If you haven’t yet voted in the 2009 Leadership Awards online vote, please do so today.  Polls close at 5 p.m. today and your vote will definitely make a difference!

I watched Sister Mary Bourdon begin the Washington Middle School for Girls a little over 10 years ago, first as an after school study hall with 12 girls in a basement apartment, then into a two campus school, serving almost 100 students in grades 4-8.

And when I say serving, I mean:

“Good friend forgive me if I offend, I know I am not the only one with problems. I also understand that there are many people with greater problems than mines. But for you to take the time to consider mines, that I am most grateful. It is good that when one has climbed the ladder of success to the top, that he or she reaches down and help those that are not able to.” 
– YK

Your vote can empower women to move out of homelessness

Recently, Connie, a woman who lives at Calvary Women’s Shelter, wrote the following:

This online voting for the Washington Middle School For Girls has been the most incredible experience.

In response to my blanket email to everyone in my address book, I am hearing from people I haven’t heard from in years.  None has been more poignant than the response from a distant cousin who was brought back to a conversation she had with her aunt when she was 10 years old.

Friends of Guesthouse is the only program of its kind in all of Northern Virginia. 

We provide support and resources to formerly incarcerated women convicted of non-violent crimes, so that they may more successfully integrate back into their communities. The women work hard to progress through the program and work hard on improving themselves.

Fretting about who to vote for in our 2009 Leadership Awards online vote?

Not to fear, live from the Internet I was greeted this morning by a number of third-party bloggers advocating for various organizations.  Check out the following and maybe your decision-making about the organization best supporting our region’s women and girls will be made a little easier.

It’s that time again–for the Leadership Awards online vote!

A committed group of volunteers has selected the 10 outstanding Leadership Awardees for 2009, who are doing innovative, effective work serving the health and safety of women and girls in our region.  Each awardee has received $10,000 to help fuel their work.

As a follow-on to my colleague Gwen’s thoughtful post on the Rihanna domestic violence situation and the way it’s being handled in the media, I thought I’d throw in this piece from Feministing, about the reactions of some Boston teens to the story.

What do you get when you combine 58 volunteers, 66 nominations, 54 phone calls, 33 site visits, 20 presentations and hours of deliberation and due diligence?

You get the 2009 Leadership Awardees, of course!