Operation PAR’s President, Shirley D. Coletti, has distinguished herself as a leading advocate for substance abusing women and their children and families. As an outstanding contributor to the field of substance abuse treatment, prevention and education for more than 35 years, she was the driving force behind the founding of Operation PAR (Parental Awareness and Responsibility).
Senator Gwen Margolis is a longtime elected official whose historic achievements in office have paved the way for many other women. First elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974, she was re-elected three times before being elected to the Senate in 1980. In the Senate, she chaired committees including Finance, Tax and Claims, and Appropriations, where she helped deal with the budget crisis facing Florida at the time. In 1990, Senator Margolis was named President of the Florida Senate, becoming the first woman in the United States to serve as president of any Senate. While President, she spearheaded landmark open government and open records legislation. She also helped secure passage of legislation touted at the time as the toughest ethics in the country.
Claudine Ryce, formerly of Miami, was a well-known part of the missing children’s advocacy landscape in Florida. From the time of her son’s abduction and murder in 1995, she worked tirelessly to protect other children from the same fate. Her experiences led her to lobby for new sexual predator legislation. In 1996 she created the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction.
Lucy Morgan of Tallahassee has had a distinguished career of over 40 years as journalist with the St. Petersburg Times and other Central Florida Newspapers. Ms. Morgan began her career in 1965 as a general reporter for the Ocala, Florida Star-Banner. In 1968 she joined the St. Petersburg Times, where in 1986 she was appointed the chief of the paper’s Capital Bureau in Tallahassee.
Tillie Kidd Fowler was a dedicated public servant whose accomplishments as a community volunteer and public official are as significant as the integrity, civility and grace with which she achieved them.
Caridad Asensio has dedicated herself to improving the conditions under which migrant farm workers and their families survive. She is directly responsible for the formation of the Migrant Association of South Florida in 1989. In 1992, Ms. Asensio’s tireless efforts and decades of service culminated in the opening of the Caridad Health Clinic, the first clinic in South Florida to provide free health care for the needy farm workers and their children through volunteer services.
Justice Peggy A. Quince of Tallahassee is the first Black female Justice of the Florida Supreme Court and only the third female Justice. She has the distinction of having been appointed jointly by then-Governor Lawton Chiles and Governor-Elect Jeb Bush. Prior to her appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, she was the first Black female appointed to one of Florida’s district courts of appeal with her appointment in 1993 to the Second District Court of Appeal
Maryly VanLeer Peck of Winter Haven and Palm Beach Gardens has influenced many lives as an educator, administrator and pioneer for women in science. With more than 45 years of experience in chemical engineering, government research and university administration, Dr. Peck exemplifies the concept of servant leadership.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has been recognized as a gifted leader and defender of human rights. Born in Havana, Cuba, she was the first Hispanic woman to serve in both the Florida state legislature as well in the United States Congress. Her work as an educator paved the way for her introduction of Florida’s first prepaid college tuition plan while serving in the Florida Senate (a national model).
Dr. Pallavi Patel of Tampa, is a board-certified pediatrician, a philanthropist, and an outstanding citizen who has advanced the role of women around Florida and around the world. Born in India, Pallavi began her medical career in Zambia. In future years, she and her husband would return to Zambia and India, making them focal points for their philanthropy by building hospitals, schools and other community projects, as well as leading disaster relief projects.