February 28, 2020
Messenger-Inquirer

Alma Randolph, the latest award recipient honoring the accomplishments of local women, hopes she serves as an inspiration for young girls.

Randolph received the 2020 ATHENA Award during a luncheon on Thursday. It’s given to women who champion women’s issues, devote time to the community and demonstrate excellence at work.

Randolph said she was “beyond elated” to win the award, but credited numerous people for having an impact on her life.“This moment is so much bigger than me,” she said. “It’s for my cousins in attendance today who support me through this journey called life. … It’s for my special friends who stand beside me and hold me up when I need it the most.”

Randolph gave her remarks to about 600 people gathered at the Owensboro Convention Center. She founded the Alma Randolph Charitable Foundation in 1993, which has bought clothing and shoes for more than 16,000 disadvantaged children and raised more than $1.2 million since its inception.

Randolph previously served as a Beaver Dam city commissioner and is the first African-American and woman to hold elected office in Ohio County. She also serves on the Kentucky Human Rights Commission and is the owner of Higher Ground Consulting, LLC, a business designed to work with employers on providing in-house Equal Employment Opportunity Diversity & Sensitivity training for management and non-management staff.

“My prayer is that as a result of me being selected this year’s recipient, one of the little girls will be inspired by my story and as a result, she will stand here some day to receive her ATHENA Award and she will say, ‘this moment is so much bigger than me,’ ” Randolph said.

Olive Burroughs received the Legacy Award, which is a posthumous award given to women trailblazers. In 1995 Burroughs was the first African-American woman elected to the Owensboro City Commission. She helped develop the Neighborhood Alliances and the Owensboro Youth Council.

Girls Inc. and the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce are the ATHENA Award contributors. Throughout the luncheon, numerous people associated with Girls Inc., a non-profit organization that inspires and empowers girls, gave testimony about how the institution helped them. The organization offers mentoring and life skills instruction, among other services.

“Girls Inc. has opened my eyes to an endless stretch of opportunities. If it was not for Girls Inc., I would not be standing here today giving a speech in front of all of you,” said Kaliyah Green, a 14-year-old freshman at Owensboro High School.

by Trey Crumbie, Messenger-Inquirer

March 20, 2019
Owensboro Times

Girls Inc. recognizes Susan Montalvo-Gesser with ATHENA Award

With record-breaking attendance, the annual ATHENA Awards were held Tuesday at the Owensboro Convention Center. Through a joint effort of Girls Incorporated and the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, the awards luncheon raised awareness for the “strong, smart, bold” message of Girls Inc. and recognized one Owensboro woman for her work empowering other women.

Event emcee Kirk Kirkpatrick presented the 2019 ATHENA Award to Susan Montalvo-Gesser, local attorney and newly appointed director of the Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Western Kentucky.

“I never thought it would be me,” said Montalvo-Gesser, who scribbled the names of her own “Athenas” — the women who influenced her — on a scrap of paper on the off chance her name was called.

Growing up in Owensboro, Montalvo-Gesser struggled through a childhood of poverty and being a Latina girl in Daviess County.

“Those experiences greatly influenced her and they helped to mold her into the successful woman she is today,” Kirkpatrick said of the University of Louisville law school graduate who returned to Owensboro to specialize in immigration law.

Kirkpatrick said, not only has Montalvo-Gesser led a successful career, but she has been a tireless champion and mentor for women, assisting some of the most vulnerable when she transitioned into a career as the managing attorney of Kentucky Legal Aid. There she served low-income clients facing domestic violence and visa issues.

“During this past year alone, she has handled 300 domestic violence cases,” Kirkpatrick told the audience.

With her new position at Catholic Charities, Montalvo-Gesser plans to focus the organization on social justice.

“I hope to set up immigration services and integrate the refugee efforts in our diocese,” Montalvo-Gesser said. “I hope to work to bring services for human trafficking victims, assist in efforts for adequate housing and serving the poor and marginalized in our parish communities.”

Nominated five times previously, Montalvo-Gesser jokingly told the audience she considered herself the Susan Lucci of the ATHENA Awards. (Susan Lucci was a soap opera actress that won her first Emmy in 1999 after 19 straight years of being nominated in the Best Actress category.)

“This is not recognition for me, but for the causes I believe in,” she said.

More than winning the award, Montalvo-Gesser said being nominated with 16 other successful female leaders and being recognized by an organization like Girls Inc., was the real honor.

