Janet Fockart

Janet Fockart (died 1596), was a Scottish merchant and moneylender.
Life.
Little is known of her background. In the 15th-century there was a Scottish landowning family, Folkert of Folkertoun, and she may have been a relation.
Janet Fockart was married three times, to John Todd, in 1560 to the luxury merchant and magistrate William Fowler (d. 1572), with whom she had seven children, and to James Hathoway (d. 1579). In early modern Scotland, married women did not usually adopt their husband's surnames.
Already during Fowler's lifetime, she was engaged in business as a moneylender, and after 1580, she rose to become one of the most successful in this line of business in Edinburgh. Among her clients were Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney, regent James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, as well as king James VI of Scotland, who was a regular client. She left a substantial fortune at her death. She was the mother of the poet William Fowler and grandmother of the poet William Drummond of Hawthornden. A daughter Sarah married an Edinburgh merchant John Inglish or Inglis, and their son Robert Inglish settled in London by 1630.
Janet and William Fowler's merchant stock.
William Fowler senior and Janet Fockart had a shop and warehouse. They sold cloth, trimmings, and haberdashery. He died in 1572, and his registered will included his entire stock. There were fine silk damasks for gowns, and woollen "freizes" for cloaks, serge for coats and women's riding clothes. 14,000 counterfeit pearls were probably to be used for masque costumes.
Customers included Margaret Kennedy, Countess of Orkney, an account of her expenses in 1584 includes debts to Fockart.
William Fowler's house.
Janet and her husband had a large house near or on the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, and the site was called Fowler's Close and later, Anchor Close. Janet, as a widow, let parts of this house for rent. Esmé Stewart lodged in the house in 1579 when he first arrived from France and before his departure in 1583. In September 1584, she hosted a party of German tourists including Lupold von Wedel who went riding with her son, the poet William Fowler. The Earl of Huntly prepared a banquet for the king and others in the house in March 1589.
The English ambassador Robert Bowes lodged in the house, and in January 1592, he reported that it was being prepared for James VI and Anne of Denmark, who needed extra security because of the threat posed by the Earl of Bothwell. In September 1593, Bowes' wife, Eleanor Musgrave organised a dinner at the lodging, serving venison in the English manner for the Earl and Countess of Atholl, and they were joined by the Earl and Countess of Bothwell.
In the early 1590s Giacomo Castelvetro, an Italian writer who served James VI as a language tutor and secretary, lodged with them and Eleanor Bowes made friends with his wife, Isotta de Canonici, the widow of Thomas Erastus.
The court of Scottish exchequer met in the house in 1593. Janet and her elder son, the merchant William Fowler, litigated over her management of the building's fabric.
In September 1594, the lairds of Buccleuch and Cessford stayed secretly in the house, to meet with the Master of Glamis.
Janet Fockart's inventory.
Janet Fokart died on 17 May 1596. Her children made an inventory of her goods, starting with the gold and silver coins in her purse. In the shop or "merchant booth" there was a piece of "Dornick" linen, a wheel for spinning lint, and a piece of tapestry worth £80 Scots, some men's clothes, and 16 old fashioned hats, with a miscellany of items including three gold crêpes and four "kells" for women to wear in their hair. Her jewelry included several bracelets, a pendant of brooch depicting Noah's Ark, a pair of gold garnishings (front and back) for her hair, chains, rings, tablets, precious stones, and a jewel "efter the signe of ane parokat", depicting a Parakeet or Parrot.
The debts that were owed to Jonet Fockart were also listed. The first was from the Lord of Lindores, who had collaborated with her son the poet William Fowler to produce the Masque at the baptism of Prince Henry. Lindores owed £600 and had left as a pledge a woman's gown made of cloth of silver and some gold buttons. George Home, later Earl of Dunbar, owed £100. Margaret Livingstone, Countess of Orkney, owed £100 and had pledged a diamond chain with 13 pieces and a diamond ring. Lord Spynie owed £200 and had pledged a "target" or hat badge of gold with 17 diamonds. George Douglas of Parkhead owed £336. Many more people had borrowed money, pledging their jewelry, or lengths of costly fabric, or formally recording their obligations.
Family.
Janet Fockart's children included;


Frances Karttunen

Frances Esther Karttunen (born 1942), also known as Frances Ruley Karttunen, is an American academic linguist, historian and author. She received her BA in 1964 from Harvard and her PhD in 1970 from Indiana University. In her linguistics career Karttunen has specialised in the study of Mesoamerican languages such as Mayan but in particular Nahuatl, on which topic she has authored seven books and numerous academic papers. She has also written about endangered languages, linguistic diversity and language translation. Early in her career Karttunen also produced several studies of Finnish phonology and syntax.
As a historian Karttunen has published research in areas such as historical Mesoamerican literature, colonial-era Aztec and Nahua history, and the social organizations, socio-political concerns and literacy rates of indigenous peoples of Mexico. Karttunen has also written and lectured about the local history of Nantucket.
Her 1976 publication "Nahuatl in the Middle Years: Language Contact Phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period," with James Lockhart, is a foundational text for the New Philology. She followed this by an insightful article on Nahua literacy, showing how the Mesoamerican tradition of pictorial writing then transitioned to alphabetic writing in Latin letters by local-level notaries in a self-perpetuating tradition. Her 1997 article, "Rethinking Malinche", on La Malinche, known in the colonial era as Doña Marina, is a significant revisionist take on the choices that Cortés' cultural translator and consort faced and took.
She also published "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl" and several iterations of a "Foundation Course in Nahuatl Grammar", culminating in the 1994 edition (with linguist R. Joe Campbell).
Most of her academic career was spent in association with the University of Texas at Austin, where she held researcher and lecturer positions for over 30 years, until her retirement in 2000 as senior university research scientist at the Linguistics Research Center. She was married to historian Alfred W. Crosby.


Sophie Vandebroek

Sophie V. Vandebroek is a Belgian-born electrical engineer and business executive. She was the Chief Technology Officer of Xerox, and President of Xerox Innovation Group until December 2016. Vandebroek was CTO and a corporate vice president of Xerox corporation from 2006 till 2016. Following her Xerox career she became IBM Research Chief Operating Officer. After leaving IBM she served as MIT's School of Engineering Inaugural Visiting Scholar for the 2019-2020 academic year. In 2021 she started her own company to provide strategic advisory services, called Strategic Vision Ventures LLC.
Early life.
Vandebroek was born in Leuven, Belgium. Her father was an engineer and her mother was an artist. As a seven-year old, she was inspired by the moon landing to become an astronaut. She became an engineer instead, stating: “There was no degree to be an astronaut, so I decided to pursue a double major – electrical and mechanical engineering – this was the closest to it."
Education.
Vandebroek earned a master's degree in electromechanical engineering at KU Leuven University, and moved to the United States in 1986, where she graduated with a PhD in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1990.
Career.
Vandebroek first joined the IBM research labs in 1990 before moving on to Xerox in 1991. She has praised Xerox for "creating a supportive environment for women". Vandebroek was a director of the board of Analogic Corporation from 2008 to 2016 and has been a director of the board of IDEXX Laboratories since 2013. Vandebroek has given talks at many conferences, including about artificial intelligence, cyber security, internet of everything and democratizing energy. She has been a member of the advisory council of the dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2010 and was a member of the advisory council of the dean of engineering at Cornell University from 2005 until 2011. Vandebroek announced her intention to retire from Xerox at the end of 2016 when Xerox split into two companies.
Vandebroek accepted the Chief Operating Officer role at IBM Research in January 2017. She stepped down from IBM in July 2019 and became the Inaugural School of Engineering Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined the supervisory board of Wolters Kluwer in the Netherlands in 2020 and the board of Inari, a Flagship Pioneering Company in 2021.
Vandebroek serves as a trustee at the Boston Museum of Sciences and at the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.
Personal life.
Vandebroek has three adult children and lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a US citizen.
Awards.
Vandebroek was elected Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow in 2005. She became a foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts in 2010.
Vandebroek is featured in Women in Technology Hall of Fame, and on the Notable Women in Computing cards.


Oksana Lyniv

Oksana Lyniv (Ukrainian, Оксана Линів; born 6 January 1978) is a Ukrainian conductor.
Life.
Born in Brody (then in the Ukrainian SSR), Lyniv is the daughter of two musicians and the granddaughter of a choral conductor. Her father is also a choral conductor. As a youth, she studied piano, flute, violin and singing. From 1992 to 1996, she studied flute and conducting at the Stanislav Liudkevych Music School in Lviv. She first conducted an orchestra at age 16, where this experience initiated her interest in conducting. From 1996 to 2003, she was a conducting student at the Lysenko music academy in Lviv, where her teachers included Bogdan Dashak. During her studies, Lyniv became an assistant conductor at Lviv Opera to Myron Yusypovych. She became principal guest conductor of the Leopolis Chamber Symphony Orchestra in 2003.
In 2004, Lyniv participated in the first Gustav Mahler conducting competition of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and won 3rd prize. In 2005, she became assistant conductor to Jonathan Nott at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. From 2005 to 2009, Lyniv continued her music studies at the Musikhochschule Dresden ("Carl Maria von Weber" College of Music). She participated in a masterclass with Ekkehard Klemm in 2007. She held a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Goethe Institute, and the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation. From 2007 to 2009, Lyniv was promoted by the "Dirigentenforum" of the German Music Council. She has taken further master classes in conducting with Hartmut Haenchen, Kurt Masur, Peter Gülke, Georg Fritzsch and Roland Seiffarth.
From 2008 to 2013, Lyniv was associate chief conductor of the Odessa National Opera. She has worked on establishing a national youth orchestra in Ukraine. Since the 2013-2014 season, Lyniv has served on the conducting staff of the Bavarian State Opera, as an assistant conductor to Kirill Petrenko. Her work at the Bavarian State Opera has included conducting productions of "Mirandolina" (Martinu), "Die Soldaten" (Zimmermann), and "Selma Ježková" (Poul Ruders).
In October 2016, Lyniv made her first guest-conducting appearance with Graz Opera, in a production of "La Traviata". Based on this engagement, in February 2017, Graz Opera announced her appointment as the next chief conductor of the Graz Opera and of the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, effective with the 2017-2018 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. This appointment marks her first chief conductorship. She is the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra. She concluded her tenure in Graz at the end of the 2019-2020 season.


