Three outstanding women working in different fields, but with a similar commitment to improving the lives of others in Southwest Washington, are the winners of the 2015 Iris Awards, honoring women of achievement in Southwest Washington.

The awards will be presented to Lisa Schauer, Senior Vice President for Business Development at Mackay Sposito; Lori Pulliam, Director of Transition at the Washington State School for the Blind; and Victoria Bradford, owner of Comfort Interiors and a member of the Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors.

Schauer, Pulliam, and Bradford will be honored on March 5, 2015 in Clark College’s Gaiser Student Center. Following a 5 p.m. reception, the awards ceremony will begin at 6 p.m.

Tickets are on sale through the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce at www.vancouverusa.com. The cost is $35 per person; a table sponsorship, which includes six tickets, can be purchased for $250. Seating is limited.

Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013, by February 27.

The Iris Awards are a continuation of a tradition of honoring women in Southwest Washington that began in 1985 with a photography exhibit at Clark College. Over the years, the annual event has developed into an official awards ceremony, with a nomination process open to all members of the local community.

The Iris Awards are supported by Clark College, the Clark College Foundation, Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the Vancouver Business Journal, which publishes the “Women in Business” directory, the only Portland/Vancouver metro area directory of businesses that are owned, directed or managed by women. The Iris Award winners will be featured in the 2015 “Women in Business” directory.

The 2015 Iris Award Recipients

Lisa Schauer

Lisa Schauer, standing, goes over spreadsheets at MacKay Sposito.

Lisa Schauer is a Senior Vice President for Business Development at MacKay Sposito. She was the first female partner in the regional engineering consulting firm. As a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, she is currently responsible for strategically positioning the firm’s business development and marketing efforts. Schauer is well known throughout MacKay Sposito and in the industry for her commitment to people and mentoring, including launching the company’s Veteran’s Council, in 2013 to recognize and support veterans.

Schauer is equally well known through her involvement in the community. She is on the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Children’s Center and was a Founding Board Director and is currently the Chair of H-RoC Political Action Committee, a non-partisan group formed to advance women leaders in Southwest Washington. She has served on many other boards and leadership positions.

Lori Pulliam

Lori Pullman working with a member of the LIFT program.

Lori Pulliam has been teaching at the Washington State School for the Blind for 32 years, and currently manages the residential department which provides residential services and education to our middle and high school students, and the LIFTT program, which teaches young adults with visual impairment skills of independent living. Throughout these 32 years she has taught students with deaf-blindness, worked with students from WSSB who were taking classes in the local public schools, taught career education and worked with students in community based work experience placements.

Lori has helped develop programs to improve employment prospects for blind students. She was part of a team that developed the Youth Employment Solutions (YES), a summer career education and work experience program for students with visual impairment. She has been a long time staff member for a summer course for public school educators. Lori has served on boards and commissions in the state. Currently she is serving on the Disability Transition Task Force. Locally she is a member of the Fort Vancouver Lions Club and has given her time to coaching soccer and participating in efforts like the Walk and Knock Food Drive.

Victoria Bradford

Victoria in her interior design shop, Comfort Interiors.

Victoria Bradford is the owner of Comfort Interiors. She bought the interior design business in 2000, and under Bradford’s ownership, the company has won awards in both the Vancouver Parade of Homes and the Portland Street of Dreams.  She is also one of the founders of Pomeroy Equitable Solutions, a company created to give businesses the opportunity to partner with schools to fund needed programs.

Beyond her full-time duties as a business owner, Bradford has served on the Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors for the past 15 years. Bradford has served four times as Board President and Vice President, as well as the legislative representative and federal liaison for both the EPS District and the Washington State School Directors Association. The Evergreen Public School District is the fourth-largest school district in the state, and the third-largest employer in Clark County, with more than 27,000 students and an annual budget of over $240 million.  She has been a leader during highs and lows in the district, from the budget cuts of the late 2000s to the opening or remodeling of 15 schools.  A signature achievement was her instrumental role in researching and establishing Henrietta Lacks (HeLa) High, a bioscience and healthcare high school, in the district. Bradford is also a founder of the Quality Schools Coalition of SW Washington.