The event also posthumously honored Louise Gasser Kirtley — one of the names on Montalvo-Gesser’s scrap of paper — with the Legacy Award for her trailblazing efforts for the women of Daviess County, particularly those in the legal community. Kirtley was the first female attorney to be admitted to the Daviess County bar, the first female trial judge, first female city attorney and first female state representative.

Running the ATHENA Award lunch with confidence and poise were the young ladies of Girls Inc., who kept the audience laughing. Girls ranging from third to eighth grades moved the 500 people in attendance with personal stories of what Girls Inc. meant to them.

Estes third-grader Dulce described coming to America with her mom from Mexico and how Girls Inc. has taught her about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Lakari who was born with one leg shorter than the other has experienced bullying, but said she has gained confidence through Girls Inc. and was able to have her first sleepover. Third-grader Kalli said she wants to be a scientist after meeting one at Girls Inc., and 14-year-old Kaliyah said Girls Inc. has been life-changing.

“I don’t know what I want to be, but I know I can be anything because of Girls Inc.,” Kaliyah said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Girls Inc. in Owensboro. In 1969, when Girls Inc. began in a single apartment in Rolling Heights, women made up 43 percent of the workforce, yet only made half the income of their male counterparts at the time.

“Women were underpaid, lacking in education and athletic and professional opportunities,” said Sue Napper of the Girls Inc. board. “A group of local visionaries sought to create programming for girls. They helped improve thousands of girls’ lives, giving them a voice and tools to succeed.”

Napper said a key component of that success is Girls Inc. CEO Tish Correa-Osborne, who has been with the organization for 37 of the 50 years they have been active.

The convention center ballroom gave Osborne a standing ovation for her dedication to Girls Inc.

By Ashley Sorce, Owensboro Times

March 9, 2018
Messenger-Inquirer

A record crowd of nearly 500 attended the 20th ATHENA Awards luncheon Thursday at the Owensboro Convention Center.

Cindy Fiorella, vice president of WorkForce Solutions at Owensboro Community & Technical College, earned the honor. She was one of 16 nominees — another record for the ATHENA Awards.

By Renee Beasley Jones, Messenger-Inquirer

Published November 29, 2016
Messenger-Inquirer

Phillabaum introduces top female executive at national Girls Inc. event

Angel Phillabaum says she never imagined she’d be where she is today.

The 18-year-old Daviess County High School graduate is finishing her first semester at the J. B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville as a Girls Inc. National Scholar — one of just 15 young women from around the country who were truly inspired to be strong smart and bold.

And earlier this month, Phillabaum returned from Los Angeles where she joined a handful of other national scholars who represented their local affiliates and states at an annual Girls Inc. Celebration Luncheon. There, she shared the stage with influential women such as actor and producer Reese Witherspoon and Shannon Ryan, an executive vice president at Fox Television Group.

“I’ve been told my whole life that I can’t do things,” Phillabaum said. “But because of Girls Inc. and strong female role models, I kind of changed my outlook. If you say you want to do something and you have that drive, you can do it.”

Some of those role models were her mother and Girls Inc. of Owensboro-Daviess County CEO Tish Correa-Osborne.

Phillabaum is originally from Tennessee, and she said when she was young, her mother and father divorced. Her mother, she said, was trying to escape her father, who abused both of them at times verbally, physically and sexually. For some time, she was in the state foster care system while her parents fought an intense legal battle, and when her mother finally regained custody of her, the two fled the state to Owensboro. For some time, she said, her mother worked three jobs to support them and wanted her daughter to grow strong, independent and empowered, despite her early childhood trauma.

So at just 6 years old, Phillabaum became a member of Girls Inc., where she learned to come out of her shell and excel in ways she said she would have never imagined. Girls Inc. was a reliable and safe place for her to realize her passions and grow in the areas of science, mathematics and technology. They were confirmed for her when she attended an engineering camp for girls, where a passion for building, fixing and developing the world around her was lit. And none of it, she said, would have been possible without the help, love and support of Girls Inc.

“I could have easily fallen through the cracks,” she said, “but Girls Inc. reached out and grabbed me.”