Corinne Stubbs Brown

Corinne Stubbs Brown (1849 – 1914) was an American Marxist social activist.
Born in Chicago, 1849, she taught in its public schools. Brown became a student of social problems and socialist of some prominence. She served as president of the Illinois Women's Alliance for the purpose of obtaining the enactment and enforcement of factory ordinances and compulsory educational laws. She was also an active worker in the study of economic and social questions among women's clubs.
Early years.
Corinne Stubbs was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1849. Her mother, Jane McWilliams, was born in London, England, and when a child, was aware of the part taken by her elder brothers in the repeal of the Corn Laws of England. Coming to the United States when she was seventeen years old, she met and was married Timothy R. Stubbs, the father of Corinne. He was from Maine, a stair-builder by trade, and a man of strong and somewhat domineering character. His idea of parental duty led him to keep strict watch on his daughters. He forbade the reading of fiction and insisted on regular attendance at the Swedenborgian Church. The latter command was obeyed, but the former was by Corinne considered unreasonable, and therefore disregarded. She read everything that came her way, but her vigorous intellect refused to assimilate anything that could weaken it. Fiction had little attraction for her, unless it was of marked excellence or originality. She acquired her education in the public schools of Chicago.
Career.
After her graduation, she taught in the public schools of Chicago. Good order and discipline were the rule in her department, and her governing ability led in time to her appointment as principal, a post which she relinquished after marrying Frank E. Brown, a businessman who was an officer of various enterprises.
During a quiet period of domestic life succeeding her marriage, Brown's active mind prepared itself for new fields of thought and research, and she eagerly seized upon social problems. She read, studied and talked with those who had investigated the causes of the inequalities in social position, and of the increasing number of immense fortunes on the one hand and pauperism on the other. For a time, she affiliated with the Single Tax Party, but its methods did not satisfy her as being adequate to effect the social revolution necessary to banish involuntary poverty. After much research, she accepted socialism as the true remedy and Karl Marx as its apostle. Out of this naturally grew her desire to work for the helpless and oppressed, especially among women. She joined the Ladies Federal Labor Union, identifying herself with working women and gaining an insight into their needs. In 1888, a meeting of that society was called to take action on an exposure of the wrongs of factory employees made in a daily paper. The result of the meeting was the organization of the Illinois Woman's Alliance, to obtain the enforcement and enactment of factory ordinances and of the compulsory education laws. As president of that society, which included delegates from twenty-eight organizations of women, Brown became widely known. In addition to her work in the Alliance, Brown was connected with the Nationalists, the Queen Isabella Association and other societies, chiefly those having for their object the advancement of women. She died in 1914.


Mariama White-Hammond

Mariama White-Hammond is an African-American minister and community activist working on environmental, racial and economic justice issues. She is the founding pastor of New Roots African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Prior to her ordination in the AME Church, she was the director of Project HIP-HOP, a youth organization that uses arts as a way to communicate and educate on social justice topics.
Early years.
White-Hammond is the daughter of Ray Hammond and Gloria White-Hammond, both medical doctors and ordained ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her parents married in 1973. She is the oldest of two children; her sister is Adiya White-Hammond.
White-Hammond grew up in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Dorchester, in Boston, Massachusetts. She became politically aware at a young age. As a teen, she boycotted Coke in support of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. She attended the Winsor School, a private college preparatory school in Boston's Fenway, and then Stanford University, where she studied human rights law and international relations.
Activism and ministry.
In 2005, White-Hammond became the director of Project HipHop, a community nonprofit that focuses on arts programming for youth of color in Boston. As a teen, White-Hammond had been a youth member of the organization, which was originally established to educate young people about the history of the civil rights movement. As director, she helped shift the organization to focus on "cultural organizing", using hip-hop culture and arts to encourage youth to speak out on social justice issues. In eleven years with the organization, White-Hammond saw first-hand the challenges faced by inner city youth, as two of her students were shot and killed, and another three injured.
That same year, in 2005, she travelled with the youth of Bethel AME Church to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The service trip served as a catalyst for White-Hammond to begin making connections between environmental concerns and racial and economic justice. She became active in local politics, serving as in 2006 as a ward captain for Deval Patrick's re-election campaign for governor.
In 2014, she decided to pursue ordination, and began studying at Boston University School of Theology, where she completed a Master of Divinity degree in 2017. While a student, she served as the Minister for Ecological Justice at Bethel AME Church. She was ordained in the African Episcopal Methodist Church prior to her graduation, in April 2016.
Since attending seminary, she has become a recognized leader on issues related to environmentalism and racial justice. She serves as a Fellow of the Green Justice Coalition, working on environmental activism in communities of color. She was appointed to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy's Racial Justice and Equity Council in 2016. She lobbied against a natural gas pipeline that was scheduled to be placed in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, and was arrested in a demonstration against the pipeline in 2017, along with 22 other activists, including Karenna Gore, the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore.
In January 2017, White-Hammond served as the Master of Ceremonies for Boston's Women's March, which was estimated to be the largest protest ever held on Boston Common. That same year, she was the master of ceremonies for the Boston People's Climate Mobilization.
Following her father's example, White-Hammond founded New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, in 2018, where she serves as the pastor.
In June 2020, White-Hammond preached at a clergy-organized memorial service held at Bethel AME Church, remembering the lives of three African-Americans who had been killed in spring 2020: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The memorial was held following a symbolic funeral procession through the streets of Boston.


Jacquelyn Harrison Barrett

Jacquelyn Harrison Barrett (November 4, 1950) served three terms as sheriff of Fulton County, GA, making her the first African-American woman to ever receive the title in the United States. After a "reverse discrimination" lawsuit was filed against her by 18 deputy sheriffs, Barrett was suspended from office by Governor Sonny Perdue in 2004. She did not run for a fourth term.
Early life and education.
Jacquelyn H. Barrett was born November 4th, 1950 in Charlotte, North Carolina to parents Cornelius Harrison and Ocie Perry Harrison.
In 1972, Barrett graduated college with a bachelor's degree in sociology, with a concentration in criminology. In 1973, Barrett received her master's degree in Criminology from Atlanta University.
Early Career.
Before being elected sheriff of Fulton County, Barrett served a 10-year tenure as a curriculum specialist for the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. She helped to develop programs that would be used to train police officers, and was eventually promoted to create these programs for the Chief of Police and sheriff. She then served two years as chief administrative officer for the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, and became the director of the Fulton County Public Safety Training Center in 1987.
Career as Sheriff.
In 1992, Barrett defeated both her Democratic Primary Election opponent Robert McMichaels, and her General Election opponent Morris Chappell (republican). As sheriff, Barrett managed the largest sheriff's department in Georgia, opened the South Fulton Precinct, recruited seventy-five volunteers to support various charitable organizations, and provided safety training to senior citizens.
During the Summer Olympics in Atlanta Barrett served as Sheriff and provided police support for the games.
In 2000, Barrett attended the Democratic National Convention, where she was interviewed by Lou Waters for CNN. She served on the Georgia Congressional Delegation and voiced her support for Al Gore. Barrett completed a second term as Sheriff, and continued to work through a third until she was suspended from office by Governor Sonny Perdue in August of 2004. Barrett's final term as Fulton County's Sheriff ended on December 31, 2004.
Controversy.
In 2000, Barrett was called to court for several claims of racial discrimination brought forward by eighteen Fulton County Sheriff's Department employees. Of those eighteen claims, fourteen were found legitimate. Several of these officers were provided compensation for damages to their careers, and some were provided with forced promotions. The remaining four were not found to be discriminated against.
In 2006, a civil action suit was filed by an inmate alleging insufficient living conditions within the Fulton County Jail against Barrett and Fulton County. The Plaintiff stated to the court that he was not provided a properly ventilated cell, and that the food provided did not align with his prescribed diet. The court denied Barrett's request for summary judgement. Additionally, the Plaintiff's claim for prospective relief, and the Plaintiff's punitive-damages claims against Fulton County, and the Plaintiff's official-capacity claims against all former, current, or future sheriff of Fulton County were all denied.
In March of 2004, rapper T.I. produced a music video inside of the Fulton County Jail while serving time. The music video was unauthorized by Sheriff Barrett, and the employees who allegedly allowed a small camera crew inside of the jail were terminated.
Life after law enforcement.
In 2008, Barrett began teaching criminology as an adjunct professor at the University of West Georgia and Spelman College in Atlanta. In 2012, it was reported that she also taught at the Fulton Leadership Academy, and focused on STEM programs for young boys. In March of 2021, she received a Legacy Award from the Fulton County Sheriff's Office for her lifetime of contributions.
Personal life.
Jacquelyn H. Barrett became Jackie Barrett-Washington when she married Gene Washington. She has two children, Kimberly and Alan, and five grandchildren. Barrett has always been involved in the Christian faith, and has worked for and attended Cascade United Methodist Church.