Bradford is a member of the Vancouver Downtown Association. She is on the Development Committee at The Fort Vancouver National Trust and has parlayed her love of ballroom dancing into best dance honors at the Trust’s 2012 Dancing with the Local Stars competition.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Nominations are now open for the 2015 Iris Awards. The winners will be announced in January, and the recipients will be honored at a reception and ceremony on Thursday, March 5, 2015, from 5 p.m. to  7 p.m. in Clark College’s Gaiser Student Center. Tickets will go on sale in late January.

Following in the tradition of the Southwest Washington Women of Achievement Awards, this year’s ceremony marks the 30th anniversary of the college’s annual recognition of women’s contributions to the community. The event began in 1985 at Clark College as a photography exhibit during Women’s History Week. Over the years, the event developed into a larger awards program and ceremony. In 2012, the Iris Awards were introduced with the same focus as previous events: celebrating the lasting and far-reaching contributions of women in Southwest Washington and beyond.

As in the past, the awards will be presented in observation of International Women’s Day (March 8). Three Iris Awards may be presented annually. One recipient may be selected in each of three areas: service in the public sector, service in the private sector, and philanthropic leadership. Anyone may submit a nomination. Additionally, more than one person can fill out a nomination form for the same nominee or provide letters of recommendation.

The awards are sponsored by Clark College, the Vancouver Business Journal, the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, and the Clark College Foundation.

Nominations must be received by Friday, December 19, 2014.

Physical Education instructor Judy Glenney stands in Clark’s weight room. “I still train,” she says. “I want students to see physical fitness as a lifelong activity. I don’t intend to quit any time soon.”

Students in Judy Glenney’s physical education classes learn a few things about their instructor early on: She’s funny. She’s patient. She’s happy to meet students where they are, whether that’s “just got off the couch” or “training for my next triathlon.”

What they don’t always find out, however, is Glenney’s landmark role in promoting women in sports–namely, in making women’s weightlifting an Olympic event. In fact, last October Glenney was honored by the International Weightlifting Federation at a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of women’s competitive weightlifting, held during the IWF’s 2013 World Championships in Wroclaw, Poland.

Glenney guides a student in her Fitness Center Basics class.

“She doesn’t toot her own horn,” says Kathy Slavin, secretary of Clark’s Health and Physical Education Division. “We probably would not have heard about the IWF honor except she had to have a sub for her classes while she was gone.”

“I kind of keep it under wraps,” admits Glenney. “I feel like I would be gloating. But every once in a while, especially with my female students, I’ll let it slip–just, like, ‘Yes, you can lift that, even if you’re a girl. I’ve lifted more than 200 pounds.'”

When Glenney herself first became interested in weightlifting in the 1970s, no one was around to provide her with that empowering message. At the time, women weren’t even supposed to lift weights as exercise, much less in competition. Glenney stumbled into weightlifting by accident: While working one summer for a campus ministry, she wandered into the building’s weight room looking for a place where she and her colleagues could work out.

“I looked around at all the weights and stuff and thought, ‘Wow, this is so cool!'” she recalls. “The only person there was this good-looking young man who offered to show me around, and I said, ‘Yes, please!'”

That good-looking young man turned out to be a student named Gary Glenney, who participated in a Christian weightlifting group called Athletes in Action. The two hit it off, and married soon after Judy graduated from Pacific University in 1971.

Judy Glenney would travel with her new husband to weightlifting competitions, and found herself intrigued by the sport. “It looked like gymnastic movements with weights,” said Glenney, who had participated in several athletic teams while in college.

Glenney stands between IWF president Dr. Tamas Ajan and IWF General Secretary Ma Wenguang after receiving an award at the 2013 IWF World Championships in Wroclaw, Poldand. Photo courtesy of Judy Glenney.

Soon she was learning how to make those moves herself. But when she asked her husband about weightlifting competitions for women, he told her there weren’t any–but that he’d be happy to help her start one. At first, Glenney began asking to compete at the men’s competitions. Soon, however, other women joined her–either inspired by seeing her compete or attracted through Glenney’s outreach efforts. She began to push for separate women’s events at some competitions, and the creation of a separate category for women’s weightlifting records–many of which she set herself. But societal resistance to the idea of “lady” weightlifters proved harder to budge than any barbell.

