The women and men who have received the Outstanding Leader Awards over the past 50 years are considered our Leadership Academy. These individuals serve as role models for women aspiring to personal and professional success, as well as a commitment to racial justice. Since 1972, more than 350 women have been honored by the YWCA. In 2009, the YWCA added the Outstanding Mentor Award and opened the category to include qualified men who have demonstrated a commitment to the mentorship of women.

A-F

Carol L. Adams
Duffie A. Adelson
Anne Aitchison
Luvvie Ajayi
Christine Albright
Elynne Chaplik Aleskow
Jean Allard
Barbara R. Allen
Jeanne Altendorf-McLennan
Joanne H. Alter
Zully Alvarado
Susan Anderson
Irene Antoniou
Phyllis L. Apelbaum
Miriam G. Apter
Mary Jo Arndt
Allison Arwady
Jacqueline T. Atkins
Adrienne C. Austin
Sandra Harden Austin
Lindsay Avner
E. Maurlea Babb
Gloria Jackson Bacon
Myoung Hwa Bae
Irene Bahr
Adrienne Y. Bailey
Lucretia Bailey
Wilma Bain
Barbara Barhamand
Carol Ross Barney
Willie Taplin Barrow
Maureen Beal
Louise Beem
Laurel G. Bellows
Marjorie Craig Benton
Carolyn W. Bergan
Sally Berger
Carol L. Bernick
Chana Bernstein
Joan B. Beugen
Maryka Horsting Bhattacharyya
Judy Biggert
Judith S. Block
Linda Boasmond
Mary Ann Bobosky
Arnita Young Boswell
Rosemary S. Bowen
Barbara Bowles
Barbara Bowman
Betty Bradshaw
Nelvia M. Brady
Barbara Brent
Kathy Brinker
Marca Bristo
Ricki Brock
Judith Brodhead
Gwendolyn Brooks
Abena Joan P. Brown
Rowine Hayes Brown
Geraldine Daniels Brownlee
Joanne Brundage
Shirley R. Brussell
Cheryl Blackwell Bryson
Barbara Burrell
Berlean Miller Burris
Margaret T. Burroughs
Margaret Butler
Susan Butler
Jean M. Butzen
Sherialyn Byrdsong
Pastora San Juan Cafferty
Lillian Calhoun
Denise Callarman
Georgiana Carlson
Dorothy Carpenter
Brenda Carroll
Lenora T. Cartright
Gloria Castillo
Susan Kmetty Catania
Dorothy Dean Cavenaugh
Adela M. Cepeda
Mary Ann Childers
Augusta Clarke
Deborah Leigh Clayton
Michelle L. Collins
Cheryl Conley
Jean Connell
Peggy Connolly
Tarrah Cooper
Adela Coronado-Greeley
Ellen Costello
Sylvia Cotton
Marylou Cowlishaw
Sharie Crain
Barbara Crane
Marylou Crane
Winifred Creamer
Dolores E. Cross
Patricia Crowley
Osie Davenport
Pamela Meyer Davis
Theresa Dear
Merri Dee
Deborah L. DeHaas
Yvonne V. Delk
Marian Alschuler Despres
Shuby Dewan
Toni Dewey
Mary Dillon
Louise Kelly Donovan
Alice Doyle
Connie Duckworth
Ruth Duckworth
Dick Durbin
Mary Ellen Durbin
Rachel Durchslag
Julia Dyer
Betsy Eben
Debra Ebetsch
Evelyn Echols
Emily Ellsworth
Gayle R. Spill Ephraim
Barbara Eychaner
Katherine T. Faber
Michelle M. Faith
Therese K. Fauerbach
Beverly Fawell
Blanche Hill Fawell
Renee Ferguson
Venita Fields
Jennifer Fischer
Jan Fitzsimmons
Nancy Fleming
Ida Mae Fletcher
Louise Florian
Sadie Flucas
Carol Fox
Cheryl Francis
Peggy Frank
Wynetta A. Frazier
Hilda Frontany
Rita Aliese Fry

