Title
Honoring and celebrating Philadelphia's Women of Moxie: Mo'ne Davis, Tina Sloan Green, Patricia Giorgio-Fox, Clarena Tolson, Katherine Gajewski, Judith Von Seldeneck, Irene Hannan, Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, Nora Lichtash, Vanessa Fields, Kathy Black, Yvonne Roberts, Evelyn Marcha-Hidalgo, Cynthia Figueroa, Dorothy Sumners Rush, and Sophie Bryan for their gumption, leadership, and excellence in the areas of athletics, government, business, nonprofits and education in observance of Women's History Month.
Body
WHEREAS, Mo'ne Davis is a native Philadelphian and Little League Baseball pitcher. She is the first African American girl to play in 2014 Little League World Series and she is also the first young woman to pitch a shutout in the history of games. She is also the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a Little League player; and
WHEREAS, Tina Sloan Green co-founded the Black Women in Sport Foundation in 1992. Since assuming the helm of this thriving organization, she has worked to ensure that young underserved minority students gain full exposure to nontraditional sports. The foundation's ongoing mission is to provide healthy alternatives for at risk women and children and vigorously advocate for the inclusion and rights of women of color in all aspects of sport—from the field to the boardroom. Tina's pioneering efforts and continued grassroots work in the community fills a much-needed role in minority women and youth sport; and
WHEREAS, Patricia Giorgio-Fox served as the highest-ranked woman in the Philadelphia Police department from 2002-2012 as the Deputy Commissioner of the department. She was the first woman to ever serve as a deputy commissioner within the department when she was named to the position by then Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson. Prior to becoming the Deputy Commissioner, Ms. Giorgio-Fox commanded the department's Research and Planning Unit, and was one of the first 100 women allowed by the city to patrol in 1976. Under her supervision, the department designed a two-page response form for responding officers' use that detailed the complaint; any previous history of abuse, complaints, or court orders, the actions of both victim and offender and the condition of the scene when police arrived. These initiatives led to the number of domestic-violence homicides to decrease by 33% in the first year after this program was enacted; and
WHEREAS, Clarena Tolson currently serves as Commissioner for the Department of Revenue. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and a 30-year veteran of public service in City government. The first woman to hold the position of Streets Commissioner, Ms. Tolson was the second longest serving Streets Department Commissioner with 10 years of service. The Commissioner is a proven and inventive leader in public policy, logistics and organizational management. During her tenure as Streets Commissioner, the department made ground-breaking strides on a number of fronts, including the turnaround of sanitation efficiency and service delivery, development of a growing single-stream recycling program, the UnLitter Us program, the Big Belly solar compactors and the conversion of 55,000 traffic signals to LED signals. Commissioner Tolson led the department in the reconstruction of the South Street Bridge, the largest and most complex project in the history of the Streets Department; and
WHEREAS, Katherine Gajewski currently serves as Director of Sustainability in the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, where she oversees the implementation of City's GreenWorks Plan. Previously she served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff in the Mayor's Office. In this role she managed a number of major citywide projects including the Philly Spring Cleanup which, in its first year, was recognized as the largest citywide clean-up in U.S. history. From 2004-2006, Katherine was the Campaign Coordinator for the Breathe Free Philadelphia Alliance, the coalition that led the successful grassroots campaign to pass smoke-free legislation in Philadelphia. She later consulted for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to oversee the implementation of the law - including a comprehensive business outreach and public education campaign - which resulted in compliance levels well exceeding expectations; and
WHEREAS, Judith Von Seldeneck is Founder and Chairman of Diversified Search. For forty years, she has been a pioneer in the search industry and a leader in placing qualified women and diversity candidates. Mrs. Von Seldeneck has received many industry and community awards and has been recognized by the executive search industry as setting the standard for retained executive search. She has been active for many years on numerous public, private, and not-for-profit Boards of Directors, and was recently named to the Comcast and NBC Universal Joint Diversity Council and is Chairperson of the Women's Advisory Council; and
WHEREAS, Irene Horstmann Hannan is Senior Vice President of Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, and has responsibility as the Division Executive for managing the Bank's commercial business with Not-for-Profit organizations, Health Care businesses and its Professionals Banking Group in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. She is responsible for full commercial banking with these sectors including credit, deposits, investments and all non-credit products. Irene previously served as the Director of Women's Business Services for the General Bank of Wachovia (now Wells Fargo); and
