PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS PRESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

JOAN BOLDEN

Joan Bolden is the Jefferson County Senior Services Director, which includes serving as Director of the Office on Aging and responsibility for the five Senior Centers located in Jefferson County. These centers serve approximately 1,000 senior citizens. Ms. Bolden's passion is working with the elderly citizens of Jefferson County. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Ms. Bolden also serves on the East Tennessee ElderWatch Executive Committee, the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency Policy Council, the Jefferson County Council on Aging, the Jefferson County Families First Board, the Jefferson County FEMA Board, the Jefferson County Health Council, the Jefferson County Interagency Council, the Jefferson County Senior Networking Council, the Remote Area Medical Committee, the St. Mary's Senior Services Advisory Board, and she is the founder of Sharing Christmas in Jefferson County which serves 700 needy families. She also serves as a faculty member for Leadership Jefferson County and as a Loaned Executive for United Way. In recognition of her dedication and success, Ms. Bolden has received several awards including the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for Dedicated Humanitarian Services, the President's Award for the Chamber of Commerce "Volunteer of the Year" and the Modern Woodmen Citizen of the Year.

CAROLYN BALDWIN TUCKER

Dr. Carolyn Tucker was employed with the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Public Schools from 1969-1999, where she served five years as a classroom teacher; twenty-two years as a principal; and three years as a Director of Elementary Schools. She currently holds seven endorsements in field of education ranging from teacher to superintendent. For three years following her retirement from the school system, Dr. Tucker was a consultant for the Tennessee Department of Education in the role of an Exemplary Educator where she assisted high priority schools in making educational improvements. In 2000, Dr. Tucker became a part of the Lipscomb University Faculty, serving for two years as Director of Graduate Studies in Education. Currently, she is a Visiting Professor in the Education Department of Lipscomb University. After retiring from the school system, in 1999 Dr. Tucker was elected to the Metro Nashville-Davidson County Council, becoming the first African American woman to be elected as an At-Large member on the Council. As a result of winning an At-Large seat on the council, Dr. Tucker became the first African American woman to win a county-wide race in the history of Davidson County. In 2003, she was re-elected to the council. For two years she served as Chair of the Council Education Committee. After eight years on the council, as a result of term limits, Dr. Tucker is no longer in the Metro Council. Dr. Tucker received her B.S. and M.A. Ed. degrees from Tennessee State University; the Education Specialist degree (Ed. S.) from the University of Tennessee; and the Ph. D. degree from Peabody-Vanderbilt University. She is involved in numerous community and civic organizations and has received awards for outstanding service.

SUSAN LODAL

Susan Lodal is the President of the Kingsport Board of Education and is currently serving her sixth year on the board. She is also the Chair of the Tennessee Legislative Network, on the Board of Directors, a Master School Board Member and Ambassador for the Tennessee School Boards Association. In addition to these "official" positions, Ms. Lodal tutors in two elementary schools and has volunteered with the PTA for 16 years, having served as president in three different schools. An Indianapolis, Indiana native, she is also a member of the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce where she serves on the Legislative Affairs Committee and the Board of Directors. She is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA, a third generation member of the American Association of University Women, and was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Ulster Project of East Tennessee-Kingsport. She serves as the public relations coordinator for the Food Pantry ministry, is a teacher and the former director of the Children's Ministry at the Waverly Road Presbyterian Church and she is a musician in the First Broad Street United Methodist Church Orchestra.

CYNTHIA MOXLEY

As founder and president of East Tennessee's premier public and media relations firm, Cynthia Moxley works closely with the chief executives of the major companies in East Tennessee. Moxley Carmichael clients include Pilot, First Tennessee, US Cellular, Covenant Health and KUB, among others. She has close personal relationships with top media executives and the working press throughout the state and maintains close working relationships with key government officials in Tennessee. She has authored two books about Knoxville. Moxley graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1978. Following graduation, she became a reporter at The Gatlinburg Press and Sevier County News-Record. From 1980 to 1990 Moxley was an award-winning journalist for The Knoxville Journal and the first female city editor in Knoxville. Moxley moved over to public relations in 1990 as a partner in McMahan Vaughan, a major government and public relations firm in Knoxville. In 1992, she formed Moxley Communications, changing the name in 1999 to Moxley Carmichael to reflect the addition of partner Alan Carmichael. Ms. Moxley has received numerous awards for her work including this year's Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council Women of Achievement Award. She has also received the Harvey I. Cobert Award for excellence in the practice of public relations from the Volunteer Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the Champion Award from Knoxville Women's Center for having a "woman friendly" workplace, the Knoxville Women's Center Annie Selwyn Award for Outstanding Women and the Associated Press Managing Editor's Association Malcolm Law Award for Feature Writing. She is also a graduate of Leadership Knoxville. Ms. Moxley is also very active in the community and currently serves on the Knoxville Chamber Board of Directors, the Knoxville Symphony Society Board of Directors, the East Tennessee Foundation Board of Directors, the Knoxville Area Urban League Board of Directors, the Clarence Brown Theatre Board of Directors, the Club LeConte Board of Governors, Nucleus Knoxville, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Executive Women's Association, and the Public Relations Society of America, East Tennessee Chapter.