Ragnhild Nikoline Andersen

Ragnhild Nikoline Andersen (1907–1990) was a Danish trade unionist, politician, and a member of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP). During the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, she was sent by the Gestapo to the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk in Poland, where she spent 20 months in dreadful conditions before being rescued. After the war, she was elected to the Folketing, becoming a member of DKP's central committee and one of the most prominent members of the party. She promoted wider access to abortions and improvements to women's rights.
Biography.
Born on 18 August 1907 in Yderby on the tip of Sjællands Odde, Ragnhild Nikoline Andersen was the daughter of the harbour master Nikolaj Andreas Andersen (1875–1954) and Gertrud Birgitte née Hansen (1881–1964). In 1937, she married Finn Johannes Salemonsson but the marriage was dissolved in 1949. In 1952, she married fellow communist politician Peter Alfred Jensen (1903–1988).
Brought up on Sjællands Odde, Andersen was the only one of the family's seven children who enjoyed extensive schooling. In 1925, she moved to Copenhagen, where she performed various kinds of office work. She joined Danmarks Kommunistike Ungdom (the communist youth movement) and the trade union HK. An active member of the children's organization Unge Pionerere, she edited their magazine from 1928 and accompanied a group of children on a trip to the Soviet Union in 1929. On her return she abandoned office work to take up employment as a metal worker in a radio factory where she joined the Danish Women Workers' Union (KAD), later became a prominent member. She worked with a group of women, many of whom were communists, like their leader Inger Gamburg with whom she developed a close friendship.
In 1929, Andersen became a member of the Danish Communist Party where she was active throughout the 1930s. During this period, she took part in demonstrations and similar political activities. On one occasion, she climbed onto the statue of Adam Oehlenschläger on Kongens Nytorv in central Copenhagen and attempted to address her followers. She was however soon arrested for disorderly conduct.
When the communist party was declared illegal under the German occupation, she went underground but was soon arrested and sent to Vestre Prison in September 1941 and then to Horserød. In October 1943, together with six other communist women and 143 men, she was transferred by the Gestapo to Stutthof Concertation Camp near Gdansk. After 20 dreadful months of captivity, six of the seven returned to Denmark in 1945 after the country's liberation at the end of the war. Andersen tells of her experiences in great detail in "Vi blev reddet denne Gang" (We were saved that time) published in 1945.
In the autumn of 1945, together with 17 other communists, she was elected to the Folketing and was re-elected in 1947. After first representing the Frederiksborg constituency, in 1950 she was elected as a representative of Copenhagen, becoming a prominent member of the Communist Party. She was particularly active on social issues, calling for improvements in conditions for the disadvantaged, for the establishment of sex clinics, for more extensive access to abortion and for a woman's right to part-time employment. She continued to stand for the Communist Party but was not re-elected. In 1968, she earned more votes than the other two communists, despite the fact that she was only number three on the party's list.
Ragnhild Andersen died in Copenhagen on 8 May 1990. She is buried in Vestre Cemetery.


Huda Al-Sarari

Huda El-Sarari or Hoda El-Sarari; Hoda Al Sarari (born c. 1978) is a human rights lawyer from Yemen who was awarded the Martin Ennals Award. She exposed that foreign governments were operating prisons in Yemen. 260 people were released from unlawful imprisonment.
Life.
She graduated law and then took a masters in Women's Studies at Aden University completing in 2011.
She went to work challenging human rights abuses. She worked with the Yemeni Women’s Union, the Adala Foundation for Rights and Freedoms and the National Committee to Investigate Allegations of Human Rights Violations.
In 2015 she contacted Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch after she found that people were being detained and mistreated in jails organised by foreigners in Yemen. She was in time able to supply them with details of 250 men and boys who were imprisoned.
She was contacted by mothers in 2016 who wanted to know where their sons were as they had just gone missing. She used the Yemeni courts but no information could be produced. Using social media she managed to unearth the truth that there were prisons in Yemen that the judicial system was unaware of. In 2017 the story was revealed by the Associated Press using much of her research to substantiate the story.
Over 2,000 people are still missing, but she managed to form the "Union of Mothers of Abductees" and 260 prisoners were released.
In 2019 her son, Mohsen, was wounded and died in hospital and after this she left her country. She believes that many Europeans and Americans do not realise that their governments are backing the UAE which funds human rights abuses.
She was nominated for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders together with Sizani Ngubane, of South Africa, and Norma Librada Ledezma. She became the 2020 laureate in Geneva in February 2020.


Mildred Iatrou Morgan

Mildred Iatrou Morgan is an American sound editor and audio engineer. She is of Greek descent.
Work.
Some of her works include:
For the critically acclaimed musical-drama "La La Land" she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing (shared with Ai-Ling Lee) at the 89th Academy Awards. Together with Ai-Ling Lee, their nomination became the first female team to be nominated in the category.


Cheryl Heller

Cheryl Heller is an American business strategist and designer. She is the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts, President of the design lab CommonWise, and winner of the AIGA Medal for her contribution to the field of design. She is a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow Heller has been credited as founding the first design department in a major advertising agency and her work focuses on investigating the contributions design have on human health and its impact on society.
Education.
When Heller was younger she attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts where she studied painting and printmaking. She then decided to go back to school to earn a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at Ohio Wesleyan University. After earning her bachelor's degree she went on to study at Goddard College, where she received her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
Careers.
Heller began her career in advertising in 1972 at Giardini/Russell, in Boston. She co-founded Heller/Breene inside of the WCRS Group. Heller/Breene was a small innovative firm specializing in design, where she was chairperson and creative director until 1989; two months after her departure WCRS Group sold the firm Cipriani. She left Heller/Breene two work at Wells Rich Greene BDDP; after 3 1/2 years she became the executive vice president and executive creative director at Frankfurt Gips Balkind. In 2003, she began to partner with entrepreneurs and organizations to further social and environmental projects.
After becoming president of the advertising company she grew the division to US$50m in billings when it took off and became an independent entity. She began to help grow business from small enterprises into multi-billion dollar global market leaders. Heller has worked as a small businesses consultant, working with businesses, as well as writing about design strategies for businesses. She has taught creativity to leaders and organizations around the world, and written about branding.
In 1999, she created the "Ideas that Matter" program for Sappi, that awards grants to designers working on social and environmental projects. Heller is the former Board Chair and current Adviser to PopTech, a Senior Fellow at the Babson Social Innovation Lab on the Innovation Advisory Board for the Lumina Foundation, and serves as an adviser to DataKind. She is one of the advisors at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID on an initiative in attempt to integrate Human Centered Design into public health. She has led an initiative to diminish the flow of young people from foster care to homelessness. Heller served as an adviser to Paul Polak and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum on the exhibit, "Design for the Other 90%." She is a Matrix Award winner for excellence in communication and has been profiled through articles in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, and many others.
MFA Program.
Heller was the founding chairperson of the MFA program for Design for Social Innovation in 2011 for the School of Visual Arts. This degree program is recognized as being the first of its kind. It allows students to further develop skills in several fine art skills after they have received their bachelor's degree. It is a three-year program where graduates are working as creative leaders in government, industry, healthcare, technology and global NGOs. It is a two to a student to enter into a three-year program that will provide them with a higher skill level in creative writing, visual arts, photography and much more. This will make the individual more desire in the world field.
Heller began to teach and undergraduate class called “Design for Good” where she is helping kids develop into leaders. Working in the design industry takes a lot of leadership skills and a lot of hard work. The social design industry is changing dramatically and Heller is encouraging students to further their education and receive credentials. With credentials, it allows students more options and allows them to develop a higher skill level in the field. While in the program Heller teaches her students to become aware of major issues going on in the present day. They will also begin to gain skills in entrepreneurship, leadership, metrics and data visualization, mapping, ethics, service design, and informal economies and cultures. The main idea behind social innovation is to find solutions for society, humanity.
Clients.
Heller has a large clientele. Her clients range from major car companies like Ford Motor Company to magazines and international hotels. She has worked with some clothing companies including the Gap and American Express. She took part in giving donation to small business in order to help them grow and succeed. She encouraged designer to work not only for self interest but for public interest. Lastly, she also worked with sunglass companies and oil companies


Karen Leibovici

Karen Leibovici (born May 27, 1952) is a politician from Edmonton, Alberta.
Following a career as a social worker, Leibovici was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1993, representing Edmonton Meadowlark as a member of the Alberta Liberal Party. She held that seat for two terms until her defeat in 2001. While MLA, she held the positions of labour critic, health critic, intergovernmental affairs critic and caucus whip.
In the 2001 Edmonton municipal election she was elected to city council, and was subsequently re-elected in 2004 and 2007 for Ward 1 and 2010 for Ward 5. She has served as chair or vice chair of the community services, executive and transportation and public works committees, and the Edmonton Police Commission.
While on the city council, Leibovici was a board member for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for nine years, and was acclaimed as the president in 2013. She was influential in spearheading the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness, revitalizing retail in west Edmonton, and through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, brokered a $53 billion infrastructure plan with the federal government for funding municipal projects across the country.
2013 municipal election.
Leibovici ran for mayor in Edmonton in 2013, against fellow councillors Don Iveson and Kerry Diotte.
2015 federal election.
She was most recently a Liberal Party of Canada candidate in Edmonton West for the 2015 federal election, but lost to Conservative Party candidate Kelly McCauley.


