The reveal of the 12 ISU women chosen to be represented in the Carrie Chapman Catt Center’s 2016 Women Impacting ISU calendar was celebrated Wednesday in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union.

The women selected to win the award are staff, students and faculty members who have made an outstanding difference for women and in the ISU community in general.

Photographs depicting and honoring previous winners of the Women Impacting ISU award lined the outskirts of the spacey Memorial Union Sun Room with elegance and character in celebration of this year’s 10th annual Women of Impact Reveal. 

Dorothy Masinde, associate director and internship coordinator for nutrition education in the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and lecturer in global resource systems, had spent the summer after her nomination in Uganda, where she worked with ISU students in global resources. 

“When you do your work, you do it to make an impact, not to be noticed, so receiving an award like this is an honor because you realize that what you are doing really is making an impact,” Masinde said.

Another woman of impact recognized was Veronica Dark, professor and director of undergraduate studies in psychology, who explained that it felt “pretty good,” to receive the award.

She explained that she had not known about her nomination, which had been done in secret until the actual news came out that she had been one of the winners. 

Family and friends of the recipients were not lacking at the event and had nothing but praise for the recipients.

Kathy Hilliard, associate professor and director of graduate education, spoke about her work with this year’s winner, Lissa Villa. Hilliard described Villa as “smart, poised and confident.”

“When I first met Lissa, I just thought, ‘When do you have time to sleep, woman?'” Hilliard said. 

The award ceremony began soon after, and 15 women graced the stage to be honored the recognition of receiving one of the Catt Center’s 2016 Women Impacting ISU awards.  

Women who received the award included Kaitlyn Aldrich, Amy Andreotti, Raquel Botello, Dark, Christina Hillman, Glenna Lovig, Som Mongtin, Anne Oldham, Dana Schumacher, Barbara Steiner, Pat Thiel and Villa. 

This event is central to the ideals of the Catt Associates Leader Organization. The Catt Center offers curricular as well as extra curricular opportunities for students to nourish and develop leadership skills and engagement in the political process.

“It’s the folks doing the quite work who make the biggest difference,” Hilliard said.