G-L

Barbara Gaines
Gayle Gamauf-McCoy
Ann Ida Gannon
Helene Gayle
Lisa Gengler
Susan Getzendanner
Dayle Gillett
Susan Gillette
Sue Ling Gin
Sherry B. Goodman
Ellen R. Gordon
Ilene S. Gordon
Jory Graham
Lois Graham
Hanna Holborn Gray
Myrtle Green
Audris Griffith
Edith R. Grimm
Sandra P. Guthman
Ann E. Grube
Joan Hall
Judith DeShong Hall
Patricia Hemingway Hall
Marget Hamilton
Kathy Hopinkah Hannan
Deborah Hanson
Antonia Harlan
Margaret Harrigan
Patricia Harris
Ronne Hartfield
Hermene Hartman
Rita Harvard
Lori Healey
Jane Heckman
Dorothy Irene Height
Natalie Heineman
Terri Hemmert
Marion Henley
Gwen Henry
Hadassah Hickman
Margaret Hillis
Eleanor Himmelfarb
Leslie Hindman
Deborah Hockman
Jane Hodgkinson
Elizabeth Hollander
Jean Holley
Michele J. Hooper
Joyce A. Hughes
Holly Humphrey
Suzanne T. Isaacs
Cheryle Robinson Jackson
Mary Jane Jacobs
Donna Lee Jansen
Valerie B. Jarrett
Nancy B. Jefferson
Lauren Jensen
Beth Johnson
Cheryl Johnson
Hazel Johnson
Janet Johnson
Gladys Styles Johnston
Colette Jolie
Vicky Markell Joseph
Kimberly Jung
Kathryn Karsh
Linda A. Kaste
Janice Kay
Mary Helen Kelly
Gertude Lempp Kerbis
Louise Año Nuevo Kerr
Zainab Khan
Sandra Killingsworth-Finley
Tina Kilmer
Charlotte Kim
Candace McCarthy King
Kristi L. Kirschner
Carole Kleiman
Mary Jane Klinger
Chilton Knudsen
Virginia Knuepfer
Mary Gonzalez Koenig
Kate H. Kohn
Bonnie Kos
Ardis Krainik
Dottie Krejci
Karen Kuchar
Dolores Kunda
Linda Kurzawa
M. Leanne Lachman
Jewel S. Lafontant-Mankarious
Theresa Langfield
Ximena N. Larkin
Linda Laurich
Bernice E. Lavin
Louise Q. Lawson
Mary Ann Leeper
Annette Leiber
Sherren Leigh
Mary Jo Lenert
Arlene Lennox
Sarah Levy
Elaine Libovicz
Lori E. Lightfoot
Connie Lindsey
Alyce Litz
Barbara J. Lockwood
Gerri Long
Ruth B. Love
Jorie Lueloff
Vivian Lund

M-Q

Rosemary Mack
Stephen Mack
Eva L. Maddox
Janet M. Madori
Edee Madsen
Mary Ann Madson
Charlotte Main
Jessica Malkin
Mary Ann Malloy
Alice Mansell
Carol Marin
Connie Markiewicz
Stephanie Pace Marshall
Harriett Martin
Joan Martin
Virginia Martinez
Martyl
Linda Mastandrea
Pat Mathis
Beatrice C. Mayer
Michele C. Mayes
Renetta McCann
Sally McCarthy
Geraldine McCullough
McDonald’s Corporation
Helen McGillicuddy
Charlotte McKinstry
Cheryl Mayberry McKissack
Mary Ann G. McMorrow
Patricia Mendoza
Harriet Meyer
Bernice J. Miller
Eva Jane Milligan
Mary Mitchell
Jean Moore
Natalie Moore
Jeannie Morris
Barbara Murphy
Charlotte Mushow
Jolene Mobley Nelson
Mary Nelson
Michael Nemeroff
Ann Nerad
Dawn Clark Netsch
Bernice L. Neugarten
Diana Nicholas
Carole R. Nolan
Dolores G. Norton, Ph.D.
Patricia Norton
Khem Nuth
Harriet O’Donnell
Nancy M. O’Fallon
Karen Oldfield
Lucille Ollendorf
Lufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade
Sandra Forbes Olson
Chinwe Onyeagoro
Louise Ores
Ruth Page
Sara N. Paretsky
Angelina Pedroso
Audrey R. Peeples
Aurie A. Pennick
Sheila A. Penrose
Sylvia Perez
Sunday Perry
Eleanor Peterson
Mary Petrie
Lee Phillip
Alice Phillips
Maria W. Piers
Rose Mary Pint
Maria Pinto
Betsy Plank
Barbara Poole
Anne R. Pramaggiore
Jennifer N. Pritzker
Penny Pritzker
Barbara Gardner Proctor