“My first competition was in 1972, and we didn’t have our first national competition until 1981,” she says with a wry grin. “So, yeah, it took a while.”

But Glenney wasn’t content to simply make it into the U.S. Weightlifting Federation. She wanted women’s weightlifting recognized by the IWF as well–and, ultimately, by the premier name in international sports. “In my mind, I was never just thinking national,” she says. “I wanted it to be an Olympic competition.”

That proved no small feat. Glenney lobbied the IWF to include women in its world championships, which it finally did in 1987. But women’s weightlifting didn’t become an Olympic event until 2000. Glenney was there–but as a judge, not a competitor. She had long since retired from competitive weightlifting, finishing her career as a four-time Women’s National Champion, five-time Master’s National Champion, and two-time World Master’s Champion.

Glenny holds a photo of herself from her weightlifting manual from the 1980s.

Glenney characterizes the Sydney Olympics as a bittersweet moment for her: “Deep down, I was kind of disappointed because I’d missed it as a lifter, but at the same time I was so excited because I contributed to those women being part of the Olympics.”

By then, Glenney had already transitioned into teaching. For 15 years, she has taught classes including Weight Training, Core Conditioning, Fitness Center Basics, and Tennis at Clark College, helping hundreds of students find their own strength.

“She’s an amazing instructor,” says Fitness Center Basics student Anna Rybalka between reps on a weight machine in the Fitness Center. “She manages to be professional and funny at the same time.”

“She’s very upbeat,” says Bryan Andrews, another Fitness Center Basics student, as he adjusts his pace on a treadmill. “She’s personally come over and helped adjust the machines for me. She definitely knows what she’s talking about.”

“At Clark, we pride ourselves on our talented and experienced faculty, and Judy certainly fits those criteria,” says Dean of Health Sciences Blake Bowers. “I appreciate the depth of knowledge she brings to the teaching of physical education, as well as the inspiration she provides not just to her students, but her to fellow faculty members as well.”

“I enjoy the total environment of Clark–the students, faculty, and staff,” says Glenney, whose husband teaches at Clark in the Mathematics Department. “It is just a joy to be around these people and be part of the community of Clark College. The staff everywhere is always willing to help with all my needs, no matter how large or small.”

For Glenney, one of the great joys of teaching is providing her female students with the guidance and encouragement that was absent when she was a young athlete, allowing them to discover their own physical power.

“By the end of the quarter, they’re like, ‘Oh man, look what I can do!'” she says, smiling. “For the first time, they’re really testing their own strength. They say, ‘Wow, I really am strong!’

“And I say, ‘Yeah, you are.'”

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

The 2014 Iris Award honorees: Kris M. Henriksen, Program Coordinator at the Clark County Department of Community Services; Kristy Weaver, Senior Vice President/Team Leader at Pacific Continental Bank; and Sherri McMillan, owner of Northwest Personal Training.

Three women who are leaders in youth advocacy; health and wellness; and business and banking are the winners of the 2014 Iris Awards, honoring women of achievement in Southwest Washington.

The awards will be presented to Kris M. Henriksen, Program Coordinator at the Clark County Department of Community Services; Sherri McMillan, owner of Northwest Personal Training; and Kristy Weaver, Senior Vice President/Team Leader at Pacific Continental Bank.

Henriksen, McMillan, and Weaver will be honored on March 13 (five days after International Women’s Day), in Clark College’s Gaiser Student Center. Following a 5 p.m. reception, the awards ceremony will begin at 6 p.m.

Tickets are on sale through the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. Tickets are $35.00 per person. Seating is limited.

The Iris Awards are supported by Clark College, the Clark College Foundation, Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the Vancouver Business Journal, which publishes the “Women in Business” directory, the only Portland/Vancouver metro area directory of businesses that are owned, directed or managed by women. The Iris Award winners will be featured in the 2014 “Women in Business” directory.

The 2014 Iris Award Recipients

Kris M. Henriksen

Kris M. Henriksen is the Program Coordinator at the Clark County Department of Community Services. For the past 10 years, Henriksen has been the driving force behind creating, developing, and sustaining TeenTalk, a peer-to-peer support line that is youth-led and continually evolving.  The program has received national recognition for its innovative, youth-driven marketing plan.

