Giving – whether in terms of time, money or wisdom shared from the heart – is a key factor in deciding who the Girl Scouts – Mile Hi Council chooses to be Women of Distinction. At the 10th-anniversary dinner, where 20 new honorees were feted, two from the Class of 2006 distinguished themselves even more by their unselfish deeds.
Inductee Katie Stapleton, a trustee of the Harmes C. Fishback Foundation, was the dinner sponsor while singer-composer-pianist Karen Karsh, who is blind, helped open the dinner by singing “God Bless America.”
Dori Biester, president and CEO of The Children’s Hospital and a Woman of Distinction in 2000, chaired the event that has raised a cumulative total of $1.6 million, with Sheila Bugdanowitz, president and CEO of the Rose Community Foundation and a Woman of Distinction in 1988. Sister Lydia Peña, a 1999 honoree, delivered the invocation.
In addition, Jennifer Atler (2003) and Annie Wohlgenant (2005) served as liaisons to this year’s WOD while Dr. Jody Mathie (2001) opened her home over the summer for a reception at which the Class of 2006 was announced.
A record 900 guests were on hand for the 10th-anniversary dinner, held at the Marriott City Center, and gave a standing ovation to the women on whom the spotlight shone:
Katherine Archuleta, Denver’s chief operating officer; Cynthia Auer, who recently retired as leadership gifts manager for Girl Scouts – Mile Hi Council; Veronica Barela, president and CEO of NEWSED Community Development Corp.; Denver Post columnist Diane Carman; Gay Cook, managing director of the Center for Women’s Health Research; philanthropist and literacy advocate Phyllis Coors; Taryn Edwards, vice president of Hensel Phelps Construction; Leslie Grayson, vice president/operations for Time Warner Cable National Division; entrepreneur Carole Harrison; Karen Karsh; and former state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, who is now executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.
Also, Donna Lynne, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan – Colorado region; Karen Newman, dean of the University of Denver Daniels School of Business; Cec Ortiz, director of workforce development for the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development; Lily Shen, president of the Asian Roundtable of Colorado; Sandra Shreve, president of the League of Women Voters of Denver; Katie Stapleton, food journalist, philanthropist and founder of the Denver Debutante Ball; Linda Strine, president and CEO of Infinite Link; Tamra Ward, senior vice president for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; and Carolyn Schaefer Wollard, a vice president for Rose Community Foundation.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She also contributes at denverpostbloghouse.com/davidson.
