YWCA wishes BRAVA! to worthy women

Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter
Friday, 10 February 2012 12:00

When she took to the stage to congratulate the winners of the 2012 BRAVA awards, Jen Psaki, a former deputy communications director for President Barack Obama, shared the words of one of the country’s most colorful female politicians.

“There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help women.”

Those words were originally spoken by former Texas Governor Ann Richards and were repeated by Ms. Psaki as part of her message about the power of women to make a difference in the world one person at a time.

The BRAVA awards, which were held Feb. 2 at the Hyatt Regency, are an annual YWCA of Greenwich tradition that honors local women who have excelled in their careers and community service. YWCA Board of Directors Chairman Catherine Seasonwein said the award demonstrates the YWCA’s “commitment to empowering women” and said this year’s honorees were “dynamic, accomplished women who have greatly enhanced our communities with all that they do.”

This year’s honorees were Patricia Chadwick, president of Ravengate Partners and a regular CNBC pundit, Danielle Clark, a partner at the Stamford-based Ernst & Young, Dr. Evelyn Cusack-Landesman director of community outreach for The Heart Physicians, an affiliate of Stamford Health Integrated Practices, Judith Ellenthal, an Old Greenwich resident specializing in family law in Stamford, Dorothy Freeburg, a town resident and attorney who volunteers at the Greenwich Probate Court, Meryl Hartzband, chief investment officer for the Greenwich-based Stone Point Capital, Theresa Rogers Matthews, owner of Horseneck Wines, Heidi Paul, vice president of corporate affairs for Nestle Waters, Kathleen Shelton Smith, chairman and co-founder of Renaissance Capital LLC as well as a Greenwich resident, and Melissa Turner the senior vice president of human resources for Greenwich Hospital.

The BRAVA Awards were started in 1977 and have grown each year to one of the biggest YWCA events of the year. YWCA of Greenwich President and CEO Adrianne Singer told the Post that it’s one of her favorite things to do each year and said it was a great opportunity to recognize successful women who had “broken the glass ceiling in businesses and industries where women typically weren’t in past years” while still finding time for major commitments to community service.

“They are very generous with their time,” Ms. Singer said. “They give back to the community and they serve as mentors to other women. Since the mission of the YWCA is to empower women, it’s very fitting that we have an event such as this to honor women for all they’ve done. YWCAs all over the country have similar events honoring women for their achievements.”

Each of the honorees was given a chance to speak and they thanked those who had encouraged and helped them and credited their families for their support. Ms. Ellenthal, who has tried to give back by setting up scholarship funds for recent female high school graduates in Fairfield County, said it was always special to be honored, but it was particularly meaningful to have it come from the YWCA, a sentiment shared by many. Ms. Rogers Matthews talked about growing up in a small town of 300 and the influence of her parents in inspiring her to set off into a business she began as a hobby and turned into a career that at one time didn’t have many women in it.

“Men would look at me and say, ‘Why should we buy from you? You’re taking jobs away from men,’” Ms. Rogers Matthews said. “I just kept forging ahead and I got through it. When I wake up in the morning, I walk down my stairs, I thank God that I have my health and that I can help every other person that needs help. Any organization that needs a helping hand, I am there for them. I have been privileged in my life to hit my goals.”

Ms. Hartzband discussed about how hard it was for the women of the past to open the doors that they’ve been able to walk through and offered advice to the next generation.

“Please don’t be complacent,” Ms. Hartzband said. “Don’t take your many options and choices for granted. Follow your dreams wherever they take you and, most importantly, help other women achieve alongside you. I’m convinced we will all be the better for it.”

Ms. Singer said that women have made a lot of progress through the years and the group of women honored each year at the BRAVA Awards is proof of that, but it’s always important to remember more must be done. She added that the women honored today and in past years have done much to pave the way for future generations of women to achieve and its something that must continue.

Ms. Psaki, a graduate of Greenwich High School who now serves as the senior vice president and managing director of Global Strategy Group after leaving the White House, was the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony. A key member of President Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, Ms. Psaki said she was inspired by the honorees.

“This group of women is simply amazing,” Ms. Psaki said. “Anyone who thinks Superwoman is just a comic book character has clearly not read the bios of the women being honored.”

While noting that there were few places that illustrated the strides women had made more than Washington, D.C., Ms. Psaki echoed Ms. Singer’s sentiment that there is so much more to be done.

“We still have a long way to go toward gender balance and when you look at fields like media, politics and business and government,” Ms. Psaki said. “These fields continue to be dominated by men at the top.”

She later added, “Statistics show that women don’t ask for raises and undersell their own achievements. While more women than men are graduating from college and law school, there are far too few women running for office. Women need to strive for something bigger. Not enough women are encouraged to reach the level in their fields that many of the women in this room have already achieved. The women being honored in this room are evidence of what happens if we think bigger, think farther ahead and learn to be better advocates for colleagues, be better mentors for younger women and men.”

Each recipient of a BRAVA Award were given citations from several office holders including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), U.S. Rep Jim Himes (D-4), Gov. Dannel Malloy and First Selectman Peter Tesei. Mr. Blumenthal also spoke briefly at the event and he was not the only prominent member of an audience that also included Selectman David Theis, State Sen. L. Scott Frantz (R-36), State Attorney General George Jepsen and town resident and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon.

In an interview with the Post before the awards ceremony, Ms. Psaki talked about the importance of coming back to where she grew up to honor the achievement of prominent women in the community.

“The women being honored today have achieved far more than I have,” Ms. Psaki said. “They’ve been around not only longer than I have, but have made contributions more significant than I have to date. It’s amazing to be able to come back to my hometown like this. My mother still lives in Stamford and I was driving by Greenwich High School and Greenwich Country Day and seeing where I went to school makes me feel like I’m a teenager again. That’s always nice. It gives you a nice warm feeling inside when you come back to your hometown. It’s an important event and as a woman who has experienced a little bit of the challenges that women face in the working world it’s a really cool kind of full circle experience to stand here with these women who have all achieved so much.”

The BRAVA awards were not her first experience with the YWCA as she grew up taking swimming courses there which helped her grow and learn self determination and commitment. She said that’s gotten her through a lot of tough things in the world of politics because, as she told the Post with a laugh, if she could get through a two-hour swim practice at 6 a.m. she realized she could get through anything.

“The role of the Y and the BRAVA Awards themselves is to celebrate women and the importance of philanthropy and giving back,” Ms. Psaki said. “In a place like Greenwich where people have so much, it is kind of incredible to have a group of women who actually want to give back and do more than just survive their jobs every day.”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites