ACADEMY OF WOMEN ACHIEVERS

Since its inception in 1984, the YWCA Greater Atlanta Academy of Women Achievers has been dedicated to recognizing and celebrating extraordinary women who have made a significant impact in their communities and beyond. These trailblazers come from diverse backgrounds and professions but share a common goal—making a difference in the lives of others.

The Academy has grown to include more than 400 women who exemplify leadership, service, and a commitment to empowerment. From business and education to healthcare and activism, these women are shaping a brighter future for Atlanta and beyond.

We invite you to explore the list of remarkable women who have been inducted into our Academy and continue to inspire with their contributions to society. Their legacies of change and advocacy embody the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

  • Ann Stallard with Danita Knight and Margaret Mitchell

    The Ann Stallard Award for Excellence and Leadership

    Guests at the 2025 Salute to Women of Achievement event witnessed YWCA Greater Atlanta’s surprise tribute to Atlanta business and civic leader, Ann Stallard, renaming its Woman of Achievement Award the Ann Stallard Award for Excellence and Leadership. Stallard is YWCA Greater Atlanta’s only lifetime board member, and served as board president of the national YWCA from 1991 to 1996, and the Global Board of the World YWCA in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1996 to 2002.

  • Sarah Irvin with Margaret Mitchell and Ingrid Saunders Jones

    Successful Phillis Wheatley Westside YWCA Collaboration in Action Campaign

    YWCA Greater Atlanta announced the completion of its capital campaign to transform the 22,000-square-foot Phillis Wheatley Westside YWCA building into a hub of services for women, girls, and their families. The $19.5 million Collaboration In Action campaign raised the funding necessary to return the Phillis Wheatley YWCA and its services to Atlanta’s Westside after a decade. Renovations to the community landmark include an Early Learning Academy, interactive media center, tutoring room,and space for medical services. The association made the announcement at its annual Salute to Women of Achievement luncheon on May 8. YWCA Greater Atlanta also inducted the 41st class of women into its Academy of Women Achievers and raised nearly $450,000 to support its core programming. The reopening of the Phillis Wheatley Westside YWCA located along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive is scheduled for spring 2026.  

Class of 2025

Donna Hyland - Ann Stallard Award for Excellence and Leadership

Ashley Carson
Kwajelyn Jackson
DeRetta Cole Rhodes

Class of 2024

The 2024 Woman of Achievement Award was given in honor of Phillis Wheatley

Paige Alexander
Deisha Barnett
Gina Espinosa-Meltzer

Class of 2023

Misty Fernandez
Venessa Harrison
Sarah Irvin
Jenna Kelly

Katie Kirkpatrick
Carrie Kurlander
Beth Lowry
Saadia Madsbjerg

Nancy Quan 
Leocadia I. Zak 

Fay Twersky
Carolyn Young
Helene Gayle

Chloe Barzey 
Nicole “Nikki” Clifton 
Sharmen Gowens 

Class of 2022

Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice 

Class of 2021

Class of 2020

Alicia Philipp
Kali Beyah
Lori Billingsley
Martha Brooks

Class of 2019

Liz Blake
Allison Dukes
Sharon Gay
Sonya Halpern

Class of 2018

Erica Qualls-Battey
Dr. Debra Carlton, M.D.
Daryll Griffin
Beth Holder

Class of 2017

Ann Cramer
Ann Curry
Ann Stallard

Class of 2008

Pinney Allen
Lisa Borders
Susana Maria Chavez
LaJean Gould

Leah Ward Sears
Juanita Abernathy*
Larrie Del Martin
Elise Eplan

Class of 2007

Stephanie Blank
Claire Arnold
Leona Barr-Davenport
Carol Hunstein

Evern Cooper Epps
Rebecca Blalock
Juel Pate Borders-Benson
Ada Lee Correll

Class of 2006

Class of 2005

Class of 2004

Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Carolyn Banks
Janis Dubow
Rebecca Franklin

