More than 200 community and industry leaders from the Greater Pittsburgh Region attended this year’s Strong Women, Strong Girls 2015 Strong Awards at the Doubletree Hotel.
The award ceremony, presented by the H. J. Heinz Company Foundation, included presentations of the annual Strong Award to one female community leader and the Strong Girl Awards to three phenomenal young women who exemplify SWSG’s values.
Keynote speaker Kiya Tomlin, pulling from a decade long career in women ‘s apparel, discussed the importance of women moving seamlessly through the various roles they play.
In 2012, SWSG established the Strong Awards which were designed to celebrdate the leadership and unwavering contributions of women and girls in the greater Pittsburgh region. The 2015 Strong Women Strong Girls Award and three Strong Girl honorees were selected from a dynamic and diverse group of 37 women and young women nominees from throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.
The 2015 Strong Award honoree was Tamasia Jonson, founder of the Pearl Club, the Strong Girl honorees were Lorraine West, Barrett Elementary School—5th Grade; Rebecca Volk, Avonworth High School—11th Grade; and Lauren O’Brien, University of Pittsburgh—Junior.
The 2015 awards were made possible by support from the H. J. Heinz Company Foundation, UPMC, UPMC Health Plan, Wabtec Corp., Workscape Inc., Giant Eagle, Solutions4networks and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.
SWSG is a national recognized mentoring organization empowering elementary school girls to develop the social-emotional and leadership skills necessary to cultivate high ambitions and achieve lifelong success. The mission of SWSG is to support positive mentoring relationships between college women and pre-adolescent girls in underserved local communities to help raise ambition and combat the dangers of low self-esteem.
By building communities of women committed to supporting positive social change, SWSG works to create cycles of mutual empowerment for women and girls. To achieve its mission, SWSG has implemented an innovative program mode that utilizes the study of contemporary and historic female role models, skill-building activities, and relationships with college women who volunteer as mentors to support the girls.
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