Nadja Swarovski

Nadja Lyn Swarovski (born 5 May 1970) is an Austrian-American businesswoman. She joined the Swarovski family company in 1995, 100 years after it was founded by her great-great-grandfather Daniel Swarovski in 1895 in Wattens, Austria. She is the first female member of the executive board, and leads the global brand strategy and communications of the business, which turned over approximately €3.5 billion in 2017. She also heads up the company's Sustainability strategy and the Swarovski Waterschool community investment program, and is Chairperson of the Swarovski Foundation.
Early life and education.
Swarovski was born in Germany and grew up in Austria, the fifth generation of her family to be involved in the Swarovski Crystal Business. Her great-great-grandfather Daniel supplied Swarovski crystals to embellish dresses for Queen Victoria; and her grandfather Manfred Swarovski worked with Christian Dior to create the iconic 'Aurora Borealis' stones. Her father Helmut Swarovski ensured that Swarovski remained at the forefront of technological advances and new market opportunities. Having led the company's manufacturing for 45 years, he remains a member of the 'Beirat' supervisory board.
She received a BA in Art History and Foreign Languages with a minor in Latin American Studies at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and studied at Sotheby's Institute of Art and the Gemological Institute of America in New York City.
Career.
Swarovski's career began at the Gagosian Gallery, before she went on to work for New York fashion PR Eleanor Lambert. She first worked for the Swarovski Crystal Business in Hong Kong before developing its branding and creative services functions in New York, followed by Paris, London and Singapore.
Over the past 20 years, Swarovski has driven a program of collaborations between the Swarovski brand and leading figures in fashion and jewelry, design and architecture, and stage and screen. Through these collaborations she has sought to position the company at the vanguard of creative and lifestyle trends and has established herself as a leading patron of creativity.
In fashion, Swarovski has initiated and overseen Swarovski's collaborations with more than 200 designers, including Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, Jason Wu, Hussein Chalayan, Erdem and Mary Katrantzou, as well as supporting emerging and established design talent through the Swarovski Collective initiative. In addition, Swarovski has supported the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards since 2002; and since 2016 Swarovski has partnered with the British Fashion Council as official partner sponsor of the Fashion Awards, held annually in London.
In 2002, Swarovski launched Swarovski Crystal Palace, a program of commissions that reimagines the traditional chandelier through collaborations with designers in the medium of Swarovski crystal. Featured designers have included Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Tom Dixon, Ross Lovegrove, Arik Levy and Yves Behar.
Swarovski has also furthered the company's long relationship with the film industry through collaborations with costume and set designers. Swarovski crystals have appeared in silver screen classics since the 1930s, including "Blonde Venus", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Breakfast at Tiffany’s". In recent years, Swarovski crystals have featured in movies including "Moulin Rouge!", "Black Swan", "Skyfall" and Disney's live-action "Cinderella".  In the music industry Swarovski has overseen collaborations with costume designers for performers such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna.
In 2007, Swarovski set up Atelier Swarovski, a jewelry and accessories line which offers cutting-edge pieces created in collaboration with designers that highlight creativity, innovation and craftsmanship with crystal. Past collaborators include Christopher Kane, Viktor & Rolf, Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. In 2016, Atelier Swarovski launched its home décor range, partnering with designers such as Daniel Libeskind, Ron Arad, Tord Boontje, and Fredrikson Stallard. In 2017, Swarovski oversaw the launch of Atelier Swarovski Fine Jewelry made with Swarovski Created Diamonds. This launch saw the brand further its commitment to ‘conscious luxury’, a concept it defines as creating beautiful products with the best available materials in a responsible way.
In 2018, Swarovski collaborated with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Eric Valli and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier on "The Soul of Swarovski", a documentary short which captures the creative process behind a Swarovski crystal collaboration.
Since 2012, Swarovski has led Swarovski's Sustainability strategy and overseen Swarovski's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Building on Daniel Swarovski's founding principles of doing business in a way that respects the wellbeing of people and the planet, she has steered the company in the direction of designing and manufacturing luxury goods that prioritize sustainable and ethical practices, while aligning Swarovski's efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Swarovski publicly champions gender equality on international platforms and uses the company's brand visibility to promote women's empowerment. Swarovski is a signatory of the United Nations’ Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), and part of the UN Women UK National Committee Corporate Advisory Group; and, in 2018, the company supported a research program with BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) to explore and improve the lives of women in the jewelry supply chain.
Other work.
Swarovski set up and chairs the philanthropic Swarovski Foundation, which was established in 2013 to support charitable initiatives and organizations working in three areas: culture and creativity, promoting human empowerment and conserving natural resources. Key Swarovski Foundation partners include Barefoot College, Nest, and The Nature Conservancy, while major projects include the creation of the Swarovski Foundation Centre for Learning at the Design Museum in London.
Swarovski leads the efforts of Swarovski Waterschool, the company's flagship community investment program, which educates students in seven countries across the globe about safe and sustainable water use. In 2018, Swarovski collaborated with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television to create "WATERSCHOOL", a feature-length documentary which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released globally on Netflix.
She is also a supporter of organizations including the English National Ballet, as well as charities including Maggie's Centres, the NSPCC and Walk the Walk.
In 2015, she was appointed UK ambassador for the non-profit Women for Women International, which empowers women survivors of war. In 2018 she was also made its German ambassador.
Recognition.
At the 2018 Society of British and International Design awards Swarovski received the Fellowship Award.
In 2018, Swarovski was awarded the Luxury Briefing Award for Outstanding Individual.
In 2018, the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards named Swarovski as the recipient of the Global Fashion Business Leader Award.
In 2018, Swarovski received the Visionary Award from the Women's Jewelry Association.
In 2017, she received a Stephan Weiss Apple Award from Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation.
In 2016, she was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, in recognition of Swarovski's support for the Palace of Versailles in France.
In 2013, Swarovski received the NatWest UK Fashion & Textile Award for Outstanding Achievement.
In 2012, Swarovski received the Making a Difference Award 2012 from Women for Women International.
In 2011, the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored Nadja for the company's continued support of the American fashion industry.
In 2007, Swarovski received a Visionaries Award from New York's Museum of Arts and Design.
Personal life.
Swarovski is married to hedge-fund manager Rupert Adams. They have a son and two daughters.


Frieda S. Miller

Frieda S. Miller (April 16, 1890 – July 21, 1973) was an American labor activist, government administrator and women's rights activist. She served as the Industrial Commissioner of New York from 1938 to 1942 and the director of the United States Women's Bureau from 1944 to 1953. From 1936 through the 1950s, she worked with the International Labour Organization advising on women's employment issues. In the 1960s, she served in various capacities as a delegate to the United Nations focused on issues for women and children.
Early life.
Frieda Segelke Miller was born on April 16, 1890 in La Crosse, Wisconsin to Erna (née Segelke) and James Gordon Miller. Her father was a lawyer, who died when she was thirteen. Her mother had died when Miller was five years old. She was raised in La Crosse, along with her sister Elsie, by her maternal grandparents Charles and Augusta Segelke. After completing her secondary education, she attended Downer College, graduating in 1911 with a bachelor's degree. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago, over the next four years, researching in economics, law, political science, and sociology, but did not obtain a degree.
Career.
In 1916, Miller began her career working as a research assistant and teaching social economics at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Hired as a secretary in 1917, she worked at the Philadelphia Women's Trade Union League, organizing a college and teaching economics courses through 1923. Around the same time, she met Pauline Newman, a labor organizer who had recently come to Philadelphia working with the Women's Trade Union League. The two women would become life-long partners and moved in together within a year. When women won the right to vote, Miller became a candidate for the United States House of Representatives running on the Farmer-Labor Party ticket. Though she did not win, she received over 25,000 votes in the 1920 election. Miller had an affair with a married man, Charles Kutz, in 1922 and became pregnant. Deciding to raise the child (the future Elisabeth Burger (1923–2013), at one time Lady Owen), together she and Newman invented a story that they had adopted a child abroad, to protect Miller's reputation. As a cover for their fiction, the two attended the International Congress of Working Women in Vienna in 1923 and the baby was born abroad. They did not return to Philadelphia, but instead moved to Greenwich Village in New York City, where Newman took up a post as the educational director at the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU). Miller soon found work, as an inspector for the Joint Board of Sanitary Control.
Within the circle of friends the two made through their affiliation with the Women's Trade Union League were Elisabeth Cristman, Mary Dreier, Frances Perkins, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rose Schneiderman, Maude Swartz. In 1928, Perkins, Industrial Commissioner for the State of New York, hired Miller as the director of the Bureau of Women in Industry and she spent the next several years working on legislation to create a minimum wage law for women and children, which passed in 1933. When Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidency, he took Perkins with him to Washington, and she used her influence to have Miller appointed as a delegate to the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the League of Nations in 1936. President Roosevelt appointed her to represent the United States in the Inter-American Regional Conferences of the ILO and she served as an advisor for women workers to the executive board. In 1938, Miller was appointed by Governor Herbert H. Lehman to fill the post as state Industrial Commissioner, replacing Elmer F. Andrews. During her tenure as commissioner, Miller developed a system to implement the state unemployment insurance program and reorganize the state's employment service to improve job placement and deal with the unemployment problems generated by the Great Depression. Within a year, her reforms led to a fifty percent increase in employment placements in the state.
When Lehman's governorship ended in 1942, Miller resigned as commissioner and went to work as the special assistant for labor the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John G. Winant. In 1944, when Mary Anderson retired from the United States Women's Bureau, she selected Miller to be her successor. Her major focus as director was to develop programs to improve equal pay and access to jobs for women. When the war ended, women, who had been employed in war industries lost their jobs creating both large-scale unemployment and a push to return women to low-wage jobs, primarily in clerical and service-related positions. Creating a Labor Advisory Committee in 1945, Miller was the first director of the Women's Bureau to invite union women to attend monthly conferences to discuss labor issues. Miller stressed the importance of women using their networks to bring awareness to the low pay and poor conditions under which women labored. She recognized that collective bargaining alone would be insufficient to generate change, as so many women's jobs were not unionized, and urged union leadership to reach out to legislators to improve wages for all occupations in which women worked. She also proposed innovative solutions, such as establishing pay rates according to job, which would eliminate discrimination based on outside factors, such as gender. The recommendations were partially successful, as during her tenure six states approved equal pay laws, though they did not meet all the protections the Women's Bureau wanted. By the end of the 1950s twenty states had adopted limited policies for equal pay, but the efforts were inadequate and advocates continued to push for national legislation.
When Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1953, he asked for Miller to resign. She returned to her work for the ILO, and increasingly relied on Newman to care for Elisabeth while she traveled abroad. Evaluating the economic status of women workers, Miller compiled reports in the Far East and South America throughout 1955 and 1956. In 1957, she became a delegate to the United Nations for the International Alliance of Women, serving through 1958. In that year, Miller, who was nearing seventy began a relationship with a man, that Newman felt threatened by and which caused her to wonder if their relationship had ended. The concern was serious enough for Newman to sell her interest in the summer home the two women owned in Coffeetown, Pennsylvania. Miller remained in Geneva, and beginning in the early 1960s, she worked on a survey for the International Union for Child Welfare becoming the organization's delegate to the United Nations. She worked on various UNICEF programs until 1967, when she retired and returned to New York. Miller had a stroke in 1969 and though they placed her in the Mary Manning Walsh Home at that time, Newman and Miller's daughter Elisabeth shared the care for Miller for the last four years of her life.
Death and legacy.
Miller died from pneumonia on July 21, 1973 in Manhattan, New York. Her papers were donated to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.


Kathy Burke

Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as "French and Saunders" (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Magda on the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" (1992–2012), as well as her frequent collaborations with fellow comedian Harry Enfield. For her portrayal of Valerie in the 1997 film "Nil by Mouth", she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Burke made her film debut in the 1982 drama "Scrubbers", and played Queen Mary I in the award-winning biographical film "Elizabeth" (1998). Her other film appearances include "Sid and Nancy" (1986), "Dancing at Lughnasa" (1998), "This Year's Love" (1999), "Kevin & Perry Go Large" (2000), "The Martins" (2001), "Anita and Me" (2002), and "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" (2002). From 1999 to 2001, she starred as Linda La Hughes on the BBC sitcom "Gimme Gimme Gimme", for which she received a British Comedy Award and two BAFTA nominations. Having spent most of the 2000s concentrating on her work as a theatre director, she returned to film roles in the 2010s with "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (2011), "Pan" (2015), and "" (2016).
Early life.
Burke was born into an Irish family in Islington, London. She has two elder brothers, John and Barry. Her mother, Bridget (Bridie), died of cancer when she was 18 months old, and she was brought up by neighbours (the Galvin family) for the following few years. Subsequently, she returned to live with her Irish father, Patrick (Paddy), a builder who died of cancer in 1994, a week after Kathy's mentor and first director Mai Zetterling. Burke attended the Maria Fidelis RC Convent School. Burke then went on to study at the Anna Scher Theatre School.
Career.
Burke's first role was in the 1982 film "Scrubbers", directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring Pam St. Clement, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolyes, Honey Bane, Debby Bishop and Eva Mottley. The film was set in a young offenders' institute for girls and was seen as a female version of the film "Scum".
Burke appeared in a non-speaking role in a 1985 public information film about heroin addiction. The following year she appeared in a non-speaking role as 'witness in doorway' in an award-winning advert for "The Guardian"'s' Points of View'.
Burke first became familiar to television audiences as a player of minor roles in sketches by better-known performers such as Harry Enfield, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Early TV work included regular appearances on the chat show "The Last Resort" hosted by Jonathan Ross on UK Channel 4 in the mid-1980s, playing the characters 'Tina Bishop' and 'Perry the Pre-pubescent Schoolboy". Bishop was a continually pregnant "expert" offering advice on household chores, always with disastrous results. Along with French and Saunders, she has contributed to two Comic Relief charity singles. She first appeared as a member of Bananarama parody band Lananeeneenoonoo in 1989, and then as a member of Spice Girls' look-alike band the Sugar Lumps in 1997. In real life Burke is a big fan of Morrissey and appeared in the video for his 1989 single "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" and later in the 2002 Channel 4 documentary "The Importance of Being Morrissey".
She quickly became successful in her own right and although mainly associated with comedy, she has played several serious roles including that of Queen Mary I of England in "Elizabeth".
Burke was awarded the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress, for her performance as the mute Martha in the 1993 BBC TV series "Mr. Wroe's Virgins".
Burke won the Best Actress award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the gritty drama "Nil by Mouth". Burke was so convinced she would not win that she made no plans to attend the ceremony; when told shortly beforehand she had won, she found her passport was out of date. The film also earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Since then she has appeared as Perry in "Kevin & Perry Go Large", and as Linda La Hughes in "Gimme Gimme Gimme" (which she developed with writer Jonathan Harvey) where she was nominated for 3 British Comedy Awards (winning one), 2 BAFTA TV Awards and a National Television Award for her performance. In 2000, she appeared in the cult film "Love Honour and Obey" with Ray Burdis.
In 2003, she was listed in "The Observer" as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
Beginning in 2001, she refrained from acting and threw herself into theatre directing; something she considers to be one of her true passions. She said in an interview with Dawn French in "Dawn French's Girls Who do Comedy" that she no longer felt the same creative energy associated with acting that she used to (she described it as a "feeling in my belly") and that this was the reason she had stopped acting. However, she has done some voiceover work in the past few years, including adverts for Ski yoghurt (in the UK) as well as "Flushed Away" (2006). She also appeared in the 2007 Christmas Special of "The Catherine Tate Show" as Nan's daughter.
In February 1990 she wrote and directed her first play, "Mr Thomas", at the Old Red Lion Theatre. It was subsequently filmed and shown on Channel 4 the next year.
In 2007, Burke contracted Clostridium difficile while in hospital for an operation, resulting in her having to pass directing duties on "Dying for It" at the Almeida Theatre (which starred Charlie Condou and Sophie Stanton who she worked with on "Gimme Gimme Gimme").
In 2009, Burke made her television directorial debut with the BBC Three sketch show series "Horne & Corden", starring Mathew Horne and James Corden.
In 2010, Burke completed a short autobiographical film, "Better Than Christmas", for "Little Crackers", a collection of comic shorts. Burke plays a nun. On 19 January 2012, it was announced that Burke's short for "Little Crackers" would be turned into a four-part series, "Walking and Talking", written by Burke. Burke appeared as a nun in each of the episodes. The series aired in the summer of 2012 on Sky Atlantic.
In 2011, Burke played Connie Sachs in the film adaptation of the novel "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". She was long-listed for a BAFTA nomination for her performance as Supporting Actress in 2012.
Burke appeared in the 2015 Peter Pan prequel film, "Pan", as Mother Barnabas. In November 2015 Burke presented the BBC topical news panel show "Have I Got News for You.
In 2019, Burke starred in her own self-titled three part documentary, "Kathy Burke's All Woman". The programme aired on Channel 4 and focused on the stereotypes and expectations of modern women. Burke touched on subjects such as marriage, pregnancy and cosmetic surgery.


Florence Culwick

Florence Culwick (4 November 1877 – 30 August 1929) was the director of the Culwick Choral Society.
Biography.
Florence Culwick was born at 21 Upper Lesson Street, Dublin on 4 November 1877. She was the daughter of James Cooksey Culwick, professor of music, and Mary Jane (née Richardson), his second wife. She attended Alexandra College, Dublin, excelling at music. She would go on to teach music at Alexandra. Her father held a number of positions as organists in Dublin, finally at Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle where he remained until his death in 1907. Following his death, Culwick re-established his choral society after a hiatus, called Miss Culwick's Choral Society. This made her Dublin's first female conductor.
During World War I the choir was just female, but in 1919 it was back at full strength and flourishing. It was Culwick who attracted artists like Dorothy Silk and John Goss to Dublin while also encouraging local talent. Among the notable performances was the first performance in Dublin of Bantock's "Vanity of vanities" and Vaughan Williams's mass in G minor. In 1927, the choir won the Welsh Eisteddfod at Holyhead. Following this the choir was renamed in honour of her father and her success, the Culwick Choral Society.
Culwick died 30 August 1929 in a nursing home in Portobello, Dublin. The Florence Culwick Memorial Cup was established in her honour as part of the Feis Ceoil.


Catharine Sargent Huntington

Catharine Sargent Huntington (1887-1987) was an American actress, producer, director, activist, and founder and manager of theater companies in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Her work in theater lasted until she was 86 years old and spanned 6 decades, and she received the Rodgers and Hammerstein Award in 1965 for her work. Additionally, Huntington was part of the "Death Watch," protesting the trials and death sentence of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Early life and education.
Huntington was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts on December 29, 1887, as the sole daughter of Lilly St. Agnam Barrett Huntington and clergyman George Putnam Huntington to survive infancy. The family later moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where Huntington grew up. Between 1904 and 1906, she lived in Cedar Square, Roxbury, Boston with her aunt Kate Summer. While in Boston, Huntington attended Miss Haskell's School, graduating in 1906. She proceeded to Radcliffe College, where she graduated in 1911 cum laude with an A.B.. After graduation, Huntington spent her summer in Europe and began teaching at the Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut, where she worked until 1917.
Activism and war involvement.
At the beginning of World War I, Huntington left her job at Westover School to serve as the Radcliffe College representative to the troops in France with the Wellesley unit of the YMCA. She served as an aide, working on war reconstruction with the Réconstruction Aisne Devastée and the Union des Femmes de France until her return to the United States in 1920. After her return, Huntington continued local war reconstruction efforts. In August 1927, she was arrested for protesting the murder conviction and death penalty of Sacco and Vanzetti through loitering and sauntering with the "Death Watch." She was one of 156 people arrested for the protests, although her fine of $10 was double the amount of the fine for the majority of the other members of the watch. She appealed the fine and went to trial in December of the same year with seven others, including Edna St. Vincent Millay, Powers Hapgood, and John Dos Passos. She was included in the Boston Globe on August 24, 1927, in an article titled ""Death Watch" To Make Test Case," that stated "Miss Huntington, whose address is 66 Pickney St, said her family had been here for 300 years and read a statement maintaining she had a right to protest as she did."
Theater career.
Huntington founded the Boston Stage Society in 1922, and was associated with the Brattle Theatre, Peabody Playhouse, the Tributary Theater, and the Poet's Theater throughout her lifetime. Additionally, she founded the New England Repertory Theater on Joy Street in Boston in 1938, and later founded the Provincetown Playhouse on the wharf in Cape Cod in 1940 with Edwin Pettit and Virginia Thoms. The new playhouse replaced the old structure that existed between 1915 and 1924. She served as the owner and manager of the playhouse between its founding year and 1973. During her time there, a Eugene O'Neill drama was produced each summer season, and the theater hosted the O'Neill Festival in 1966, where 10 of his plays were produced. Huntington was awarded the Rodgers and Hammerstein Award in 1965 for her work in American theater in the Boston area. Later, on her 97th birthday, Governor Michael Dukakis and the Massachusetts legislature recognized her contributions to American theater.


