2020 Distinguished FWSF Member of the Year—
Kathleen Nielsen (2018 FWSF President)
Continuing a tradition, the board nominated members both from the board and from the membership at large for this award. The announcement of the winner was made at the annual Holiday Party on December 4th. Congratulations to all the nominees and especially to the winner, Kathleen Nielsen.
Kathleen Nielsen, 2018 FWSF President
An ever-present dynamo for FWSF, Kathleen contributed to the success of the organization in so many ways in 2019. Kathleen contributed importantly to the success of FWSF Programs, e.g., organizing and moderating the highly-touted program, Finance of the Future: A Master Class in Digital Financial Technologies. In addition, Kathleen volunteered to stay broadly involved in the heart of the organization, e.g., serving as team lead for USF Scholarship interviews, being a mentor for a Scholarship Recipient, actively participating on the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, as well as stepping up to new opportunities that arose, e.g., meeting with Moody’s Women Employees Resource Group, attending a conference focused on D&I with two other FWSF board members. She was also pivotal to the 2018 strategic planning process.
We also want to acknowledge the other top two nominations:
Pat Hudson and Olivia Barbee
Pat Hudson, 2019 FWSF Board Secretary
Pat is a strong and active voice of the organization. She continuously advances the mission of the organization in various ways by conducting scholarship interviews and playing an important and active role in selecting the recipients; actively mentoring our scholarship recipients, providing guidance and encouragement year-over-year to our future leaders, even hosting her current and past mentees at her home every year; actively participating in the executive and full board meetings; actively introducing others to the organization by hosting them as her guest to many of the programs; and contributing in many other important ways. Pat is the epitome of a strong woman who truly leads, mentors and inspires others and is deserving of this distinguished honor for her many contributions helping to create and sustain our amazing organization year-over-year.
Olivia Barbee, 2020 FWSF President
Olivia volunteered two years ago to find an investment advisor and get the endowment and our reserves set up for professional management. Little did she know what it entailed! She was thoughtful and diligent in her approach, organizing a team and facilitating an RFP and decision among an opinionated group. She never wavered in moving things forward and did it with much grace and humility. This was an important step for the organization and now allows us to take of advantage the endowment we have built over the last 10 years.