That’s the message Phillabaum said she gave to the crowd of entertainment leaders at this year’s Girls Inc. luncheon. The event was held at the Beverly Hilton on the same stage as the Golden Globe Awards. She introduced Ryan, but other national scholars told their own stories of how Girls Inc. established their successes and introduced speakers such as Witherspoon, ABC Entertainment Group Senior Vice President Ayo Davis, Sonja Hoel Perkins, managing director of The Perkins Fund, and award-winning songwriter Diane Warren.

To stand on stage with such talented and successful women was both terrifying and empowering, she said. She was honored by the experience and her trip to Los Angeles was something she said she’ll never forget.

Osborne has been a personal mentor of Phillabaum for many years. Phillabaum, Osborne said, is an example of how Girls Inc. can reshape the life of a young woman and build her up to be a bold leader in today’s world.

“She had unreal life circumstances growing up, and prevailed, excelling beyond belief,” she said.

Phillabaum is studying both electrical and computer engineering in Louisville. She was inspired by a promise she made to her late grandfather, a retired electrician. She hopes to take her skills abroad to help those less fortunate in Third World countries. She says she is driven and prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

“I have gone from the lowest to the highest I can be,” she said. “I’ve taken it upon myself to be the strong and help others.”

Austin Ramsey Messenger-Inquirer
Photo courtesy of Alex J. Berliner, Berliner Photography

 

Published January 4, 2016
Messenger-Inquirer

The quadruplets have arrived at Girls Incorporated of Owensboro Daviess County.

Four bright red transit vans, purchased with grants from Impact 100 and the Marilyn and William Young Foundation, replaced the organization’s aging vans, affectionately called Me Maw 1 and 2 and Granny 1 and 2.

The new vans have been dubbed Martha, Marianne, Marilyn and Bill in honor of the founders of the foundations.

The club’s old vehicles, which were 10 to 15 years old, had more than 100,000 “stop-and-go miles,” CEO Tish Correa Osborne said.

With the wear and tear, and safety issues, the amount the organization was spending on repairs  was “killing our budget and putting us and our kids in a bad situation,” she said.

The four new 2016 transit vans are equipped with backup cameras and hands-free phone connections, and the children will be able to stand up as they’re entering or exiting the vehicles, which Osborne said was “another safety thing.”

“It’s such a relief for us,” she said of the new vehicles. Girls Inc. travels more than 30,000 miles a year on field trips, transportation from school and drop-offs at home, said Osborne.

“We have to know we have dependable (transportation). We have found the greatest majority of our kids do depend on us for transportation, not just to our sites, but getting them out into the tri-state area … (The vans) are critical to us.”

Osborne is hopeful the vans will last through the next decade. By that time, “hopefully we’ll have an endowment built up” so purchasing replacements won’t be so difficult, she said.

According to a press release from Girls Inc., three of the old vans went to two other organizations and the fourth was used as trade-in.

Osborne said she loves what has happened with the old vans, and “I just think that’s been a blessing and a good feeling for us, to turn around and do something for someone else.”

There was an additional curriculum component with the Impact 100 grant called Girls Under the Hood, where the girls learned about cars, vehicle maintenance and care, tips on how to purchase a car and more, according to Osborne.

“It’s been a real community effort to make this possible for the girls,” she said.

Stephanie Salmons, Messenger-Inquirer

Are you a Kroger shopper?

By registering your Kroger Plus Card at www.Krogercommunityrewards.com you can help Girls Incorporated of Owensboro Daviess County. Visit the link above, and create a Kroger account, if you don’t already have one. If you already have one, just click on the ‘sign in’ button, and after putting in your e-mail and password, click on My Account. You will need either your Kroger Plus Card number OR your phone number.

Under Community Rewards, the organization number is 40055. Click save, and Girls Incorporated of Owensboro Daviess County is earning rewards each time you shop at Kroger!

Don’t have a Kroger Plus Card? Just visit the customer service desk at any Kroger!

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Do you use Amazon for on-line shopping?

You can shop and support Girls Inc. at the same time! Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Girls Inc. when you shop on AmazonSmile.

Same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service. Just go to smile.amazon.com and log in to your Amazon account or sign up. It’s that easy!

To sign up you need to go to smile.amazon.com. Then log into your Amazon account or you can create an account. At the top of the page it says supporting charity, click on that and it will have a drop down where you will be able to click to change a charity or pick a charity in general. When you click the link it will have where you can search and type in Girls Incorporated of Owensboro-Daviess County. Then any Amazon purchase you make on AmazonSmile will donate money to our local Girls Inc.

Thank you for helping Girls Incorporated!

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