Yehudit Simhonit

Yehudit Simhonit (sometimes Simhoni; ; 24 January 1902 – 5 December 1991) was a Zionist activist and politician.
Biography.
Simhonit was born in Nahar-Tov, an agricultural settlement in the Kherson Oblast of the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), and attended an agricultural high school. In 1917 she joined the Zionist Student Youth Federation.
In 1921 she and her husband Mordechai Simhoni made aliyah to Mandatory Palestine, and settled in Nahalal, the newly established first moshav. In 1927 she became a member of the Union of Women Workers. She moved to kibbutz Tel Yosef in 1931, and moved again to Geva in 1943. A member of Mapai, she represented the party in the fourth Assembly of Representatives.
In 1949 she was elected to the first Knesset on the Mapai list. However, she resigned from the Knesset on 5 February 1951 and was replaced by Herzl Berger.
She later worked as a member of the Histadrut's co-ordinating committee and chief cultural and welfare officer of the IDF's Women's Corps. Between 1960 and 1965 she served as head of the Histadrut's International Relations Department.
In 1965 she left Mapai and was a founding member of David Ben-Gurion's new Rafi party, and was amongst its leadership until the party was dissolved in 1968. She died in 1991.
Her son, Major General Asaf Simhoni, was killed in a plane crash at the end of the Sinai War. Her grandson, Avner Simhoni, was killed in 1968 when a mine exploded in the Gulf of Suez during the military operations in the War of Attrition.


Ella Reeve Bloor

Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor (July 8, 1862 – August 10, 1951) was an American labor organizer and long-time activist in the socialist and communist movements. Bloor is best remembered as one of the top-ranking female functionaries in the Communist Party USA and as one of the most prominent socialist feminists in United States history.
Biography.
Early years.
Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor was born Ella Reeve on Staten Island on July 8, 1862, the daughter of Harriet Amanda (née Disbrow) and Charles Reeve. She grew up in Bridgeton, New Jersey. She was married first to Lucien Bonaparte Ware, then Louis Cohen, and finally Andrew Omholt. Ella married Lucian Ware in February 1882, at ages of 19 and 27, respectively. In the following 10 years, the couple had seven children. However, three died by the age of 3 (Pauline Stites Ware, Charles Reeve Ware, and Lucien Bonaparte Ware, Jr [twin to Harold]), leaving 4 children: Grace, Helen, Harold and Hamilton Disbrow Ware. Her daughter, Helen Ware, was a concert violinist while son, Harold Ware, became an agriculture expert as an activist in the Communist Party of America. One of her other sons was Hamilton D. "Buzz" Ware, an artist and prominent leader in the Village of Arden, Delaware, where she lived for many years. Ella and Lucien divorced in 1896 and the following year, at about age 35, she married Louis Cohen. In the following three years, the couple had two children: Victor Hugo Cohen and Carl M. Cohen. Ella and Louis Cohen likely divorced by 1906. In 1930, at about age 68, Ella married Andrew Omholt.
Early political career.
Ella became involved in several reform movements including the prohibitionist Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and women's suffrage. She was the author of two books for children, "Three Little Lovers of Nature" (1895) and "Talks About Authors and Their Work" (1899).
In 1897 Ella was a founding member of the Social Democracy of America, a new organization established by her friend Eugene V. Debs and Victor Berger — a group which would later emerge as the Social Democratic Party (SDP). She later recalled:
"When I joined the Social Democracy I was living in Brooklyn and I had married for the second time. My husband, Louis Cohen, was a socialist. I was pregnant with the first of the two children of that marriage. The railroad men [Debs supporters] came to my house so I could continue to act as [local] secretary.
"But a new disappointment was in store for me. The Social Democracy, I soon discovered, was a utopian scheme. Debs' plan was to form an ideal colony out West to show by example that socialism could work. From the outset I told the members of my group that this colonization scheme was unsound, not real socialism at all. I stayed with it for a while because of my loyalty to Debs, and because this was the nearest thing I had yet found to a socialist movement.
"Debs set up a paper in Chicago called "The Social Democrat." At his request I wrote a children's column for it. The children answered the appeals of Debs and his colonization committee by sending me money. I felt it was unfair to collect money for something that did not yet exist. People were already selling out businesses to join the colony. A national convention was held in Chicago [June 7–11, 1898] and our local sent delegates. Among them was my husband who still felt that anything Debs was in must be all right. I agreed to withhold final judgment until the delegates returned. When they came back and reported that plans to establish the colony would continue, I resigned. I simply could not stay with anything so unscientific.
Shortly after her resignation from the Social Democracy, Ella attended a meeting in New York of the Socialist Labor Party, at which editor of the party newspaper Daniel DeLeon was the speaker:
"He was small and slight and prematurely gray, and spoke very deliberately and convincingly.
"The Socialist Labor Party was a revolutionary party in those days and DeLeon, its leader, was a brilliant theoretician and speaker, a courageous fighter against capitalism... I was impressed with his analysis of the evils of the capitalist system, and of the fallacy of isolated socialist colonies as a way of achieving socialism. I felt that at last here was scientific socialism and joined the SLP.
"Daniel DeLeon and I became friends... I became very much interested in the New York Labor News Company — the first organization that published revolutionary books and pamphlets in English on a large scale. Its manager was Julien Pierce. Together we proofread the pamphlets translated by DeLeon, often having o reconstruct the English, a greater task than we ever let him know."
Ella was elected to the governing General Executive Board of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (ST&LA), the SLP's trade union affiliate. She was also the ST&LA's organizer for Essex County, New Jersey and was sent to Philadelphia by the organization in an effort to organize street car workers there.
Ella recounted her growing disaffection with the SLP in her 1940 memoir:
"Gradually the defects of the SLP were brought home to me. I found many workers antagonistic because I was organizing a rival union. The STLA was weakening the AF of L [American Federation of Labor] by drawing off its more radical elements and leaving the reactionaries in control, and was itself organized on too narrow and sectarian a basis to accomplish anything. Furthermore, the SLP as a political party had little real influence because DeLeon was against taking part in the immediate struggles of the workers... I began very early to see the importance of a united trade union movement, and felt that Socialists should work within the AF of L. I felt that DeLeon understood Marx very well abstractly but knew little about the practical needs of the labor movement.
"The last time I talked with DeLeon I told him I was moving to Philadelphia and was willing to accept the secretaryship of the SLP local there, which had been offered me, but I could not go along with their principles wholeheartedly. As a good friend of mine, DeLeon accepted what I said without anger, but would not change his methods."
Soon after her arrival in Philadelphia, a state convention of the SLP decided to leave the party en masse to form a new organization in the nether region between Morris Hillquit's dissident so-called "Kangaroo" faction which broke away in 1899 and DeLeon's hardline SLP. Ella opposed this new organization, which called itself "The Logical Center" and included Lucien Sanial, a former top official in the SLP. Ella had been watching with interest the formation of the Socialist Party of America (SPA) in 1901 and decided to leave her new Pennsylvania comrades to rejoin her friend Gene Debs as a member of his new organization.
In subsequent years, Bloor worked as a trade union organizer and helped during industrial disputes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Ohio and New York. She organized strikes across a wide range of industries including miners, hatters, steelworkers, and needle-workers.
In 1905 Bloor helped a fellow member of the Socialist Party of America, Upton Sinclair, gather information on the Chicago stock yards. Ella partnered with colleague Richard Bloor, and the last name stuck, though the pair were never married. Her work and pen-name eventually appeared in Sinclair's best-selling book, "The Jungle".
Bloor ran unsuccessfully for political office several times under the Socialist Party of America, including secretary of state for Connecticut in 1908 where she was the first woman to run for state office and Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1918. In 1938 she ran for Governor of Pennsylvania under the American Communist Party.
Communist period.
Ella Reeve Bloor was one of the founders of the Communist Labor Party of America, which stemmed from the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party. In 1921 and 1922, Bloor attended the second conventions of the Comintern in Moscow. She was also a delegate to the founding convention of the Red International of Labor Unions in July 1921, at which she used the pseudonym "Emmons" and voted on the basis of credentials issued by three locals of the International Association of Machinists. Upon her return from the Soviet Union, Bloor hitchhiked throughout the United States while writing articles for the "Daily Worker".
Bloor was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party USA from 1932 to 1948 where she organized tirelessly. During this time, she toured the Midwest, organizing farmers, leading farmers strikes, and giving speeches. Many of these speeches were focused on women's rights, especially suffrage and its connection to their rights as laborers.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Bloor became an advocate of American participation in World War II. Later she argued for an early invasion of Europe to create a Second Front.
Death and legacy.
Ella Reeve Bloor died on August 10, 1951 in Richlandtown, Pennsylvania. She is buried in Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey.
Today, Ella Reeve Bloor is remembered as one of the most prominent socialist feminists in United States history. She gave countless speeches and lectures focusing on topics of women's suffrage and mobilization as workers, often stressing the “direct connection between the ballot and our work." For some, Bloor echoed the voice of working women in the early twentieth century by vocalizing the intersection of socialism and suffrage. She argued that because working women were marginalized by the law as it was, their only form of political power was through protest which frequently proved dangerous and ineffective. She believed that women needed the right to vote if they hoped to have a say in changing laws and therefore improve their working conditions and lives in general.
Bloor's autobiography, "We Are Many", was published in 1940 and served as the basis for the Woody Guthrie song, "1913 Massacre."
Life magazine photographed Bloor's public funeral reception in Harlem. Alice Neel's 1951 painting of her funeral reception, "The Death of Mother Bloor," shows her in front of a line of mourners passing by her bier. It was included in the 2021 Alice Neel retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Her granddaughter was actress Herta Ware who was married to Will Geer from 1934 to 1954.
Works.
Children's books
Political titles


