“Yes She Can!”

By Helen Graber, PhD


Eighth Annual Spafford Spring Roundtable


“Yes She Can!” was the theme of the Spring Roundtable held on April 28 in the Community Meeting Room of the College’s Goodwill Humanitarian Building. The program featured three speakers who addressed issues of great importance to women and their families. Dr. Amanda Barusch, a professor in the College of Social Work, talked about the needs and solutions of older women. Lam Nguyen, director of shelter and diversity services at the YWCA, talked about issues facing younger women and their families. Ms. Julie Tanner, vice president and manager of Women’s Financial Services at Wells Fargo, provided suggestions for greater financial literacy and planning. The brief remarks inspired animated discussion in the small groups that followed the panel.

The Belle S. Spafford Award, initiated in 2003, is given to a woman who exemplifies Ms. Spafford’s qualities of leadership, inclusiveness, and integrity, and who has worked effectively to improve the lives of women and their families in Utah. This year, Dr. Jayne Wolfe, chair of the Spafford Advisory Committee, presented the seventh annual Belle S. Spafford Award to RoseAnn Gunther of American Fork. Stemming from a commitment to engage young women in community service, Ms. Gunther and her volunteers have worked closely with agencies such as Hearts and Hands, Mothers without Borders, and Operation Give, gathering items to be distributed throughout the world. To date, they have created more than 155,000 hygiene, school, and newborn kits, and 28 pallets of surgical equipment.

MSW student Jennifer Doty Cornett was also recognized at the Roundtable for her “achievement and promise in improving the lives of women.” Congratulations to both award recipients!

Spafford Scholarships


On March 12, the Spafford Advisory Committee (SAC) hosted an inaugural “scholarship tea” to raise funds to assist a woman returning to school after an extended time period. This event was organized by SAC member Colleen Thompson and was held at the home of Heidi Vriens. The tea featured Suzan Young speaking on the importance of education for women and girls. Ms. Young shared that while she and her husband, current University of Utah President Michael K. Young, were raising their children, she returned to school for her nursing degree. The March tea set the SAC well on its way toward an annual goal of $3,000. The SAC anticipates making the tea an annual event to provide scholarship funds.

Women Leaders Utah


In late March, the College was pleased to host the public launch of Women Leaders Utah (WLU), a new online registry that can be used by various government, business, and philanthropic organizations to identify potential board, commission, and committee members.

Women Leaders Utah was created by a group of women’s organizations led by Dr. Helen Graber, Spafford Chair at the College of Social Work. The group – which also includes the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO); Junior League of Salt Lake City; Women’s Business Center of the Salt Lake Chamber; Wells Fargo Women’s Financial Services; Salt Lake Community College; the YWCA; and the United Way’s Women’s Philanthropic Network – felt that the visibility and influence of women in Utah needed to be strengthened, and realized that one way to achieve this goal is to increase women’s participation in community affairs and decision-making. To our knowledge, the WLU website is the first free registry for this purpose.

The registry allows women to create profiles in which they specify their leadership interests and areas of expertise. They can also volunteer to act as speakers on certain topics or provide mentoring for younger women. Currently, more than 180 women have created such profiles.

"Women Leaders Utah and other innovative programs are ushering in a new era for women in our State,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. “This registry will certainly be a useful resource, leading to greater opportunities for women who are in leadership positions and those who wish to pursue leadership roles.” In addition to Mayor Corroon, the launch featured several other community leaders who spoke about the importance of this resource including: Dr. Jannah Mather, dean of the University of Utah College of Social Work; Chris Redgrave, current chair of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; and philanthropist and businesswoman Christine Arthur.

Those interested in adding their profile or searching for a woman leader can go to www.womenleadersutah.org

The goals of Women Leaders Utah are to:

  • Act as a comprehensive online cooperative network to attract private, government, and non-profit decision makers who are seeking women leaders;
  • Serve as an educational and informational resource to connect organizations with women leaders who possess broad-based or unique skill sets appropriate to those organizations; and
  • Provide a virtual forum to promote the personal and professional development of women interested in expanded or new leadership opportunities.