Courageous Communicators
The 11th annual Women of Achievement Awards luncheon was held at El Paseo restaurant with the 2018 honorees California State Senator Hannah–Beth Jackson and SBCC professor and social justice activist Dr. Carrie Hutchinson.
As the AWC-SB (Association for Women in Communication) president Lisa Angle explained, “AWC is all about connections both here and all over the United States.” This is a national group that’s been around for over 100 years. Santa Barbara is considered one of the largest chapters. A volunteer board manages it and they welcome new members – authors, journalists, designers and marketers, corporate communicators, coaches and public relations experts, and more.
The chapter has monthly meetings featuring speakers and panel discussions to keep members at the top of their game. You can visit AWCSB.org for more information.
The restaurant filled with members, friends, and fans of the honorees. Past honoree Starshine Roshell was the emcee. As she said, “This year’s honorees are bold, passionate, empathetic, and extremely effective communicators. They are making the world a more just and welcoming place for others with the inspiring and courageous work they do every day.” Poet emerita Perie Longo each year writes a poem for each honoree and reads it to the group. She too has been a recipient.
As Carrie stated, “I hope this award brings attention to local activism and inspires others to do more for racial injustice. But I accept it with humility knowing that privileged women like me do half the work for twice the credit, at a fraction of the risk as that of marginalized groups and people.”
Hannah-Beth was referred to as “Wonder Woman” – and her list of achievements affirms that title. As she said, “Don’t ever let anyone tell you [that] you can’t do something when you think you can.” She began her activism at age 10 when she wanted to play Little League and only boys were allowed. She played. She remembers Shirley Chisholm running for president and everyone though she was crazy. She responded by saying, “It isn’t my skin color that’s the problem. It’s my gender.” History proved her right with Barack Obama’s election.
The Association for Women in Communications wants to connect, engage, advance, and lead. As they say, “Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back.”
