Senator Alquist Launces city woman of the year recognition program
Monday, November 14, 2005
Five Silicon Valley women honored for making a difference in their community.
Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) will honor five women of District 13 as her 2005 City Women of the Year: Teresa Alvarado as San Jose Woman of the Year, Dian Alyan as Sunnyvale Woman of the Year, Roya Ansari as Santa Clara Woman of the Year, Nancy Noe as Mountain View Woman of the Year, and Joan Spencer as Gilroy Woman of the Year. Senator Alquist selected these five women in recognition of their efforts to make a difference in their communities.
Senator Alquist, who came to elected office as a community activist, indicated that, “these five Silicon Valley women have made extraordinary contributions to the communities of Santa Clara County. I wanted to recognize them for living the change they want to see in the world.”
The City Women of the Year award celebrates the contributions of five remarkable women throughout Senate District 13. The district includes five cities – San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Gilroy – and the award honors one woman from each city. The winners are to be recognized with Senate Resolutions on Friday, November 18th at a luncheon hosted by Senator Alquist.
These five women representing the great diversity of Santa Clara County are civil rights, cultural awareness, child protection, health care, good government, and environmental champions. They have promoted greater understanding in their communities and worked to empower their neighbors to take care of themselves and each other.
- Teresa Alvarado of San Jose, PG&E Public Affairs Representative and Board President of Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, is known for her work in the Latino community.
- Dian Alyan of Sunnyvale, MCA Community Outreach Director, founded the Give Light organization to establish orphanages worldwide in response to the December 2004 Asian Tsunami.
- Roya Ansari, Director of Sales and Management at a Santa Clara software company, founded Cultures In A Box, an educational program adopted by local schools that encourages children to discover and appreciate world cultures.
- Nancy Noe, former Mountain View City Council Member and now Director of Governmental Affairs at Johnson & Johnson, has worked extensively on housing and transportation issues.
- Joan Spencer, Gilroy Parks and Recreation Commissioner and Registered Respiratory Therapist with Kaiser Permanente, is a long-time environmentalist and health activist who has worked tirelessly to educate the people of Gilroy about the link of our environment to our health.
Senator Alquist indicated, “As one of 12 women state Senators, I am grateful to all the powerful women in my community who advance our society. I chose these five women because they give selflessly to others while achieving balance in their lives, and I believe they are women we can all learn from.”