BETTY CHILES NIXON

Betty Nixon retired from Vanderbilt University in 2007 as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations. Ms. Nixon was responsible for public policy development for state and local government relations. During her career at Vanderbilt, she represented Tennessee on the management team of a $10 million, five year, National Science Foundation Grant to improve mathematics and science education in the sixty-six poorest, most remote counties in a six state area of Appalachia. Ms. Nixon served as Chairman of the Board of the Nashville Electric Service and the Bill Wilkerson Center. She also served as Chairman of the Davidson County Election Commission during the 2004 Presidential election. Other leadership roles include Past President of the Women's Breakfast Club and Past Chair of Tennessee Women's Political Caucus. She served on the Boards of numerous organizations including the Nashville Business Incubation Center and the Advisory Board of Citizen's Bank of Nashville, Rochelle Center, Oasis Center, League for the Hard of Hearing, the Alcohol and Drug Council of Middle Tennessee, Project PENCIL and United Way, and the Nashville Institute for the Arts. She is a trustee of West End United Methodist Church and a Member of the Board of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee. Ms. Nixon was elected to the Nashville Metropolitan Council in 1975 and served until 1987. She was the first woman to chair the Council's Budget and Finance Committee She was the first woman to manage a statewide political campaign in Tennessee, having managed the Tennessee Democratic Presidential Campaign in 1984 and the successful re-election campaign of former U.S. Senator Jim Sasser in 1988. In 1995, Ms. Nixon was inducted into the Nashville YWCA Academy of Women of Achievement and in 1998 she received the Athena Award. She been recognized for her leadership by the Women's Political Caucus, Democratic Women, and CABLE.

KATHY ENGLAND WALSH

Kathy Walsh is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. With more than twenty years of experience in crisis intervention, Ms. Walsh provides training and technical assistance to communities, monitors state and federal legislation, and works on public policy issues of concern to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Ms. Walsh developed a model Law Enforcement Training Project through which over 8,000 Tennessee police officers have been trained to date. She has served as a trainer and consultant to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy. Ms. Walsh co-authored the Domestic Violence Interdiction Law Enforcement Curriculum and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Law Enforcement Curriculum being used by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. She also co-authored the Tennessee Model Law Enforcement Policy and State Standards for Domestic Violence Programs. As a member of the Tennessee Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council, Ms. Walsh assisted in the creation of the Domestic Abuse Bench Book, the Model Domestic Violence Court Policy and State Rules and Certification Process for Batterer's Intervention Programs. As a member of the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs S.T.O.P. Advisory Committee, Ms. Walsh assisted in the development of Tennessee's State Plan on Violence Against Women. Ms. Walsh was chosen as the recipient of the 2003 Award for Outstanding Advocacy and Community Work in Ending Sexual Violence presented by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. In her twentieth year as Director of the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Ms. Walsh has successfully advocated for more than 100 new laws to improve safety for victims of domestic and sexual violence and assisted in the development of domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and community task forces throughout the state.

MARY WILDER

Mary Wilder serves as Facility Director at MIFA (Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association) in Memphis, in this capacity she administers maintenance and security services for eight apartment properties for homeless families and a central facility containing a thrift store, a commercial kitchen for preparing meals for seniors, an emergency assistance program area, and MIFA's main administrative offices. In 2007, she was selected and served as Interim State Representative for District 89, during which time she served on the Agricultural, Children and Family, and Government Operations Committees. Mary's career has been focused on preserving and improving neighborhoods and children and women's issues. Her work in Memphis is extensive, including service to United Methodist Neighborhood Centers, Memphis Rape Crisis Center (MSARC), Girls Clubs of Memphis, Grant coordinator for the Vollintine Evergreen Community Association, the Memphis Area Community Reinvestment Organization, Midtown Political Action Committee, Jackson Avenue Beautification Committee, City Beautiful, MLGW Citizens Advisory Group, City of Memphis Preservation Plan, the West Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare, the South Main Arts Festival, and Memphis Heritage, Inc. Mary also served as a VISTA volunteer in Arkansas. In her own neighborhood, Vollintine-Evergreen, Mary has had a profound effect, acquiring grants for improving the community, serving as president of the Vollintine-Evergreen Community Association board, and helping to create and maintain a community garden on the V&E Greenline