Sue-Anne Webster

Sue-Anne Webster is an Australian magician, actor and writer who has been recognised internationally for her contributions to the art of magic.
Biography.
Sue-Anne Webster trained as an actor at The Australian Playhouse Studio and The Actor's Centre in Sydney, and was Assistant Director at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for programs including Beatbox and the mini-series Tusitala., She has performed as an actor on television programs including "Real Life", "The Masters", and several television commercials. She has performed as an illusionist on television programs including "The Price Is Right", "Location Location Amazing Homes", "StarStruck", "Today", "Mornings with Kerri-Anne", "Good Morning Australia" with Bert Newton, "Fox Morning News" (USA), "Top Billing" (South Africa), "The 23rd FISM World Championships of Magic Stockholm 2006" (UK), "WB Kids", "ETV" (Hong Kong), and Nadia Tass's Australian feature film "Matching Jack" (2010).
Theatrical and magical shows which Sue-Anne Webster has created and directed include: "Cunning Stunts", "Dreams & Illusions", "Magic Unlimited's Best Show Ever", "Wizards of Aus", "Illusionarium", and "Private Eye".
In addition, Webster is one of two living Australian magicians to be included in the book "Dictionnaire de la Prestidigitation" covering the world history of the art of magic, and is the only Australian to be included in "Historias de Magas Antiguas y Modernas", an international history book of prominent female magicians throughout history. Webster is founder and first president of the Australian Institute of Magic.
In 2001, Sue-Anne Webster and Tim Ellis were voted Most Valuable Performers by their peers at the close up magic convention Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic in Batavia, New York. In 2005 was the duo were nominated Lecturers of the Year by The Academy of Magical Arts at The Magic Castle in Hollywood.
Webster has frequently worked as a consultant on magic for television including "The Panel" and "Blue Heelers".
Author.
From 2010 to 2012, Webster wrote a regular magic column in the NSW "School Magazine", the oldest literary magazine for children in the world. Her writings in the magic world include contributions to "Magic Magazine" and Genii. She has also had many articles published in New Idea, Reader's Digest, That's Life! and Australian Geographic.
I Dream of Jeannie.
Webster is also the official "I Dream of Jeannie" 'Jeannie' lookalike for www.IDreamOfJeannie.com and is recognised internationally for her uncanny characterisation. In 2009, she presented an 'I Dream of Jeannie Tribute Show' at the Melbourne Magic Festival.
Theatre.
She premiered two shows in 2008, one for The Melbourne International Comedy Festival "Illusionarium with Ellis & Webster" and "The Wizards of Aus" at The Melbourne Magic Festival, and many more shows including "Ellis in Wonderland" (2009), "Illusionarium 2010" and "I Dream of Jeannie" solo (2010), "Once Upon A Time...", and "Secrets" (2011), "Phyllis Wong and the Forgotten Secrets of Mr Okyto" magic performances at promotional appearances with author and husband "Geoffrey McSkimming".


Mary Bousted

Mary Winefride Bousted ("née" Bleasdale; born 15 September 1959, in Bolton, Lancashire, England) is the Joint General-Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) alongside Kevin Courtney. Bousted was formerly General Secretary of the teachers' union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) prior to its amalgamation with the National Union of Teachers, forming the NEU.
Early life.
Bousted is the daughter of Edward and Winefride Bleasdale. She attended St Osmund's RC Primary School in a deprived area of Bolton, Breightmet, where her father was the headmaster. She went to a Catholic girls' direct grant grammar school, the Mount St Joseph School. She was the second-youngest of eight children. Her mother was also a teacher, and supported the Labour Party. Her father supported the Liberals, and was determined for those at the primary school to pass the eleven-plus (the tests used in England and Northern Ireland to determine admission to selective secondary schools).
She attended the University of Hull, gaining a BA in English. From the University of Durham (Collingwood College), she gained a PGCE. From the UCL Institute of Education she gained an MA. Later from the University of York she gained a PhD.
Career.
She taught English from 1982-87 at Bentley Wood High School in Harrow. From 1988-91 she was Head of English at Whitmore High School in Harrow.
From 1991-95 she was a lecturer at the University of York, becoming Director of Initial Teacher Training from 1995-97.
From 1997-99 she was Head of Secondary Education at Edge Hill College, (which became Edge Hill University in 2006), then at the School of Education at Kingston University from 1999-2003.
In July 2010, Bousted was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edge Hill University.
In September 2016 she was elected as President of the Trades Union Congress for 2016/17.
ATL.
She became General Secretary of the ATL in 2003.


Debra Cheverino

Debra Cheverino (Italian: [devorah ʃɛvɛʀino]; born 22 December 1976) is an international conductor based in Florence, Italy. She is one of only a handful of women conductors in Europe.
Early career.
Cheverino was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. By her own account, Cheverino cites her great-grandfather, Richard Arbus, an English pianist and composer based in South Africa and her Italian-American grandmother Maria Grazia Cheverino, a singer and choral conductor in New York as her earliest musical influences.
Cheverino studied piano, voice and composition at conservatory in the greater Los Angeles area. Her first public performance as a conductor was at age 15 in a California state competition where she conducted one of her own compositions. In 1992, Cheverino received a Pavarotti Scholarship from the National Italian American Foundation to finish her studies at conservatory.
In Los Angeles, she was the first woman conductor to study under Mehli Mehta with the American Youth Orchestra, John Barnett at the University of Southern California, and Erwin Acel at the Vienna Musikhochschule. In 1996, she became the assistant conductor of the USC Community Orchestra.
Cheverino went on to receive her music degree with an emphasis in conducting at the University of Southern California. She attended the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut from 1997-1999. In 1998, she received a presidential scholarship to pursue a master’s in conducting at the University of Hartford under composer Harold Farberman. She also taught music history and music theory as an adjunct professor at the University of Hartford from 1998-2000.
In 1998, she initiated the Hartford Community Orchestra and was broadcast on National Public Radio throughout 1998–2000 with monthly concerts offered free to the community of Hartford.
During this time, Cheverino began giving concerts abroad with orchestras such as the Varna Philharmonic in Bulgaria.
After finishing her first two degree’s, Cheverino returned to Los Angeles in 2000, where she became a Corwin Fellow under conductor Esa-Peka Solonen, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Honors Orchestra. Contemporarily from 2000–2004, she initiated the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra in Southern California, an educational outreach program of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and became its assistant conductor. In 2000, Cheverino became the assistant conductor and then associate conductor of the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra based in Los Angeles, California under music director Lucinda Carver. In the fall of 2001, Cheverino became the associate conductor of the Asia America Symphony under music director and jazz pianist David Benoit.
Career and honors.
In 2001, Cheverino became the first woman ever to win a first prize in an international conducting competition in Florence, Italy. As the main prize for her gold medal, a year's worth of concerts were organized by the competition, whereby Cheverino worked with various orchestras all around Italy. During one of these concerts, Cheverino was noticed by conductor Claudio Abbado, who asked her to come and assist for one year with his youth orchestra the Mozart Orchestra. In 2005-2007, she received a second Fulbright grant to assist Zubin Mehta at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentina. In 2007, Cheverino conducted the "Donne in Musica" concert in honor of Zubin Mehta with the Solisti Fiorentini di Maggio Musicale Fiorentina recreating the "orchestra di donne" tradition of late Renaissance opera in Florence in homage to the Camerata di Bardi and Francesca Caccini.
In 2013, Cheverino received the AIDDA Toscana Women’s Leader Award and in 2014 became an honorary member of the Associazione Donne nelle Professioni di Ordini e Collegi.
In 2018 for the 70th anniversary of the Fulbright program in Italy, Cheverino was honored by Ambassador of the United States to Italy Lewis M. Eisenberg for her contributions and accomplishments as a musician.


Ann Smith Franklin

Ann Smith Franklin (October 2, 1696 – April 16, 1763) was an American colonial newspaper printer and publisher. She inherited the business from her husband, James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin. She published the "Mintunt", printed an almanac series. She was the country’s first female newspaper editor, the first woman to write an almanac, and the first woman inducted into the University of Rhode Island's Journalism Hall of Fame.
Personal life.
Ann Smith Franklin was married to James Franklin, a printer and the brother of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.
They had five children including daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and son James Jr. (c.1730-1762). James Jr. attended Philadelphia Academy with his cousin William, Benjamin's son, before James Jr. was apprenticed in the printing trade to his uncle Benjamin. After a long illness, James died in Newport in 1735, leaving Ann a widow, aged 39, with three young children to support, one child having died earlier.
Career.
In 1736, Ann petitioned the General Assembly of Rhode Island, seeking printing work in order to support her family. She was awarded the contract, becoming the General Assembly's official printer to the colony, a position she held until she died. In this official capacity, she printed the colony's charter granted by Charles II of England. To supplement her income, she printed sermons for ministers, advertisements for merchants, as well as popular British novels. Ann's most notable work was compiling and publishing five editions of the "Rhode Island Almanack", for the years 1737-1741. In 1741, she began selling her brother-in-law Benjamin's almanac, "Poor Richard's Almanac", and in 1745, she printed 500 copies of the "Acts and Laws of Rhode Island" as a folio edition, her largest commission.
Though a second child died young, Mary, Elizabeth and James Jr. worked in the family business. The daughters performed typesetting while James Jr. ran the business, now called "Ann and James Franklin", with his mother. During this time, however, some of Ann's imprints continued to bear the name "Widow Franklin". In 1758, they published the "Newport Mercury", Rhode Island's first newspaper.
Later years.
As Ann grew older, she turned over many business responsibilities to James Jr. After the deaths of her remaining children, Ann, then age 65, returned to the printing press. She took on the printer Samuel Hall, who had been her son-in-law, as her business partner in 1761, forming "Franklin & Hall". Under this imprint, they printed a folio of Rhode Island schedules.
Ann Smith Franklin died in 1763 and was buried in the Newport Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery.


