2008 Wisconsin Women of Color Network Leadership Awards
Women of color achievers
Women of color achievers
Betty Banks
Estela Miranda
Renee Moe
Adrienne Thunder
By Heidi M. Pascual
The Wisconsin Women of Color Network Inc. (WWOCN) regularly recognizes women of color who are undisputedly role models in their professional,
personal, and community lives. Four women coming from the African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American communities are chosen from among a
pool of nominees to receive the “Women of Achievement” awards, not only to recognize their outstanding contributions to their respective communities through
paid and unpaid work, but also to recognize their valuable contributions to society at large, and to women of color in Wisconsin, in particular.
This year’s awardees have common qualities, despite their unique experiences that differed them from one another, and such commonalities put them
together into one category: Women Achievers. They have outstanding personalities, and they are women of color who have been working very hard to improve
other people’s lives.
This year’s WWOCN awardees are: Betty Banks (African American); Renee Moe (Asian American); Estela Miranda (Latina); and Adrienne L. Thunder (Native
American). They all meet WWOCN’s description of women-of-color leaders and share WWOCN’s vision as an organization as follows:
• We are women of color who are proud of our ethnic background.
• We are women of color who subscribe to the idea of the fundamental equality of the sexes.
• We are women of color who believe that we have so much in common that we transcend our ethnic differences.
• We are women of color who are commited to the meaningful participation in our local community and in the larger society.
Betty Banks
Empowerment for African Americans and other people of color has been Betty Bank’s goal since time immemorial. Betty is well-known as a tireless
advocate for women of color in the community, tackling issues and challenges that would empower them to take control of their lives. As a role model, Betty
helps women of color succeed in their educational pursuits and helps young people realize their passions and dreams. A true mentor and counselor, Betty is
always ready and willing to support and encourage people who seek her advice and assistance.
Aside from her many years of community work with families, Betty is a media personality who believes in the power of communication to reach out and get
any message across. As an executive producer and director of Club TNT that is aired every Saturday on Channel 14, she features youth of color, their issues,
challenges and successes. Her passion for lifelong learning reflects what she underwent herself. A mother of two young children, Betty went back to college and
balanced parenting and school. She earned a degree from Edgewood College and continues to earn more knowledge through workshops, lectures and seminars
offered by local educational institutions.
Estela Miranda
Estela Miranda is a “public servant,” in the most real sense of the term. A tireless advocate for the Latino community, Estela started as a lead worker for a
large cleaning company. Her Spanish fluency and leadership made her an ideal liaison between the workers and their employer for many years. She later joined
the Nehemiah Corporation and for several years was stationed at a number of Joining Forces for Families centers on the Madison’s south side, providing legal,
medical, housing and employment assistance. She established support groups whose women members have become inspired and successful because of Estela’s
encouragement. This year, Estela organized a back-to-school neighborhood picnic which gathered people from various cultures to enjoy good food and learn
from each other’s traditions. Every holiday is a work day for Estela because she organizes gift drives for the families under her program. She has organized a
resource fair in a local elementary school on the south side, and each year, she organizes a bus tour to take neighborhood children to the circus.
Renee Moe
Improving the quality of life of neighborhoods in Dane County and assisting/funding nonprofits that provide social and human services are top goals of
Renee Moe through her work in United Way and her volunteer work elsewhere in the community. Renee is the vice president of Resource Development and
Marketing at United Way of Dane County, but it took her years of hard work and devotion to the mission of this organization to reach this top position. Starting as
a volunteer after graduation from UW-Madison, Renee gradually climbed leadership positions primarily due to her exemplary performance. She is a role model
for other Asian American women because she has shown how one of them can succeed through hard work and commitment to serve others. Renee has been in
the frontline of United Way’s “Agenda for Change” – a set of seven goals organized to create solutions to issues that are critical to the community. These include:
ensuring all children are prepared for school; closing the racial achievement gap in literacy and math; providing access to health care for the uninsured;
decreasing homelessness; supporting seniors and people with disabilities so they can stay in their homes; reducing violence; and ensuring nonprofit agencies
and volunteers are strong partners in achieving measurable results.
Adrienne Thunder
Empowering people through education is Adrienne Thunder’s goal in life. As an advisor to students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of
Letters and Science, Adrienne is often the first contact of new students. She provides the students an overall picture of the University and advises them how to
succeed in school and beyond. Adrienne is also a strong advocate for hiring and retaining student advisors who reflect the ethnicities of the students. As co-chair
of the NACADA (National Academic Advising Association), she works to bring together Native and non-Native American students, advisors, faculty, and other staff
to address the needs of Native American students and transfer students from tribal colleges. Adrienne founded the Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, a newly-formed
sorority for Native American women that gives young Indian women links to other Indian women in higher education and business. She has also progressed from
student-advising to teacher-advising, or helping teachers learn about their own biases and those that they pass on to their students, She is now a local and
internationally-known speaker on bias in the media and in the majority culture, as well as in the textbooks for children. Adrienne is also chair of the Madison
Chapter of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association.
The 2008 WWOCN Women of Achievement awards will be presented at the Annual WWOCN Employment Conference on September 27 at the Double Tree
Hotel, 525 W. Johnson St., Madison.