Courier celebrates 50 of the region’s female trailblazers
Fifty of the Greater Pittsburgh region’s female African-American trailblazers will be celebrated at the New Pittsburgh Courier’s 2014 50 Women of Excellence luncheon to be held Thursday, Dec. 11 at 12 p.m. in the ballroom of the Westin Convention Center Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.
The honor recognizes top-notch ladies who, through their time and talents within their various professional sectors of life, have enriched the lives of others in their communities. Honorees are selected from nominations submitted by the community and the Courier’s readership.
“I feel the 50 Women of Excellence program is important because it highlights those who through their example are considered role models for our young people and our community. It also highlights these women who love their community and who are focused on high standards of living in every aspect of their lives, their jobs, their homes and in their volunteerism,” said Jean Bryant, the founder of the Miss Black Teenage and Mr. African-American programs, and the Courier’s 2012 50 Women of Excellence Legacy Honoree. “I would encourage that once you have received the award, recognize the honor of it because it says everything beautiful about you having been chosen.”
This year’s luncheon, which will be emceed by Chris Moore, host of “The Chris Moore Show” and “Horizons,” will also pay special tribute to Alma Speed Fox and Katie Everette Johnson, two women whose legacies as community torchbearers in the fight for equality have paved the way for so many that have come behind them.
“This year’s Women of Excellence list continues the tradition of recognizing the Pittsburgh area’s best and brightest,” said Rod Doss, Courier editor and publisher. “We are especially pleased to recognize the many contributions of our legacy honorees, Alma Speed Fox and Katie Everett Johnson; two extraordinary women whose decades of service to this community are unparalleled.”
For more than 60 years Fox has been an advocate not only locally, but nationally as well for rights and civil liberties of Blacks, women, lesbians and gays, and those under represented.
The Ohio native graduated from high school in 1942 and moved to the Pittsburgh area in 1949, after marrying Gerald Fox. Fox is a retiree from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines, where she was the Eastern Area Equal Opportunity Manager. She is also the founder and former president of Freedom Unlimited Inc., which promotes self-sufficiency to the disadvantaged by providing various programs and services to improve one’s quality of life; and has been very active in the national, state and local branches of the NAACP where she has served in numerous capacities since 1955. She also served 32 years as a member of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations where she held the position of president for two terms and is now the president emeritus.
Along with the NAACP and Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, Fox has been active with the East Hills and Pittsburgh chapters of the National Organization of Women (NOW), the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, the Allegheny County Women’s Political Caucus, Gwen’s Girls and so much more.
Fox has received numerous recognitions for her work, including being named one of Freedom Corner’s Legend of the Movement; appearing in WQED’s “Torchbearers” documentary which highlights women and men who have blazed a trail that changed the city; being featured in an oral history exhibit as part of PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s Legacy Project; and most recently was honored by the Pittsburgh Branch of the NAACP with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Like Fox, Johnson, a longtime Hill District resident, has dedicated more than 60 years of her life to ensuring equality for others. In the 1940s and ‘50s she held the position of Office Manager for the Urban League and coordinated a national convention for the organization in Pittsburgh. In 1973, she joined the PATransit as a special assistant in the Consumer Relations Department where she handled complains and other various consumer interactions. She was later promoted to Manager of the Office of Equal Opportunity for Port Authority of Allegheny County, a position she held until her retirement in 1994. While there, Johnson monitored the hiring, promotion, recruitment, training and more of Port Authority employees. She also oversaw the awarding of contracts to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.
Along with her professional work, Johnson has served or continues to serve in various executive capacities on boards for universities, corporations and organizations that include Indiana University of Pennsylvania; the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club; the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Transportation Advisory Committee; Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association; Pittsburgh Job Corp.; the Spirit of King Committee; and the Bethel AME Church Trustee Board, a position she’s held since 1959, just to name a few. She also was a founding member of the Black Women’s Political Crusade and the Program for Female Offenders, a program supported by the United Way.
Over her many years of service, Johnson has been recognized with awards that include IOTA Woman of the Year; one of TALK Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Black Woman of 1976; the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Distinguished Citizen Award; the J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award; and like Fox, she was named one of Freedom Corner’s Legends of the Movement and so much more.
When Bryant heard that Fox and Johnson were the recipients of this year’s legacy awards, she said, “Both are beautiful people, very kind people and people that everyone should know.”
Along with Fox and Johnson, the other 2014 Women of Excellence recipients are: Muriel Fox Alim, Pittsburgh Public Schools; Angela Allie, Propel Andrew Street High School; Carmen Anderson, Heinz Endowments; Terri Baltimore, Hill House Association; Charlene Foggie Barnett, Carnegie Museum of Art; Commander RaShall Brackney, City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; Andrea Brown, Pittsburgh King K-8; Terry L. Burden, retired, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.; Bridgette N. Cofield, JD, SPHR, Chester Group Inc.; Karen Colbert, American Heart Association; Aliya D. Durham, YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh; Maxine Engram, Harriet Tubman Guild Inc.; LaShawn Burton Faulk, Manchester Citizens Corporation; Sharon Flake, Novelist; Lisa Freeland, Office of the Public Defender, Western Pa. District; Min. Debra Germany, Divine Intervention Ministries; Michele Goodman-Jones, Michele Goodman Studios; Validia M. Giddens, retired, Pittsburgh Public School District; Amera Gilchrist, City of Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Services; DeAnne Hamilton, WESA-FM/Essential Public Radio; Vera Hefflin-Edwards, Center for Healthy Hearts; Bibiana Hill, Inner City Debs; Regina B. Holley, PhD, Pittsburgh Public School Board; Frances Taggert Holly, Eaton; Elizabeth L. Hughes, Raphael, Ramsden & Behers, PC; Erin Issac, DMD, Howard Elson, DMD & Gurtner Dental; Kimberly Jackson, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.; Natalie D. Jackson, Quest Diagnostics Inc.; Diana James, Crossroads Foundation; Loretta Jeter, MEd, Robert Morris University; Pamela Johnson, Afro-American Music Institute; Rev. Marie Kelly, Calvary Baptist Church; Charlese McKinney, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank; Velvet V. Mickens, John S. Newman Jr. Family Foundation; Shaunda Miles, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; Caren Miller, CJ’s Restaurant and Lounge; Marimba Milliones, Hill Community Development Corporation; Carol W. Mohamed, University of Pittsburgh; Rev. Dr. Judith Moore, Sisters Saving Ourselves; Christina Preston, Mon Valley Bridge; Sheila Rawlings, The Neighborhood Academy; La Dawn Robinson, Direct Energy; Cheryl Ruffin, University of Pittsburgh; Caryl J. Sheffield, EdD, California University of Pennsylvania; Diane Billie Swan, Rosedale Block Cluster Inc., Sonya Toler, City of Pittsburgh Public Safety Department; Lisa Strother Upsher, MS, Center for Organ Recovery and Education; and Tishekia Williams, Duquesne Light Company.
(The corporate sponsor of the afternoon is UPMC. Tickets are $65 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Allison Palm at 412-481-8302 ext. 136 or Brenda Hill at 412-481-8302 ext. 134.)
(Editor’s Note: The date of the 50 Women of Excellence Luncheon has recently been changed to Thursday, Dec. 11, 2o14)