Lisa Portes

Lisa Portes is a director, educator, advocate and leader. She heads of the MFA Directing program at The Theatre School at DePaul University. She serves on the board of the Theatre Communications Group, the Executive Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and is a founding member of the Latinx Theater Commons.
Education.
Portes attended Oberlin College where she graduated with honors with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Theater in 1988. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of California - San Diego in 1992.
Career.
After graduating from the University of California, San Diego, Portes worked as a freelance director. She took up the position of associate artistic director of Soho Rep from 1996-1998. From 1992-1995, she was the artistic director of the former Theater E in San Diego. Portes began working at DePaul University in 2000 and is currently leading the three year MFA Program while teaching classes.
Primarily a director of new American plays and musicals, Portes' work has been seen regionally at California Shakespeare Theater, Guthrie Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Cincinnati Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, McCarter Theatre, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In Chicago she has directed for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, TimeLine Theatre Company, American Blues Theater, Silk Road Rising, Next Theatre, and Teatro Vista. New York credits include work at Playwrights Horizons, Soho Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Flea Theater, and The Public Theater. Portes served as the Associate Director of the Tony Award-winning musical The Who's Tommy, and staged its international productions in Canada, Germany, and the U.K, as well as its 20th anniversary remount at the Stratford Theatre Festival in 2013. In 2016, Portes was awarded the SDC Zelda Fichandler Award.
Portes has directed plays around the United States ranging from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Steppenwolf theater, and the Guthrie Theatre located in Minneapolis. She has also participated in the Latino Theater Festival at Goodman Theatre, as well as the Ignition Festival at the Victory Gardens Theater.
Works.
Some of Portes's productions include "This is Modern Art" a play written by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval. Other plays directed by Portes include "Ghostwritten", "After a Hundred Years"," Concerning Strange Device from the Distant West", all written by Naomi Iizuka. Portes has also directed plays by Julia Cho such as "The Piano Teacher". Some more of her recent works include "Offspring of the Cold War" written by Carlos Murillo and "Wilder: An Erotic Chamber Musical" written by Erin Cressida Wilson, Jack Herrick and Mike Craver. Notably, Portes served as the Associate Director of the Tony Award-winning musical The Who's Tommy, and staged its international productions in Canada, Germany and the U.K., as well as its 20th anniversary remount at the Stratford Festival in 2013.
This is Modern Art.
The play "This is Modern Art" was staged at Steppenwolf Theatre. The premise of the play deals with the struggle of graffiti crews, who view their work as art while others see it as vandalism. One night, one crew completes a huge piece which incite backlash from the community as opinions on the validity of graffiti as art are polarized. This play ran from February 25 to March 14, 2015. It sparked controversy in the Chicago area as it presented the graffiti crews in a positive light. One critic at the Chicago Tribune mentioned how the play "is a romantic ode to the art of graffiti and the act of tagging, a piece that demystifies authorial signatures and charts the storied history of graffiti art in Chicago, shouting out its great artists and their canvases, from Kennedy underpasses to CTA train yards... [but] Graffiti comes at a price. It can be invasive, self-important and disrespectful of the property of others — and plenty of struggling folks have had to clean graffiti off something they own or love". Kevin Coval spoke out against the play's criticism stating that "Graffiti operates at the level of metaphor for voices that exist at the margins of culture who have been deliberately excluded or erased from dominate discourse".
Ghostwritten.
Portes directed Naomi Iizuka's "Ghostwritten" at the Goodman Theatre in April 2009. The play references the war in Vietnam, creating a complex narrative on complicated dual identities of Vietnamese children, the imperialistic nature of the United States and the effects of the war, and invisible yet real geopolitical boundaries between countries and their impacts. The author adds a twist by including themes from the tale Rumpelstiltskin. The play is part of a project that ran at the Goodman Theatre called "Strong Women, Strong Voices" which focused on presenting and supporting work created by women. It had mixed reviews. One critic at the Chicago Maroon thought the play's premise was "so ridiculous that it would border on the comical even if the rest of the play were well-executed".
The Who's Tommy.
"The Who's Tommy" is based on The Who's 1969 rock album "Tommy." The story follows the life of a young boy named Tommy who is not only blind, but deaf as well. He has a very hard childhood, and constantly suffers abuse from his relatives and neighbors. His one salvation is pinball, and it is ultimately his escape when he becomes an international pinball superstar. It has been described as an "exhilarating story of hope, healing and the human spirit". In 2013, the play was remounted at the Stratford Theatre Festival where this "rock opera", one critic mentions, "cranked up the volume for vocal excitement and general rocking-out purposes". Another critic mentions how the musical is also an interesting commentary on "the advances – or not – in disability rights in the post[World War II] era".
Wilder: An Erotic Chamber Musical.
"Wilder: An Erotic Chamber Musical" ran in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City from October 14, 2003 to November 14, 2003.
 The plot follows a growing boy who goes through puberty in a "depression-era bordello". The plot plays with Oedipal themes while the main character reminiscences on his past. The role of the older Wilder Jessup is played by John Cullum. One critic mentioned that having such a popular and skilled lead took away from the other two members of the cast, who were "a little too earnest in their diction and gestures". Another critic mentioned that the play was seemingly an interesting premise but ultimately a "lost cause" with "disappointing music".
Personal life.
Portes was born in Madison, Wisconsin. She is the daughter of a Cuban father and mother from Nebraska. When her parents divorced, she moved between U.S. college towns and Latin American cities. She is the oldest of three children. She has one younger brother and one younger sister. Portes is married to playwright Carlos Murillo. They live in Chicago with their two children.
Community involvement.
Portes is one of the founding members of the Latinx Theatre Commons, which was founded in order to encourage the creation and performance of Latinx theater. The group was formed by eight Latina/o theatremakers in May 2012 and was led by Karen Zacarias. The first ever LTC National Convening was held in 2013 at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. The Latina/o Theatre Commons has also created the 2015 carnaval of New Latina/o Works. Portes was in charge of facilitating Latin@'s in Theatre: Building a Movement- Forwarding the Work by Creating Strong Relationships and Allyships at the 2015 Theatre Communications Group National Conference.
Awards.
Portes has won Drama League and NEA/TCG Director's Fellowships, Fulbright/Hays Fellowship, and Illinois Theatre Association Outstanding Contribution Award. She has been awarded grants from DePaul University including the University Researcher Grant; the DePaul University Public Service Council Grant, and three DePaul University Quality of Instruction Grants.
Portes received the 2016 Zelda Fichandler Award, which is dedicated to "an outstanding director or choreographer who has transformed the regional arts landscape". Portes is the first freelance director to receive this award.


Maryat Lee

Maryat Lee (born Mary Attaway Lee; May 26, 1923 – September 18, 1989) was an American playwright and theatre director who made important contributions to post-World War II avant-garde theatre, pioneering street theatre in Harlem and later founding the Eco Theater, which developed drama productions out of oral histories in Appalachia.
Life and career.
Lee was born in Covington, Kentucky; her father, Dewitt Collins Lee, was a lawyer and businessman, and her mother, Grace Dyer, was a musician. After graduating from the National Cathedral School she studied drama at Northwestern University, but found it too "artificial" and "commercial"; she transferred to Wellesley College, where she graduated with a degree in religious studies in 1945, then did graduate study at Columbia University and received an MA from Union Theological Seminary with a thesis on the religious origins of drama. At one point she worked for Margaret Mead.
Lee was a pioneer of street theatre in the 1950s. On a commission from the Parish Council, she wrote and produced "Dope!", a one-act play about drug abuse that William French calls "the original modern street play"; it was performed in 1951 in a vacant lot in Harlem, the action including a junkie "shooting up" on stage. It attracted much press attention, and was named one of the best plays of the 1952–53 season; it continued to be widely performed for two decades. In 1970 two actors who had been in productions of the play died from heroin overdoses. During the 1950s she also worked with Jacob L. Moreno at his Institute of Psychodrama.
In 1965, when the street theatre movement was becoming popular, she founded the Soul and Latin Theater, known as SALT, in East Harlem, and taught street theatre classes at The New School.
In 1970 she moved to Powley Creek, near Hinton, West Virginia, and in 1975 founded the Eco Theater, for which she developed plays out of oral histories. In 1984 she incorporated the Eco Theater and moved to Lewisburg, where she taught her methods to enable it to spread as a theatre movement. She died from heart disease at her home there. Her papers are in the Regional and History collection at the West Virginia University library.
Philosophy.
Lee used local people in her productions in both New York and West Virginia. She believed that by teaching untrained actors for the first time, she could "bring out the hidden person underneath the roles and masks that society imposes." In a 1984 article in the precursor of "Whole Earth Review", she wrote: "The words 'acting' and 'actor' have an association with pretension for most people outside the theater. I want something different. I just want people simply, and not so simply, to be themselves." She liked to quote Lope de Vega on the essence of theatre: "Three planks, two actors, and a passion". Her brother John described this and the use of oral histories as making her theatre "close to ecology".
EcoTheater initially used teenagers, who received a small stipend through a state grant for summer youth employment; later she used unpaid senior citizens. Lee wanted to have the drama arise from the society and reveal its ideals, as in the medieval English mystery plays. Audience participation was a major factor in both New York and West Virginia, and Eco Theater performances were followed by discussions. William French, who has published journal and encyclopedic articles on Lee, noted that Lee gave co-credit to the actors for writing "A Double-Threaded Life: The Hinton Play", a series of monologues and dialogues performed on a bare stage. That play, which detailed the lives of ordinary people from Hinton, West Virginia, had no particular narrative line and sections were put in and taken out based on actors' availability. Crediting these performers was stretching the truth a bit: since "Lee exercise[d] firm artistic control over the final script, infusing it with poetic touches and revising it for economy and coherence", but, according to French, "the script reflects her desire to create a people's theatre".
Personal life.
Lee married an Australian furniture designer and artist, David Foulkes Taylor, in 1957; he died in 1965. She was however openly lesbian or bisexual. She was a friend of Flannery O'Connor (who sent her drafts of her work for comments and suggestions), and exchanged many letters with her. Her sexuality has been used to argue that O'Connor was also lesbian, but the idea is generally rejected.