YWCA Jamestown 2023 Women of Achievement: Annika Spitzer, Sukanya Burman, Leigh-Anne Hendrick, Patricia Graves, Tamara Dickey
The YWCA Jamestown 2023 Women of Achievement recipients have been announced.
The annual event recognizes and honors women in Chautauqua County whose career, volunteer and advocacy achievements enhance diversity and inclusion and promote the empowerment of women in the community.
The 2023 Women of Achievement recipients are:
Annika Spitzer for the Rising Star Award. Annika is a student at St. Bonaventure University. She attends and coaches the Now Gen Leadership camp to mentor young girl leaders and communicators. She is a part of the Women Speakers Collective and has participated in local activism for the rights of women.
Sukanya Burman for the Power the Future Award. Sukanya is highly trained in Indian classical dance (Bharatanatyam/Kathak) and Modern dance. As a recent recipient of the New York State Council for the Arts and New York State Choreographers Initiative awards, Sukanya has been able to create paid professional dance opportunities for members in the community. In 2023, she was also one of five inductees across all of New York into NYS DanceForce, which ensures significant funding for new professional dance activities in our area for the next several years.
Leigh-Anne Hendrick for the Catalyst for Change award. Leigh-Anne is a secondary school teacher in the Chautauqua Lake School District where she teaches an honors course on the Holocaust and Genocide. She is working to bring cultural competency programming to Chautauqua County as the director of the Holocaust and Social Justice Education Program, sponsored by the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua.
Tamara Dickey for the Shattered Ceiling award. Tamara’s career history and current trajectory demonstrate that she is a female leader in a predominantly male field. She was the first black female elected to Jamestown City Council in 2013. Tamara has also served as the first female black healthcare finance director at UPMC Chautauqua, St. Lawrence Health System, and Geisinger Health.
Patricia Graves for the Impact Award. Patricia currently works at Project Management Institute in the Global Talent Department. She serves as the Community Engagement Liaison for the Black/African American community of Southern Chautauqua County for the I.D.E.A Coalition. Graves also co-founded the Association of Corporate Pro Bono (ACPB). The Association of Corporate Pro Bono (ACPB) is a professional organization for attorneys and non-attorneys who run in-house pro bono programs to increase access to justice through the delivery of pro bono legal services.
The Women of Achievement dinner and celebration will be held on Thursday, August 24th at The Chautauqua Harbour Hotel in Celeron. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at www.ywcajamestown.com/woa.
For more information, call 716-488-2237
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