efforts and her enthusiasm is contagious. Karen s leadership role extends beyond WellStar. She actively encourages those she interacts with in the business community to participate in best practice surveys and to use the data to make improvements. She has started a think tank with area corporate leaders to deal with emerging issues such as the aging population. As a professional who has seen the major difference adopting caring employment practices can have, Karen actively promotes such behaviors to other healthcare systems and industries. She publishes articles, provides interviews, presents at conferences as well as webinars, and serves on boards. All are platforms for Karen to carry forth her message of doing right by employees and communities. Congratulations, Karen! You re a star at WellStar! Please stand and be recognized for your achievements! Our final Bonnie Dayan Memorial Award nominee is Kathy Hopinkah Hannan and she is this year s award recipient. Kathy is KPMG s National Managing Partner, Diversity and Corporate

5 Social Responsibility where she leads the firm s strategy on inclusion, corporate citizenship, the environment, and corporate sustainability with an emphasis on employee engagement, workforce readiness, and philanthropic investments that focus on the underserved. Her journey to this position (which she has held since late 2009) has made her an inspiring role model for others, particularly women. Kathy was admitted to KPMG s partnership in 1994, promoted to Midwest Partner-in-Charge of International Services in 1996 and then Partner-in- Charge of KPMG s Chicago Metro-Tax Practice in 1998, before being appointed to Vice Chair, Human Resources in Four years later, Kathy was the first female to be named Midwest Area Managing Partner of Tax Services. Kathy demonstrates a deep commitment to the dignity and well-being of employees, ensuring they have the respect, the support, and the tools to pursue their aspirations. As Vice Chair, Human Resources, Kathy helped initiate a cultural change at KPMG that focused on inclusiveness, to launch a strategy to establish the firm as an Employer of Choice, one focused on making the firm a great place to work and build a career for all professionals. With an initial focus on transforming the environment for women, Kathy was instrumental in helping the firm make changes that have resulted in a 6%increase in the number of women in partnership positions. These positive results led the firm to address the needs of other employee groups, thus achieving a well-rounded and diverse professional staff that reflects the diversity of KPMG s clients. She also successfully championed the idea that community involvement could be a successful way to engage employees and lift morale. As a result, KPMG offers a wide range of volunteer opportunities. There s definitely a community service option for everyone. On a personal level, Kathy has extensive ties to her Native American culture and the Ho-Chunk Nation. She serves on the Advisory Committee for the Chicago American Indian Center. Additionally, Kathy is a board member for seven groups and an active volunteer for many others. She s one busy, giving woman! Congratulations, Kathy, please come forward to receive the 2010 Bonnie Dayan Memorial Award!

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