Lisa R. Fenton
Fenton is the director of communications in the Washington State House of Representatives. Since coming to Olympia in 1980, she has volunteered for causes, including Family Support Center of Olympia, board member 1997-2000; member, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church; volunteer for Griffin School and Capital High School Booster Club; and a Junior League member.
Judi Tennant Hoefling
Hoefling, works for Behavioral Health Resources (BHR) as community relations director and director of the BHR Community Mental Health Foundation. She started her business career in the 1970s as the first female executive director of the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce and was selected as Thurston County’s “Business Woman of the Year,” and the first female city administrator for the City of Westport.
Gene Canque Liddell
Liddell, now retired, has the distinct honor of being the first Filipino American female mayor in Washington state and one of only a handful of Asian-Pacific Islanders elected officials. Liddell taught for 31 years, led the Multicultural-Sex Equity Network at Washington State’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, provided community outreach for Gov. Lowry, and served on the Lacey City Council as deputy mayor and mayor.
Chris Lowell
Lowell has been the executive director of the Housing Authority of Thurston County for 21 years, collaborating with other agencies and the community to provide safe, decent and affordable housing and services to people with disabilities, low income, and at-risk individuals and families. When she accepted the position in 1990, the Housing Authority had eight employees and assisted 351 households with a total budget of $1 million. In 2010, the Housing Authority assisted 2,729 households and the annual budget rose to $20 million.
Jill Severn
Severn is president of Panza, the faith-based community oversight committee for Camp Quixote. She is retired from the state of Washington. Her commitment toward Thurston County’s homeless is marked by her efforts to lead Panza to establish a permanent site for the homeless.
Norma Schuiteman
Schuiteman is the executive director of the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound. She is a strong advocate for philanthropy and community well-being in Thurston, Mason and Lewis counties. Since 2004 she has moved her organization from $1.9 million to $12 million in assets. She oversees grant funding to non-profits and a wide variety of community causes from basic needs to the arts.
Girls Without Limits! Scholarship Winner: Stephanie Roloff
Roloff says the YWCA has helped her grow from a 12-year-old who thought the GWOL! camp was just a fun two weeks with friends to a 17-year-old who realizes how much the YWCA program has taught her. She became a YWCA camp counselor in 2008 and as a freshmen at Black Hills High School started volunteering with the Other Bank. She maintains a 3.5 GPA. She is a soccer player and member of the Panamanian Dance Group.
Mary P. Dolciani Halloran Scholarship Winner: Gailon Wixson Pursley
Pursley is a 17-year-old Black Hills High School senior with a 3.6 GPA. She’s also a Phi Theta Kappa, Running Start student at South Puget Sound Community College. Pursley started out her life medically fragile and first attended GWOL! at age 9. She continued until age 14 and then became a volunteer. For her 16th birthday she held a “sweat 16” car wash and raised $500 for the YWCA of Olympia.
Information provided by the YWCA of Olympia.
