Janet Roessler Scanlon

Kenton County Animal Shelter
Volunteer
Every child loves animals, so it wasn’t
unusual that a young Janet Roessler Scanlon would rescue lost and
injured animals. It helped that her father, Bill Roessler, supported his
daughter’s efforts by buying food and building cages for the critters.
What is somewhat unusual, however, is for a childhood passion to remain a lifetime commitment.
Scanlon’s list of accomplishments is long,
varied and impressive. One of her pet projects these days is the
Neuterville Express, a program of Ohio Alleycat Resource. According to
the group’s website, it has spayed more than 15,000 cats. She helped
secure a grant of more than $80,000 to help fund the program, and takes a
turn behind the wheel as the bus visits 12 sites in Northern Kentucky.
“I do think (animal welfare) awareness is
rising, and that’s a good thing,” Scanlon says. “I know it sounds
obvious but the animals have no one else to help them. They didn’t ask
to be here.”
Scanlon has visited local schools for years with a presentation that shows why it’s important to have pets neutered.
“I had flip charts that had little heads of
cats on them, and explain that if the mama cat had this many kittens,
and each kitten grew up to have that many kittens … the kids could see
why it was important,” she says.
“If you go to the shelters, you might think
you’re not making any progress, but when you see the numbers of how many
kittens there are, and then you realize how many more there would be.”
Life can be gratifying when unexpected results grow out of a chosen path.
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Barbara Moran Johnson

Associate Vice President
Barbara Moran Johnson, who is an associate
vice president in Fort Mitchell, was new to the
region in the mid-1990s and looking for a way to meet prospective
clients.
“I didn’t really know anyone in this
community and someone recommended that I get involved with the chamber
(Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce),” she says. “That led to other
volunteer opportunities. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do it.”
Although Johnson finds time to support a
list of organizations that is too long to mention, there are two in
particular that are dear to her.
She currently serves as vice chair of the
board for Senior Services of Northern Kentucky. “We’re facing many
challenges in taking care of our senior citizens with all of the cuts in
funding over the years. It’s important that we do as much as we can to
help them.”
While Johnson does as much as she can for
Senior Services, she says the Yearlings have done as much, if not more,
for her. The group, which was formed as an auxiliary of the Spiral
Stakes Festival in the mid-1980s, was disbanded in 1991. But the members
kept the name and mission: raise money for local charities and college
scholarships.
“We spun off and did our own thing,” she
says. “It’s a unique organization in that we don’t have staff. We each
commit our time to raising money to fund the charity and the
scholarships.”
It is honorable work. And it comes with a bonus for Johnson. “I have made my best friends through the Yearlings.”
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Dale J. Silver

C-Forward Information Technologies
Senior Sales Executive
Reds fan, mentor, volunteer and a sales executive dedicated to outstanding customer service just about sums it up.
Well, not quite.
There is a lot more to Dale J. Silver than
her work at C-Forward and on the executive board of the Northern
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
For example, as Leadership Northern
Kentucky’s coordinator for the World Choir Games, she handled scheduling
for the 200 volunteers who worked in five Northern Kentucky hotels
those two weeks last year. And as a board member of the Hoxworth Blood
Center, she chaired the 70th anniversary celebration, which raised
$70,000 toward the purchase of a new bloodmobile.
In addition, Silver volunteers or serves on
the boards of United Way, Rosie Reds, Parish Kitchen, and the SCPA Fur
Ball Committee.
Recognized as an inspiration and mentor to
women of every age, Silver has been making Northern Kentucky “a better
place to live, work and play” for over a decade, one nominator wrote.
Silver works with Regional Youth Leadership
and Leadership in Northern Kentucky because she says her education in
the leadership program was “pivotal” in her life.
“I am very, very passionate about being a volunteer,” says Silver. “I truly believe that we all have to give back.”
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Rachael Winters

