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Community Relations Commission Honoring Women’s History Month “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives” March is National Women’s History Month. The National Women’s History Project is a non-profit educational organization committed to recognizing and celebrating the diverse and significant historical accomplishments of women. Accounts of the lives of individual women are critically important because they reveal exceptionally strong role models who share a more expansive vision of what a woman can do. The stories of women’s lives, and the choices they made, encourage girls and young women to think larger and bolder. The City of Farmington Community Relations Commission would like to recognize local women who made a difference in our community.and salute the many other women in our community who have made a difference. Joyce Donald 1927 - 2013 Joyce was deeply involved in the welfare of people in the Four Corners area for more than 30 years. She started the Four Corners Business Conference, was Director of the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, Four Corners Conference Woman of the Year and was integral to the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Park. She was also the first woman in New Mexico to join Rotary. “To live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy” - Stephen Covey. Glojean Todacheene Glojean has been a leader and educator in our community for many years. She was an educator for 26 years for Central Consolidated School, with 11 of those years as a school principal. She is a mentor to young women in her role as a community leader. Glojean was the first Native American woman elected to the San Juan County Commission and served in that position for 8 years. She has been a Navajo Nation Council Member, served on the board of the San juan County Museum Association, Board of Regents for Navajo Nation Community College, NWNM Sexual Assault Services Board and many more. Glojean was selected as New Mexico Outstanding Woman of the year in 2005, the Milken Family Foundation Award for Excellence and Parent Magazine Achievement Award. ---PAGE BREAK--- Janel Ryan Janel is a lifelong educator! Janel has been, and is still, active in a number of organizations: New Mexico Research and Study Council, Cooperative Educational Services Board, past president of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators, Boys and Girls Club Board, Chamber of Commerce, San Juan Regional Medical Center and San Juan Safe Communities Board of Directors. Janel served for 5 years as President of the New Mexico Activities Association and is still an active member. Kids are her passion, and serving the community and the staff of Farmington Public Schools are/were her top priorities. Marjorie Kottke Marjorie volunteered and served the Four Corners for decades to alleviate hunger in our community. She organized county-wide UNICEF fundraising drives from 1953 - 1983. She founded the local Meals on Wheels service, identifying needy home-bound elderly recipients. Marjorie worked to establish Daily Bread, a local soup kitchen. She also worked to establish a 40-bed emergency shelter to meet emergency housing needs within our community. She was honored as one of four outstanding volunteers in the State of New Mexico in 1981. Frances Vitali, Ph.D. Frances has been an educator for more than 35 years after serving in the Peace Corps. She is currently a UNM Faculty Member teaching at San Juan College since 2003. Frances has a ten year history of consulting, lecturing, and organizing workshops and presentations on race, diversity, multiculturalism and child welfare. To name some of Frances’ organizations she is a member of the American Alliance of Theater and Education, Northwest NM Arts Council, American Library Association, Storytellers of New Mexico, American Indian Library Association and many more. Gayle Dean Gayle continues to serve San Juan County in many ways. In 1994 she was San Juan County Woman of the Year. The boards she serves, or has served on, include the Farmington Boys and Girls Club, and the Farmington Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commission. Gayle has served as the President of the Farmington Museum Foundation, ---PAGE BREAK--- President of the Farmington Municipal Schools Board and past Director of Project Read for San Juan College. For the past 13 years Gayle has served as the Executive Director for the San Juan College Foundation. Gayle received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexican Women and the 2013 Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award. Jan Tucker Jan is a business woman and is involved in a number of community organizations. She has served as executive director of San Juan United Way, member of San Juan College Foundation, founding President of the Anasazi - the Ancient Ones Foundation. She was the first woman to join the Farmington Rotary Club and was Citizen of the Year in 1990 and 1991. Jan is devoted to Special Olympics and coordinated the Olympic Village for the State’s Special Olympics. Cassie Dallas 1925 - 2015 Cassie was a business woman and served San Juan County for decades. A member of the Farmington Museum Foundation for 28 years, she also served on the San Juan County Historical Society and as a docent for the Aztec Museum for their Smithsonian exhibit. Cassie was a member of the Eastern Star and the PEO Sisterhood. In 2011 Cassie was the Volunteer of the Year recognized by San Juan College. Nellie Sandoval Nellie Sandoval, MS, BS, is a member of the Navajo Nation and a consultant. A breast cancer survivor, Ms. Sandoval recently retired as a high school counselor. She is a Reach to Recovery volunteer and coordinator for the Four Corners Women's Cancer Support Group. She has worked with the Northern Navajo Medical Center and the San Juan Medical Foundation to create materials on breast cancer education and awareness. With a colleague, she produced the first videos about breast cancer education and awareness to be made in the Navajo language. In 2003, Ms. Sandoval was selected as one of 20 Outstanding Women in New Mexico by the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. ---PAGE BREAK--- Radmilla Cody A Navajo recording artist, Radmilla is a Grammy nominee and has multiple Native American Music Awards. Radmilla was Miss Navajo Nation from 1997-1998. She grew up on the reservation and is a strong advocate against domestic violence, a survivor herself. Chastity Bedonie 1975-2013 Chastity was an attorney for the U. S. Department of Interior in the Office of the Secretary. Prior to her role at the department, she served on the staffs of former Rep. Brad Carson, D-Okla., the National Indian Gaming Commission, the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. She was a former treasurer of DC's Native American Bar Association and also a Morris K. Udall Native American Congressional Intern. Her career was dedicated to improving the lives of Native Americans. She was passionate about ensuring the Government met its obligations to tribal nations and played a vital role in a number of important legislative issues.