Class of 2003

Dorothy Fuqua*
Patricia Barnard
Carolyn Byrd
Brenda Cole

Class of 2002

Shirley Franklin
Vicki Escarra
Margaret Greene
Beverly Hall*

Class of 2001

Jane Fonda
Marie Barnes
Diana Buntin

Class of 2000

Judge Glenda Hatchett
Clara Axam
Jacquelyn Belcher
Cathy Cox

Class of 1999

Carol Jackson
Mary Bullock
Nellie D. Duke
Renee Glover

Class of 1998

Ingrid Saunders Jones
Candy Berman
Betty Cook
Christine Farris

Class of 1997

Judy M. Anderson
Amanda Brown-Olmstead
Evern Cooper Epps
Connie Winifred Curry*

Class of 1996

Shirley Clarke Franklin
Barbara Balser
Nancy Boxill
Karen Duckett

Class of 1995

Beverly Bailey Harvard
Kathy Ashe
Jacquelyn Barrett
Barbara “Bobbie” Cleveland

Class of 1994

Myrtle Davis
Valerie Ferguson
Barbara Gifford

Class of 1993

Jean Childs Young*
Alice Ball
Sandra Barnhill
D. Gayle Gellerstedt

Class of 1992

Monica Kaufman Pearson
Jocelyn Dorsey
Maritza Keen

Class of 1991

Mary Gellerstedt*
Billye S. Aaron
Marva Brooks

Class of 1990

Johnnetta B. Cole
Ollivette  Allison*
Barbara Miller Asher*
Byllye Avery

Class of 1989

Marie Walters Dodd
Juanita Baranco
Lorri Christopher

Class of 1988

Sally Jessy Raphael
Louise Richardson Allen*
Ella Mae Brayboy*

Class of 1987

Gladys Knight
J. Veronica Biggins
Dianne Harnell Cohen

Class of 1986

Coretta Scott King*
Ellen L. Acquaviva
Paula Bevington

Class of 1985

Elaine Alexander
Dorothy Beasley
Anne Cox Chambers*

Class of 1984

Rosalynn Carter*
Johnnie L. Clark
Ann W. Cramer

Elizabeth Correll Richards
Leslie Schreiner
Jewel Burks Solomon

Chanel Frazier
Julia Houston
Kaye Husbands Fealing

Kathy Colbenson
Cynthia Day
Pat Gardner
Kim Greene

Soumaya Khalifa
Helene Lollis
Juliette Pryor
Blythe Keeler Robinson

Erika James
Anne Kaiser
Mary Laschinger
Wonya Lucas

Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell
Edie Cofrin
Lisa Gordon
Dr. Valerie Camille Jones
Stephanie Mains

Francesca Gary
Lila Hertz
Meredith Leapley
Julie Miller-Phipps

Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen
Charmaine Davis
Kelly Loeffler
Bari Love

Danita Knight
Paulette Norvel Lewis
Michelle Nunn
Natosha Reid Rice

Stacy Cole-Bell
Denise Harrod
Holly Hughes
Cheryl Lomax

Terri Badour
Noni Ellison-Southall
Donna Hyland
Glenda Minkin

Tad Hutcheson (Y’s Man)
Dr. Elizabeth Kiss
Penny McIntyre

Marsha Johnson
Teri McClure
Katy Barksdale

Lesley Grady
Eve Higginbotham, M.D.
Linda Klein, J.D.
Brenda Reid

Lisa Marie Hamilton
Cecilia Houston-Torrence
Dr. Candace Kaspers

Gloria Goins
Nancy Hall
Patricia Harris
Marian Lucia

Elizabeth Omilami
Melanie Platt
Anne Quatrano

Audrey Hines
Elisabeth Marchant
Kay Scott
Linda Selig

Virginia Gorday
Virginia Hepner
Harriet Hessam
Helen Smith Price

Joan Garner*
Sara González*
Deva Hirsch
Kathy Klatt

Valerie Jackson
Dorothy Yates Kirkley
Vicki Palmer

Mary Harris
Nina Hickson
Barbara Loar*

Delores E. Cross
Ronnie Gunnerson
Carolyn Kenny
Soon Paik

Marjorie Fine Knowles
Rubye Lucas
Audrey F. Manley
Pat Mitchell

Amanda G. Hyatt*
Elizabeth Long
Karen Elaine Webster Parks
Peggy McCready Schwall*

