Williams, Wilkins amongst Academy for Girls of Achievement honorees | Vanderbilt Information

Two Vanderbilt leaders are among the many six girls chosen as inductees into the 2019 Academy for Girls of Achievement.

Gail Carr Williams, affiliate director for neighborhood relations within the Division of Authorities and Group Relations, and Dr. Consuelo Wilkins, vp for well being fairness at Vanderbilt College Medical Middle and affiliate dean for well being fairness within the Faculty of Drugs, will likely be honored on the 28th annual Academy for Girls of Achievement celebration and induction dinner on the Music Metropolis Middle on Oct. 24. The occasion is introduced by YWCA Nashville and Center Tennessee and the Nashville Predators.

“I’m thrilled that Gail Williams and Consuelo Wilkins are being acknowledged for his or her exemplary management and repair in a wide range of roles that replicate Vanderbilt’s values,” mentioned Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. “They’re devoted to creating a distinction day-after-day, enhancing the standard of life on our campus and within the Nashville neighborhood.”

“It is a super honor for Consuelo and Gail, and for Vanderbilt,” mentioned Provost and Vice Chancellor for Educational Affairs Susan R. Wente. “These leaders lengthen the college’s mission into the Nashville neighborhood and past, forging key connections and relationships that proceed to enhance our neighborhood. I’m grateful for his or her many inspiring accomplishments.”

As affiliate director for neighborhood relations, Williams builds partnerships and collaborations on behalf of the college via modern neighborhood engagement programming. Moreover, Williams visitor lectures within the Peabody School of schooling and human growth’s Impartial Faculty Management grasp of schooling program and has been a neighborhood chief for a few years, serving on quite a few boards. These embrace the Frist Artwork Museum and Tennessee Performing Arts Middle, and she or he at present chairs the boards of the Metropolitan Nashville Transit Authority and The Therapeutic Belief.

Wilkins oversees Vanderbilt College Medical Middle’s Workplace of Well being Fairness, which works to attach current neighborhood well being and well being fairness initiatives from throughout the group whereas scaling system-wide efforts to determine and deal with disparities in well being. Wilkins additionally serves as affiliate dean for well being fairness within the Faculty of Drugs, government director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, engagement core director for the All of Us Analysis Program, affiliate director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Medical and Translational Science, and affiliate professor of medication at Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical School.

“We’re grateful for the resolve, imaginative and prescient and dedication Dr. Wilkins and Gail Williams carry to not solely the campus however to folks throughout the area,” mentioned Dr. Jeff Balser, president and CEO of VUMC and dean of the Faculty of Drugs. “Dr. Wilkins emerged as our go-to chief on well being fairness initiatives due to her deep-seeded data and mission to develop a system that excludes nobody from optimum well being. Every are outstanding leaders and thinkers. Actually, they embody the spirit of this honor.”

Two of the opposite honorees are Vanderbilt alumni:  Beth Chase, BA’85, senior managing director at Ankura and the Honorable Ana Escobar, BA’92, Davidson County Basic Periods Choose Division III. 2019 honorees additionally embrace Mendy Mazzo, company senior vp at Skanska, and Vicki Yates, a information anchor and reporter for WTVF-TV NewsChannel 5. Financial institution of America is the 2019 company honoree.

The Academy for Girls of Achievement was launched domestically in 1992 by YWCA Nashville and Center Tennessee to extend neighborhood consciousness and appreciation of the various contributions of ladies within the workforce and locally. Girls are honored for his or her neighborhood service, skilled achievement, integrity, management, dedication to the lives of others and to the standard of life for all. This 12 months’s recipients be part of 165 different girls who maintain this distinctive honor.

The AWA judging committee, made up of enterprise and neighborhood leaders and the YWCA Govt Committee, selected the person and company honorees from an distinctive record of nominees.

“These leaders stand as a mirrored image of the YWCA’s historic mission and values,” mentioned YWCA President and CEO Sharon Ok. Roberson, BA’78, JD’83. “They function function fashions not just for different girls locally, however for all, and we’re excited to honor them throughout this AWA season.”

The awards celebration will likely be held Thursday, Oct. 24, at Music Metropolis Middle’s Davidson Ballroom. Tickets and tables might be bought now on the YWCA web site or by calling (615) 983-5146.

Jalen Blue contributed to this story.