For her work, Henriksen received the Anne Turner Excellence in Volunteer Management Award in 2011. She has recruited and trained more than 170 youth volunteers.

Henriksen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in behavioral sciences from Concordia University and has put in more than 350 training hours in Building on Developmental Assets, Mental Illness Awareness, Crisis Response, Wraparound Team Facilitation, Community Networking, Cultural Competency, Building on Natural Supports, Mediation Skills, Motivational Interviewing, Developing Family Strengths, Youth Advocacy, Interpersonal Communication, and Humanizing the Workplace.

Outside of her day-to-day work, Henriksen is certified to teach Youth Mental Health First Aid classes in the community. She has helped to coordinate Challenge Day programs in two local high schools each year for the last four years, and volunteers as part of the City of Camas Board of Adjustments, Children’s Sharing Project.

Sherri McMillan

Sherri McMillan is the owner of Northwest Personal Training, celebrating its 14th anniversary in downtown Vancouver. Her company has been recognized as the BBB Business of the Year, Chamber of Commerce Community Builder Award winner and voted No. 1 Fitness & Training studio by the Columbian and the Vancouver Business Journal.

McMillan holds a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for nearly 25 years. She has received numerous industry awards including 2010 CanFitPro International Fitness Presenter of the Year, 2006 IDEA Fitness Director of the Year, 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, and 1998 CanFitPro Fitness Presenter of the Year.

In addition to being a fitness trainer, McMillan is a fitness columnist for various magazines and newspapers (including the Columbian); author of five books and manuals including Go For Fit – the Winning Way to Fat Loss, and Fit over Forty; featured presenter in various fitness DVDs; international fitness presenter; and a spokesperson for Nike, Schwinn and PowerBar.

She is also the Event Director for a number of very successful local events including the Girlfriends Run for a Cure, the Girlfriends & Dudes Triathlon, the Summer Solstice and March Muddy Madness. She has participated in numerous community fundraising events including Dancing with the Stars and Glamorous Gams and has raised nearly $500,000 for local charities over the years. She can be found running, biking or hiking with her daughter, Brianna, and her son, Jackson.

Kristy Weaver

Kristy Weaver is the Senior Vice President and Southwest Washington Team Leader at Pacific Continental Bank, focusing her efforts on developing commercial and non-profit relationships. With nearly 25 years of experience in the banking industry, Weaver’s professional and action-oriented style complements the overall management of Pacific Continental Bank.

Weaver serves on the board of directors at the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, the Children’s Center, and the Legacy Health Salmon Creek Hospital Foundation. Weaver also actively participates in a variety of community and civic organizations including the Community Foundation Professional Advisory Council and Vancouver’s Downtown Association’s First Friday Artwalk.

She graduated from Northwest Intermediate Commercial Lending School and the Western Banking School of Bank Management. She is currently enrolled in Pacific Coast Banking School, a national graduate school for banking, and will complete her program this summer.

Weaver is a native of Washougal who calls Vancouver her home. She has been married to her husband, Kevin, for nine years. They are devoted to their dog, Jackson, who was adopted from the Humane Society of Southwest Washington.  Avid golfers, they love to retreat to Manzanita, Oregon whenever time allows. The most valued things to Weaver are family, friends and community.

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Nominations are now open for the 2014 Iris Awards. The winners will be announced in January, and the recipients will be honored at a reception and ceremony on Monday, March 13, 2014, from 5-7 p.m. in Clark’s Gaiser Student Center. Tickets will go on sale in late January.

Following in the tradition of the Southwest Washington Women of Achievement Awards, this event’s legacy began at Clark College as a photography exhibit during Women’s History Week 1985. In 2012, the Iris Awards were introduced with the same focus: celebrating the lasting and far-reaching contributions of women in Southwest Washington and beyond. As in the past, the awards will be presented in observation of International Women’s Day (March 8).

Three Iris Awards may be presented annually. One recipient may be selected in each of three areas: service in the public sector, service in the private sector, and philanthropic leadership. Anyone may submit a nomination. Additionally, more than one person can fill out a nomination form for the same nominee or provide letters of recommendation.

The awards are sponsored by Clark College, the Vancouver Business Journal, the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the Clark College Foundation.

Award criteria and nomination forms are available online. Nominations must be received by Friday, December 13, 2013.