WHEREAS, Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes currently serves as CEO of the American Red Cross of Southeastern PA. Prior to becoming the CEO, Judge Hughes served as a trial judge in the Court of Common Pleas, the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania which encompasses the City of Philadelphia, as well as the Trial Division of the court, since her appointment to the bench in 1995 by Governor Tom Ridge. She was elected to a full ten-year term beginning January 1996 and was re-elected in 2005 to a second full term. She specialized in homicides, but has handled both civil and criminal proceedings; and
WHEREAS, Nora Lichtash serves as the Executive Director and founder of the Woman's Community Revitalization Project in Philadelphia. The WCRP is committed to social and economic equity for low-income women and their families; they develop housing; provide supportive services; advocate for policy change; and honor leadership, dignity, and justice in our communities. The WCRP has been the driving force behind a number of developments throughout the Philadelphia area, among them, the 39,000-square-foot developmentthat was completed in 2001 at 9th Street and Indiana Ave, the Evelyn Sanders Townhouses; and
WHEREAS, Vanessa Fields has been employed as a Social Worker with the Department of Human Services (DHS) since November, 1987. Vanessa has been a Shop Steward since 1991 and became elected to the Local 2187 Executive Board in 2003. She is a member of the Health & Safety Advisory of DC 47 and the Sick Transfer Committee. Vanessa is active in several community organizations; and
WHEREAS, Kathy Black is the Chapter President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) and a member of AFSCME DC47. Kathy has been involved in an endless number of campaigns to benefit Unions and women in the Philadelphia area. She represents the Chapter as a Co-Convener of U.S. Labor Against the War, and as a delegate to the Philadelphia AFL-CIO. She also serves on the Board of Directors of PhilaPOSH (Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health), and as member of the Philadelphia NOW Chapter (National Organization for Women); and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Marcha-Hidalgo is the CEO/Executive Director of Intercultural Family Services, Inc. (Intercultural). Under Mrs. Marcha-Hidalgo's leadership, Intercultural has evolved into a family-focused, multicultural, and multipurpose agency that provides a variety of public health and human services to first-generation Americans and life-long Philadelphians alike at their main office located at 4225 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia as well as at two satellite offices. Mrs. Marcha-Hidalgo's areas of expertise include financial management, program development and design, and cultural competency training. She is an accountant and has a Masters degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. She also completed the Executive Management Training Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; and
WHEREAS, Cynthia Figueroa began her tenure as President and CEO of Congreso de Latinos Unidos in January 2011. In this capacity, she has fiscal oversight of more than $24 million dedicated to strengthening Latino communities through social, economic, education and health services. Immediately before leading Congreso, Ms. Figueroa served as the Deputy Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia's Department of Human Services (DHS). Highlights of her time working at DHS include leading a comprehensive two-year alignment process addressing all community-based child welfare prevention services and overseeing the contracting of services to over 200 social service providers. She also led the development and implementation of the Education Support Center, which has quickly become recognized as providing innovative solutions to enhance the educational outcomes of children in the child welfare system; and
WHEREAS, Dorothy Sumners Rush taught at Emlen School in Germantown for 15 years and then spent 19 years as vice principal of Ada Lewis Middle School. As an administrator at Ada Lewis, Sumners Rush taught algebra in a before-school program, nurtured partnerships with businesses that resulted in tutoring for students, and helped students start their own company: Ada Lewis Enterprises, which marketed products such as student-made pillows, cutting boards and cookies, and gave children real-life lessons. She retired in 1991 and was appointed to the school board two years later by Mayor Rendell becoming Vice President under Mayor Street; and
WHEREAS, Sophie Bryan currently serves as the Director of the Strategy Delivery Unit at the School District of Philadelphia. Prior to becoming the Director, Ms. Bryan served as a special assistant to the office of the Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, as well as being the Chief of Staff and legislative aide to Philadelphia City Councilman-at-Large, Bill Green. Ms. Bryan was also an adjunct professor at Drexel University's School of Law, teaching litigation drafting and public interest practice; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby honor and celebrate Philadelphia's Women of Moxie: Mo'ne Davis, Tina Sloan Green, Patricia Giorgio-Fox, Clarena Tolson, Katherine Gajewski, Judith Von Seldeneck, Irene Hannan, Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, Nora Lichtash, Vanessa Fields, Kathy Black, Yvonne Roberts, Evelyn Marcha-Hidalgo, Cynthia Figueroa, Dorothy Sumners Rush, and Sophie Bryan for their gumption, leadership, and excellence in the areas of athletics, government, business, nonprofits, and education in observance of Women's History Month.
End