Major Category Winner, Arts: Mary Sarah
…my parents were driving me to yet another competition, singing event, national anthem appearance, local Texas Opry’s, Honky Tonks – you name it, we went to them all. Read More…
Major Category Winner, Health and Wellness (video): Nasheen Liu
She allowed herself to cry, but she was determined to pull herself together. After all, she could not change the cards she’d been dealt…. Her will to live dominated her thoughts. Read More…
Major Category Winner, Survivor: Stephanie Gardner
As I look back on life, I see both the joys and the misery I experienced as things that built me into the person I am today….I am a survivor. They did not win. Read More…
Major Category Winner, Breaking Barriers (video): Anjum Nayyar
… She knew her life would change from this moment on…. How would she balance culture and motherhood as a new mom knowing that she wasn’t raised in a traditional South Asian family? Read More…
Major Category Winner, Breaking Barriers: Rosalyn McPherson
…Roz did recover and decided that never again would she allow someone to define who she was or was not. It was not about being a “star”. It was about growth and development…She would not become invisible and her talents would continue to evolve. Read More…
Major Category Winner, History Maker: Jean Gaddy Wilson
Suddenly, I notice the quiet. The flickering light reflects off the workers’ faces. One looks over and says, “Where did you get this? What are you going to do with it?” Read More…
Major Category Winner, MDPT (video): Lynne Silver
Each day… She had stories in her head. Love stories…the kind she loved reading and checked out of the library by the dozen…The library would be hosting a local author giving a talk about becoming a romance author… and the dream to become a professional author began… Read More…
Regional Winner, Africa: Lola Akinmade Åkerström (Nigeria)
Walking up onto that muddy rugby pitch. Burly men stopped playing and watched in silence as I approached them. They peered down at me as I stopped within their midst. “I am Lola,” I introduced myself. “I know you don’t have a women’s rugby team but I will help you start one.” Read More…
Regional Winner, Canada: Michelle Smith
I just knew that sooner or later, the ‘real me’ would burst out of my painstakingly constructed disguise – and then I’d lose everything that I had worked so hard for. Read More…
Regional Winner, East-Central Europe: Hana Medin (Croatia)
I am a person, who knows of no boundaries, does not take no for an answer and is instigated to find a solution to every encountered problem. Read More…