Girl Scouts of North East Ohio Announces 2021 Women of Distinction Honorees
February 22, 2021
Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) is excited to announce this year’s honorees who will be recognized at the Women of Distinction event on Friday, May 7. This year, GSNEO will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Women of Distinction awards.
The awards event serves to recognize female leaders who exemplify Girl Scout values of ethical leadership, professional accomplishments, and a commitment to making a difference in the lives of others while also raising funds for Girl Scout scholarships and financial aid. In highlighting these honorees, GSNEO inspires girls to achieve their own goals and dreams.
“Girls need to see confidence, leadership, and purpose-driven accomplishment in other women in order to envision herself with those qualities,” said GSNEO CEO Jane Christyson. “We are proud to celebrate local role models paving the way for our future female leaders.”
2021 Women of Distinction Honorees:
M. Ruth Coleman, Principal – ValTrans Health; Founder – Health Design Plus
Marianne Crosley, President and CEO – Cleveland Leadership Center
Elizabeth Engels, President – Acer Consulting
Jan Morrison, Founder and CEO – TIES
Tania Nemer, Community Outreach Prosecutor – Summit County Prosecutor’s Office
QuynhGiao Nguyen, Ph.D. , Program Element Manager and NASA’s Game Changing Development Program – NASA
Tracy A. Oliver, Director Media and Local Affairs – Dominion Energy Ohio
Sandy Rapp, SVP and CIO – Travel Centers America
Vivian von Gruenigen, M.D., M.S., Prof. , Gynecologic Oncologist - Northeast Ohio Medical University
Lorna Wisham , VP, Corporate Affairs & Community Involvement and President, FirstEnergy Foundation – FirstEnergy
Nominations were reviewed by a panel of community members, led by Women of Distinction Event Chair Sandra L. Reid, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning at The Davey Tree Expert Company and a 2020 Woman of Distinction honoree.
The Advancing Women Award, also awarded at the event, is presented to an organization for its strong commitment to advancing women in the workplace.
Nestlé USA is committed to gender balance in the workplace and has been successfully increasing the number of women at all levels in the organization. They strive to create the enabling conditions in their work environment in order for all women to be successful and achieve a gender-balanced organization. Nestlé’s local initiatives on gender diversity include leadership development training and unconscious bias workshops, as well as flexible policies that contribute to supportive work environments, such as their Nestlé Parent Support Policy. Additionally, the salaries for male and female Nestlé employees reached a 1:1 gender pay equity in 2018.
Three Girl Scouts who are emerging as future leaders will be awarded the Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship. These honorees have a strong commitment to engaging in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. They also demonstrate high scholastic achievement, creativity, initiative, and community outreach, and they embody the council’s belief that young women with promise today will become tomorrow’s leaders.
Hailey Edie – Carrollton High School
Nia Guess – Cornerstone Christian Academy
Halle Preneta – Kenston High School
For more information about the event and to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Laura Mottor at lmottor@gsneo.org or 330.283.0353.