R-V

Barbara Radner
Maribeth Rahe
Noor Raheemullah Hasan
Anna Rappaport
Hedy M. Ratner
Barbara Richardson
Ginny Richardson
Julieanna L. Richardson
Laura Ricketts
Salima Rivera
Jolyn Robichaux
Judith Rogala
Angela Rose
Loretta Rosenmayer
Ruth M. Rothstein
Cynthia Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley
Ellen A. Rudnick
Darlene Ruscitti
Marie-Louise Saboungi
Jane Nicholl Sahlins
Miriam Santos
Terry Savage
Deborah M. Sawyer
Dora Schenk
Marianne Schiffer
Margo Schreiber
Iris R. Shannon
Vernice Sheerman
Kathryn Sieberman
Rita Simo
Marion Simon
Alpana Singh
Hasana Sisco
Rebecca Anne Sive
Barbara A. Sizemore
Joyce Sloane
Wilma J. Smelcer
Ann E. Smith
Bessie Smith
Diann DeWeese Smith
Gail T. Smith
Thelma J. Smith
Julie Smolyansky
Melody Spann Cooper
Jane Spirgel
Judith A. Sprieser
LaVonne St. Amand
Julia M. Stasch
Betty Jane Stearns
Salme Steinberg
Margaret Stender
Judy Stevenson
Beverly Stone
Kay Storm
Judy Stratman
Lauren F. Streicher, MD
Pamela Strobel
Ella D. Strubel
Ruth Sweetser
Diane Swonk
Maria Tallchief
Gretta Tameling
Amy Tauchman
Jackie Taylor
Christina M. Tchen
Genevieve Thiers
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
Lisa Thornton
Marion Thurnauer
Marcy Thurwachter
Barbara Toney
Margaret Ellen Traxler
Dawn Turner Trice
Nicole Truog
Sallie Tucker Allen
Howard Tullman
Glenette Tilly Turner
Patricia Vaci
Helen Valdez
Joyce Van Der Molen
Patricia Vary

W-Z

Norma E. Wagoner
Cindy L. Walker
Mary Eleanor Wall
Sharon Wall
Patricia Wallace-Christian
Darwin Walton
Pat Walton
Sona Wang
Padmasree Warrior
Mary V. Ward
Laura Washington
Linda Ficklin Weber
Augusta Webster
Gary Webster
Karen Strom Webster
Shirley Webster
Cynthia Weese
Lois Weisberg
Bernice Weissbourd
Betty Ross West
Helen Gum Westlake
Bonnie McNaughton Wheaton
Marion Marshall White
Kathy Wiard
Lois Wille
Barbara V. Williams
Jill Wine-Banks
Wilma Wise
Goldie B. Wolfe
Nancy Wolfe
Mary W. Wolkonsky
Bernanda Wong
Bonnie Wood
Nelmatilda Ritchie Woodard
Jessie A. Woods
Kathleen Wright
Nykia Wright
Jane Wu
Alberta I. Wuerfele
Addie Wyatt
Linda Yang
Nicole Yeary
Carol Yesko
Kathleen Yosko
Linda Yu
Claire B. Zeisler
Pamela Zekman
Nikki M. Zollar