Good morning!
In honor of Women’s History Month, we asked our readers to tell us which local women inspire them and why. The list was the brainchild of Sarah Parlette (my A4 co-writer extraordinaire), who said:
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“Women’s History Month is about celebrating awesome women and Ann Arbor has so many. From owning and managing their own small businesses to organizing social justice protests and COVID relief efforts, these women are one of the reasons why Ann Arbor is great. They’ve inspired me and I know they’ve inspired others. For this list, I wanted to highlight women in our community who are quietly lifting up others, and who better to ask than our A4 audience.”
Read some of the heartwarming nominations below. To see who else made the list, click here.
Have a great rest of the week.
- Meredith (@meredith_A4)
Aubrey Patino
“Aubrey leads a phenomenal organization, Avalon Housing. She is a tireless advocate for housing as a right. Avalon is growing under her leadership building on the work of the founding director, Carole McCabe. Aubrey is compassionate, professional, articulate, and very knowledgeable. Housing is a complex service to fund from a variety of every changing sources and supporting tenants. Tenants often come with chronic illness, poverty and a host of issues. Leadership takes a balance of content expertise as well as true love and concern for employees on the front line serving our community’s most vulnerable. Aubrey carries it all off exquisitely.” - Deb V.
Patrice DuBose
“Patrice is a local resident, author and pastor. She runs Back to Family Ministry, holds community bible study where all are welcome, regardless of denomination. She is very involved in her local community with many local charities. Every holiday or community event- she is making sure children are not forgotten - school supply gathering, distributing backpacks filled with those supplies, distribution of winter coats, and more. I could go on and on, suffice it to say, her community feels her presence and is grateful for her.” - Dawn C.
Nicole Beverly
“She has helped many on a personal level as well as working at the state level mandating changes in address confidentiality. Her most powerful work is with teenagers, helping them recognize and respond to the red flags of abuse at this most vulnerable age.” - Sally S.
Dr. Felicia Brabec
“She is an incredible mother, who happened to become involved in politics several years ago. She first served as a Washtenaw County Commissioner. She is a licensed psychologist who has become a notable advocate for mental health in the state of Michigan. In 2020, she was elected to the House of Representatives. She has also served with Food Gatherers to assist our neediest neighbors. She is fighting for issues that deeply impact our local communities and our state. I would not be surprised to see her continue to grow in her recognition or her positive impacts.” - Laura H.
“She is an amazing inspiration! She genuinely cares for everyone, not just with words, but actions! She’s an awesome mother, friend and neighbor. Doesn’t think twice about going out of her way to help someone. She’s been such a beautiful inspiration to my daughters, showing them they can achieve anything they want in life! Not to mention all she’s done for Washtenaw Co., Now onto Lansing!” - Angie M. K.
Hajirah and Ayesha Nadeem
“At 14 and 16, these sisters have taken up the task of teaching coding, cybersecurity, AI and many basic STEM-related skills to girls from underprivileged backgrounds. As 2nd-degree black belt holders, they also encourage Muslim girls to play sports, specifically martial arts. Between both of them, they have spent close to 1,000 hours promoting autism, green/earth-friendly projects, have worked with AAACF and YCF in granting funds to local organizations, tutoring, mentoring middle school robotics team and Michigan chapter leaders for Girls Computing League.
“They have been teen advisors for Ypsilanti District libraries working to promote social justice and mental health solutions for youth of Washtenaw County. They have helped in implementing that visible Muslim women be included in the library’s BLM and anti-racism features. They have won several local and national community service awards including United Way Washtenaw County service award and the Presidential Volunteer Service Award-Gold.” - Khadija
🗨 Have something to share? Write me anytime at mbruckner@wdiv.com.
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