Emergency Shelter of NKY, Inc.
Director
Warmth, food, hospitality and hope — that is
what Rachael Winters works to provide the homeless at the Emergency
Shelter of Northern Kentucky. By her reckoning, if people are treated
with respect, they will respect those helping them.
At the age of 19, Winters first encountered
homeless people living under a bridge in New York City’s Central Park.
It was an awakening for the woman who was raised in rural Indiana.
“It was a very humbling experience, it was
clearly their space, I had no clue that I would be working with homeless
individuals for my career,” she says.But it became her mission.
“It’s my path. It’s a blessing to provide a place for people to go to.”
A graduate of Ball State University who
later earned a master’s in social work from the University of Kentucky,
Winters’ honors include the Kentucky Mental Health Institute Staff
Award, the NKY Martin Luther King Jr. Award, Northern Kentucky Area
Development District’s Outstanding Collaborative Services Award and
Northern Kentucky University’s Outstanding Field Supervisor.
She’s a volunteer as well. She mentors at
Covington schools because she “wanted to do something totally different”
from her career. She thought she might help with reading or math.
Instead, she was paired with a young woman who is “very academically
talented (and) who needed someone to be there with her.” The student is
now bound for college.
“I rely so heavily on volunteers at the shelter that I realize I have to volunteer,” says Winters.
A faculty member in NKU’s Department of
Counseling, Social Work and Leadership says the impact of Winters’
message to students is “truly profound” adding, “Students are
consistently inspired by Ms. Winters’ work to procure the facility,
funding and community support to establish the shelter, as well as her
continued leadership required to maintain the shelter.”
Mark Pierce, who was formerly homeless,
describes in his nomination how he met Winters on the street. She would
bring coffee to the homeless in Goebel Park on cold mornings and he
credits her efforts, which led to him to volunteer to help an agency
with its computers. He eventually moved into an apartment and has stayed
off the streets.
“I was completely sure she had angel wings on under her coat at the time and am sure she still wears them,” Pierce wrote.
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Honorable Judge Karen A. Thomas

Campbell County
Chief Regional District Judge
Judge Karen A. Thomas is an innovator in the
courtroom, developing pilot diversion programs for teens and those with
drug and mental health issues, and a neighborhood volunteer with the
East Row Garden Club and the Newport Historic District.
She has also served on the boards of the
Brighton Center, St. Anne’s Convent Lay Development, Women’s Crisis
Center and the YMCA.
It’s a lot to take on. Thomas says quite
simply, “It’s my obligation as a civil servant to make the community
better … I make time. It’s important to make the efforts to connect with
the people around you to let them know they are important.”
Her titles include judge, adjunct professor
at Northern Kentucky University and founding member of the board of
trustees for the National Association of Youth Courts. She’s active at
her alma mater — just four years after receiving her J.D. in 1985 from
NKU’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law, she returned to teach. She
co-developed and taught at the London, England, program.
Thomas has earned multiple professional
titles and awards for her involvement in the community. She became the
judge of the Campbell District Court in 1996, where she remains. In
addition, Thomas has been the Chief Regional Judge of the Northern
Region since 2001.
One nominator summed it up in three words: “leader, diligent and prepared.”
She adds, “Judge Thomas is a warm and
nurturing woman who really cares about those around her. That is no
small task for any woman with as much on her plate as she has.”
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Mary Bunning

Henrietta Cleveland Inspiring Women
Award Recipient
Mary Bunning’s success at balancing
motherhood, politics and passion for arts has been recognized with the
Henrietta Cleveland Inspiring Women Award presented by St. Elizabeth
Healthcare.
Mother of nine, grandmother of 35 and wife
of former U.S. Senator Jim Bunning and an accomplished artist, Bunning
says “I do realize how blessed I am.” One nominator wrote, “Jim and Mary
Bunning acted as a team — a characteristic learned by a mom raising
nine kids while her husband was on the road playing baseball.” Bunning
also achieved success through her painting, which was recognized by the
White House when one of her paintings was chosen for the poster for the
annual Easter Egg Roll.
“When I start on any art piece, I do say a
prayer,” she says, “… every detail of a flower, river, leaf, etc. is a
work of art. I especially enjoy painting children, maybe because we have
so many.”
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Sister Margaret Stallmeyer, CDP, JCL

Thomas More College
President
It’s called the jewel of the campus. The
newly dedicated Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel reflects the vision,
tireless efforts and the respect the Northern Kentucky community has for
retiring Thomas More College President Sr. Margaret Stallmeyer, CDP,
JCL.
So writes her friend and colleague, Dr.
Bradley A. Bielski, Vice President for Academic Affairs.In Stallmeyer’s
nine years of leadership, Thomas More experienced growth in enrollment,
improved finances, a strong emphasis on service as well as new or
renovated buildings, including the Bank of Kentucky Field, Griffin
Plaza, the Education Conference Center and Lodge, the Center for Adult
and Professional Education, Science Lab renovations, the library and the
Eva Farris Gallery.
Stallmeyer started her career as a math
teacher at a time when few women sought careers in, or teaching in,
mathematics. Bielski adds, “I have utmost respect and love for Sr.
Margaret. She is an individual who cares not for herself, but for the
good of the college and the church.”