Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government; September 11 Pentagon Hero Wins Top Public Service Prize

6/10/2002

From: Leanne Jerome, 202-530-3265 Sarah Howe, 202-530-3270 both of the Council for Excellence in Government

News Advisory:

Ten outstanding American women who have improved the lives of others through personal integrity and dedication to public service will be honored with the fifth-annual Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government. This year's winners are fighting for breast cancer research, affordable child care, safer streets, even better-fitting bras.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 12 11:30 a.m. (luncheon and awards presentation)

WHERE: The Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building Montpelier Room, 6th floor 101 Independence Ave, S.E. Washington, D.C.

WHO: Former U.S. Representatives Geraldine Ferraro and Tillie Fowler Ellen Levine, editor in chief, Good Housekeeping magazine Patricia McGinnis, president and CEO Council for Excellence in Government

Presenters include U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and U.S. Senators Bill Frist, and Kay Bailey Hutchison

HONOREES:

Grand Prize Winner -- Meg Falk, Department of Defense: September 11, 2001: Even though grandmother Meg Falk was still in a daze after escaping through the smoke filled hallways of the Pentagon, within 24 hours she set up a family-assistance center for hundreds of grieving family members where she and her team offered practical support (everything from the sad task of helping to organize funeral arrangements to legal and financial assistance) -- and a shoulder to cry on.

Good Housekeeping/Wyeth Award for Women's Health -- Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine): Since 1990 this unlikely pair has battled to make sure women's health received the attention it deserves. They've pushed through laws to ensure women are included as subjects in federally funded medical studies and made sure uninsured women could be screened for breast and cervical cancers. Recently, they've taken on insurance companies, championing a federal law that would require coverage for prescription birth control at the same level as other medications.

Runners-Up -- Kathleen Robinette, Principal Research Anthropologist, U.S. Air Force -- Mary Hawkins Butle, Mayor of Madison, Mississippi -- Marian B. Tasco, Majority Whip, City Council of Philadelphia -- Dion Aroner, California state assembly member -- Leticia Medina, Director, Utah State Office of Hispanic Affairs -- Patricia A. Gabow, CEO and Medical Director, Denver Health and Hospital Authority -- Renee Lewis Glover, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlanta Housing Authority

BACKGROUND Good Housekeeping is a member of the Partnership for Trust in Government, a project of the Ford Foundation and the Council for Excellence in Government. The awards are given in collaboration with the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Winners were chosen with the help of a selection panel led by former U.S. Representatives Geraldine Ferraro and Tillie Fowler. The Ford Foundation and Wyeth support the program. Grand Prize winners will receive $25,000, and the runners-up will get $2,500.