Rotary Club of Edina Recognizes Women in Leadership
Posted by Jill Weber
on May 31, 2012
Edina, Minn., May 31, 2012 – The Rotary Club of Edina presented the 2012 Chrysanne Manoles Women In Leadership Award to Katey Taylor on May 24.
Reflecting society in 1905, the Rotary organization was limited to male members and remained so officially until 1989, when the Council on Legislation, Rotary’s parliament, voted to eliminate the male-only provision, opening up membership to qualified women across the world. However, the forward-thinking Rotary Club of Edina welcomed its first female member, Chrysanne Manoles, a year earlier in 1988. Manoles continues to be active in Rotary and is the current Director of the Youth Exchange Program for Districts 5950 and 5960.
In Manoles’ honor and to celebrate the work of women in the community, the Rotary Club of Edina annually presents a Women In Leadership Award. Nominees cannot be current Rotarians and must live, work or volunteer in Edina. Female nominees must demonstrate Rotary’s “Four Way Test” of the things we think, say or do: Is it the truth? Is if fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Taylor was honored for working at the local and national levels to educate the public on one of the leading killers of young children, drowning and pool and spa entrapment. In 2007, Taylor’s 6-year-old daughter Abbey was playing in a public wading pool when an improperly maintained pool drain cover pulled out a part of her intestinal tract. For the next nine months she was in and out of the hospital as doctors tried to repair her internal organs. She lost her fight in 2008 after 16 surgeries and a triple organ transplant.
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Before Abbey died, she told her parents that she hoped that no other person would ever suffer the way she did. In response, Taylor, with the support of her family, founded Abbey’s Hope Charitable Foundation, with a mission of making pools and spas safer by educating parents and pool operators about the potential hazards of drain entrapment, encouraging them to stay vigilant when children are in the water, and strengthening compliance with pool and spa legislation.
In addition to advocacy and public policy initiatives, Abbey’s Hope has educated thousands of Minnesota children with public presentations, radio and TV interviews and print news stories. Since 2008, Abbey’s Hope has awarded more $85,000 in grants to Minneapolis- and St. Paul-based swimming and pool safety organizations. As a result, thousands of local underserved minority children have been enrolled in water safety skill and swimming classes.
Previous recipients of the Chrysanne Manoles Women In Leadership Award include Anne Byrne, Terri Rose, Donna Tilsner and Laurel Wills.