2006 Honorees

Juana Gutierrez (b. 1933)
Political Activist and Community Organizer
Juana Gutierrez began her political activism by knocking on her neighbors’ doors. It was the beginning of her work to take back her community from outside interests. To give the community a powerful and effective voice, she organized the Madres de Este Los Angeles (MELASI).

Aileen Hernandez (b. 1926)
Union Organizer and Human Rights Activist
Aileen Hernandez’s commitment to world-wide justice has been fueled by traveling and meeting with women throughout the world to gain a global perspective on humanitarian issues. Currently, she chairs the California Women’s Agenda (CAWA), a network of 600 organizations dedicated to implementing the plan of action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995.

Winona LaDuke (b.1960)
Author and Environmentalist
Winona LaDuke has worked for nearly three decades on the land issues of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota including litigation over land rights in the 1980’s. She currently serves as the Director of Honor the Earth and Founding Director of White Earth Land Recovery Project.

Cindy Marano (1947-2005)
Economic Justice Activist and Public Policy Visionary
Cindy Marano worked for 35 years to build a vision of economic equity for women and low-income workers. A brilliant strategic thinker, Marano focused on public policy issues, built legislative and government support, and engaged a network of national, state, and local organizations to help women and low-income workers fulfill their dreams. Many of her policies were adopted into federal law.

Mary Aloysius Molloy (1880-1954)
Educator and Innovator
Mary Molloy, developed a rigorous four-year undergraduate curriculum for a women’s college, comparable to those used by colleges that educated men. In 1907, she set high standards for both scholarship and public service. The College of Saint Teresa rapidly grew into one of the premier Catholic colleges in the United States.

Nancy Skinner Nordhoff (b.1932)
Philanthropist and Environmentalist
Nancy Nordhoff , a hands-on philanthropist who has been a funder and advisor the driving force in the Women’s Funding Alliance of Seattle for over 25 years. Nordhoff generously puts her money, time, and energy into visionary projects. These include Hedgebrook, a retreat center for women to write their stories, and an organization and retreat that supports and encourages women to write their stories and Bayview Corner, a model of environmental integrity, economic development, and community revitalization.

Mary Taylor Previte (b. 1932)
Pioneer and Advocate for Juvenile Justice
Mary Taylor Previte passed on the survival skills she learned from her seven years as a Prisoner of War in a Japanese prison camp during World War II to the children of America’s urban wars. Her profound belief in humanity and her ability to communicate positively with youth made the Camden County Youth Center for ages 14 to 17 a national model.

Betty Reid Soskin (b. 1921)
Cultural Anthropologist and Writer
Betty Reid Soskin’s deep, ingrained sense of culture, place, and purpose are obvious in the way she lives her life. Helping to make our history authentic, she persuaded the Rosie the Riveter/ World War II Home Front National Historical Park to acknowledge the role of Black neighborhoods surrounding the Richmond, California site, which had been bulldozed after the war.

Mary Tsukamato (1915-1998)
Educator, Writer, and Cultural Historian
Mary Tsukamoto’s ultimate decision to become a teacher was heavily influenced by teachers in her early life who helped fund her college education. Tsukamoto’s family was interned in rural prison camps during World War II. This internment experience defined much of her life as a teacher and a leader. She worked tirelessly to secure the U.S. government apology and compensation for those who had been interned.