Sallie Adams Daniel
Stephanie Davis
Camille Davis-Williams
Angela Gittens

Roulettei Gildersleeve
Mary Long
Ivenue Love-Stanley
Sally McDaniel

Hattie Dorsey
Jo Edwards
Gail Evans
Anne Harper

Patsy Hilliard
Patricia Lottier
Grace Phillips
Beatrice A. Ruffin

Patsy Hilliard
Patricia Lottier
Grace Phillips
Beatrice A. Ruffin

Melody McCloud
Kathryn McDonagh
Frances Freeborn Pauley*

Donna Paulette Carson
Melita Easters
Ryland McClendon

Barbara Bruner*
Bettye Davis
Marion Delaney-Harris*
Mary B. Jordan*

Teresa Clark
Susie LaBord*
Mary O’Connor

Barbara Carter
Delores Crockett
Gretta Moll Dewald*

Eleanor Jay Davis
Sheryl Gripper
Betty Jacobson

Carol D. Cherry*
Xernona Clayton
Suzanne Elson
Evelyn Gibson Lowery*

Ann Curry
Freddye S. Henderson
Grace Towns Hamilton*

Barbara King*
Skipper Morrison*
Eleanor L. Richardson*

Pamela Stewart
Belisa Urbina
Janis Ware

Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim
Sarah-Elizabeth Reed
Julie Seitz 

Patrise Perkins-Hooker
Dr. Sita Ranchod-Nilsson
Lisa Williams 

Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice
Nita Sardana
Charmaine Ward 

Mary Moore
Marian Pittman
Tisha Tallman 

Brenda Muhammad
Leslie Sibert
Lottie Watkins* 

M. Yvette Miller
Sheryl Sellaway
Geri Thomas 

Erica Qualls-Battey
Sylvia Russell
Christine St. Clare 

Lovette Russell
Suzanne Sitherwood
Chilton Varner, J.D. 

Ayesha Khanna
Lauren Koontz
Maya Penn
April Ross

Condace Pressley
Bentina Chislom Terry
Sandy Welfare 

Erika Shields
Martha Wilber, M.D.
Andrea Young 

Mary Pat Matheson
Beatriz Perez
Wendy Stewart 

Ileana Martinez
Teresa Roseborough
Joanne Smith
Yvonne Thomas
Dr. Mary Wilson, M.D 

Billye Aaron
Liz Blake
Shan Cooper
Sandra Deal*

Class of 2016

Class of 2015

Carol Tomé
Erika Alexander
Myra Bierria
Luncinda Bunnen

Class of 2014

Rev. Dr. Joanna M. Adams
Lisa Cremin
Beth Finnerty
Dana Halberg

Class of 2013

Rosalind Brewer
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Mary Brock
Janine Brown

Class of 2012

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
Kim Anderson
Amy Brady
Kelly Dolan

Class of 2011

Kathy Betty
Rabbi Analia Bortz
Molly Burke
Emily Ellison

Class of 2010

Nancy Grace
Stacey Abrams
Cathy Adams
Dr. Sheryl Gabram

Class of 2009

Pearl Cleage
BJ Bernstein, J.D.
Renay Blumenthal
Anna Cablik

Penelope McPhee
Rhonda Mims
Louise Sams 

Shirley Mitchell
Margaret Reiser
Pamela Stephenson 

Judy Tabb
Marvonia Walker
Evonne Yancey 

Janet Street
Ray Uttenhove
Harriette Watkins 

Jenny Pruitt
Laura Turner Seydel
Julia Wallace 

Hala Moddelmog
Susan Neugent
Connie Stokes 

Maria Saporta
Nancy Gordy Simms
Cathy Woolard 

Linda A. Parrish
Paula Rosput
Mtamanika Youngblood

Janet Rechtman
Phyllis F. Schwartz*
Kathleen Toomey 

Rogsbert Phillips
Judy Turner
Pat Upshaw-Monteith 

Beverly Thomas
Dorothy J. Tracy*
Ruth West 

Judy Hanenkrat
Julie Keeton
Deborah Richardson 

Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore
Nan Orrock
Polly Simpson 

Pamela Hoffman
Clare Richardson
Gail Tusan 

Georganna Sinkfield
Ann Stallard
Lucy Vance 

Cynthia Tucker
Patricia M. Tunno*
Patricia Willis 

Anne Sparrow
Sue Wieland*
Elizabeth Wilson
Kathleen Ziegler 

Jan Pringle
Pamela Pryor
Carol Reiser*
Ruth Schmidt* 

Mylle Bell Mangum
Iris Miles
Mary Margaret Oliver
Alicia Phillipp
Evelyn Ullman 

Alexis Scott
Alana Shepherd
Cathey Steinberg
Isabel Gates Webster* 

Sherry Frank
Carolyn Stradley
Jackie M. Ward 

Maxine McNutt
Joyce Ogletree
Ruth E. Stanley 

Gloria Randall Scott
Betty Siegel*
Jane Smith*
Betty Smulian 

Lillian Webb*
Margaret Lupo*
Nanette Wenger

Deen Day Sanders
Judith Taylor