Circle of Influence
Since 1998, YWCA Dayton has set aside one special day to recognize and honor women in our community. We celebrate Dayton’s most influential women, all of whom have made a difference in our community through their dedication to the YWCA mission of empowering women, eliminating racism and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
Past Honorees
Karen DeMasi, Vice-President of Community Development – CityWide
Renate Frydman, community advocate & educator
Jacqueline Gamblin, Founder & CEO – JYG Innovations
Mary McDonald, Mayor – City of Trotwood
Gina McFarlane-El, CEO – Five Rivers Health Centers
Christine Olinsky, OSU Extension Educator – Family and Consumer Sciences (retired)
Karen Dempsey Volke, communications & fundraising executive (retired)
Susan Gruenberg, Lifetime Achievement Award
Karen DeMasi
Renate Frydman
Jacqueline Gamblin
Mary McDonald
Gina McFarlane-El
Christine Olinsky
Karen Dempsey Volke
Rev. Vanessa Oliver Ward, Lifetime Achievement Award
Maribeth Graham
Peggy Lehner
Marya Rutherford Long
Jane Marx
Julia Reichert
Becky Sorrell
Jenell Ross, Lifetime Achievement Award
Cassie Barlow
Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz
Kim Duncan
Neenah Ellis
Chris Saunders
Sheri “Sparkle” Williams
The Dayton Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, Lifetime Achievement Award
Janice Allen
Mary Bullen
Kim Faris
Jacque Fisher
Sharon Rab
Daria Dillard Stone
Pamela Morris, Lifetime Achievement Award
Judy Cook
Carmen Gooden
Sandy Gudorf
Amanda Wright Lane
Michelle Riley
Wendy Stiver
Stacy Thompson Speare-Hardy
Jeraldyne Blunden, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Mary Boosalis
Carol Clark
Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders
Lynda Hoffman
Shannon Jones
Debbie Watts Robinson
Nan Whaley
Alyce Downing Lucas, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Marva Cosby
Lisa Grigsby
Belinda Matthews Stenson
Barbara Mills
Colleen Ryan
Yvonne Wathen
Karin VanZant
Marsha Bonhart, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Elaine Bettman
Holly Campbell-Bradley
Monica Deal
Wendy Deichmann
Stacey Lawson
Dianne Marx
Anita Moore
Kisha Foster, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Sally Dyer
Barbara Gorman
Barbara Hayde
Gwen Jones
Beth Schaeffer
Lori Ward
Clarece (Darden) Richardson, Rising Star
Doris Ponitz, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Standard Register, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Linda Burrs
Judy Dodge
Judy Hennessey
Julie Liss-Katz
Jenell Ross
Jennifer Subban
Mary Wiseman
Gail Littlejohn, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Yvonne Isaacs
Channon Lemon
Beth Whelley
Martha Moody Jacobs
Pamela Morris
Jeanne Porter
Joan Swenson
Paula MacIlwaine, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Madonna Allread
Mary Ellington
Toni Perry Gillispie
Renee Rubin Handel
Susan Kettering
Rita Price
Karen Townsend
Joyce Young, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Carol Bauer, S.C.
Marsha Bonhart
Marsha Froelich
Tess Little
Linda Lombard
Paula Schaeffer
Janaki Venkayya
Penny Wolff, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Beth Adelman
Vicki Braun
Debbie Lieberman
Deb Norris
Claire Renzetti
Norma Ross
Georgie Woessner
Lynnette Heard, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Idotha “Bootsie” Neal
Lela Estes
Pat McDonald
Linda Menz
Denise Rehg
Judy Slanker
Mattie Will Lyle
Helen Jones-Kelley, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Lynda Cohen
Reba Gaston
Lynnette Heard
Meredith Moss
Vanessa Oliver Ward
Patricia Rider
Susanne Weaver
Maureen Patterson, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Susan Katz
Karen Levin
Gail Littlejohn
Pat Meadows
Bobbie Myers
Ann Stevens
Penny Wolff
Ellen and Jeff Ireland, Lifetime Achievement Honorees
Judy Chessin
Mary Chapman Mathews
Sharon Howard
Margaret Peters
Cathy Ponitz
Jenni Roer
Beverly Shillito, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Beth Duke
Deborah Feldman
Susan Gruenberg
Kathy Hollingsworth
Edythe Lewis
Maureen Lynch
Jane Manfré
Judy McCormick
Kathryn Strawn
Mary Sue Kessler, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Alice McCollum
Rhine McLin
Doris Ponitz
Mary Pryor
Loretta Smock
Joyce Young
Carolyn Kearns Young, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Junior League of Dayton, Organization Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Kathleen Carlson
Vicki Giambrone
Ann Higdon
Minnie Fells Johnson
Ponnie Kendell
Mary Sue Kessler
Valerie Lemmie
Marion Sweeney
Westminister Presbyterian Church, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Margaret Brown-Hurst
Nadine Mantle
Maureen Patterson
Gene Trolander
Betsy Whitney, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Jewel Graham
Helen Jones-Kelley
Bonnie Langdon
Anne Sawyer Greene
Marilyn Thomas
Virginia Kettering, Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Nancy Grigsby
Sally Keyes
Jean Ryan
Evangeline Lindsley
Vicki Pegg
Jan Rudd-Goenner
Charity Adams Earley, Lifetime Achievement Honoree