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Women are making their mark through leadership in public service, business, education and the arts. The News & Record asked the community to nominate women who have made a profound, positive impact on our community for its first Woman of the Year award.

A panel of judges reviewed the nominations and narrowed the field to the top five finalists, who were chosen on criteria such as trailblazing accomplishments, inspirational leadership, mentoring, acts of generosity and making a difference in the lives of others. On Nov. 16, at the Women to Women Celebration Luncheon, one of these women will be announced as the first ever News & Record Woman of the Year. The winner will also be announced in the News & Record on Nov. 17.

The Woman of the Year will receive $5,000 — provided by an anonymous donor — to give to a charity of her choice.

Ruth D. Anderson, executive director of The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro

From her nomination: “Whether as a college professor, executive, teacher, keynote speaker, author, administrator, collaborator in founding organizations such as the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium and the Greensboro Partnership Village tutoring and mentoring programs, or as director of the SLS of Greensboro, Ruth has made and continues to make an enormous impact on the lives of hundreds of women and children.” — Rose Hood

About: Ten years ago, Anderson, 61, was a busy corporate vice president at Kindermusik International when the need for a different path led her to become executive director for The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro, which helps people figure out how they can use their gifts to serve the community and discern their calling.
“It’s finding the work that makes you feel alive inside and finding others who want to do that same kind of work, and then just beginning,” Anderson says. “What you find is that there is great joy in that. When you are giving from your deepest self, from your truest self, it just feels so effortless. It’s not difficult at all.”

Anderson is also the author of four books, including “Hairpin Turn: Trusting Your Heart’s Direction in Leadership and Life ,” where she describes how she left the stressful corporate world for a life of servant leadership.

The proceeds from the book benefit the children at Partnership Village, a local nonprofit Anderson has worked with to help homeless families get back on their feet. Anderson says she is really proud of the work they do there, which includes spending time with the children and tutoring them twice a week.

Carole Bruce, partner at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

From her nomination: “Her broad scope of community service ranges from education, recreation, health, economic development and human service organizations, plus major foundations and the Civil Rights Museum. ... She was one of the first women to make partner at her law firm. She has shattered the glass ceiling as a woman by serving in senior positions normally held by men, including chairman of the Greensboro Sports Council and Greensboro Rotary.” — Ann Lineweaver

About: Bruce, 66, leads a busy life. In addition to being partner at her law firm, she also serves as director of the board of The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, a trustee and chair of the finance committee at Guilford College, and chairperson of the board of Greensboro Partnership, which was formed in 2005 from the merger of Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, Action Greensboro, and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.

“We try to coordinate the community and economic development for Greensboro,” Bruce says. “I’m very commited to rebuilding the jobs of this community. We desperately need good-paying jobs for all of our people.”

Bruce has also been involved with the International Civil Rights Museum, Moses Cone Health System board of trustees, United Way and many other organizations over the years. For Bruce, she can’t imagine not contributing to her community.

“We’ve all received help over time,” Bruce says. “And it’s just the natural thing to do, to want to give back, I think. When I came to Greensboro 43 years ago, there weren’t that many professional women in Greensboro. I was fortunate to be mentored by one — it just seemed natural for her to do that for me, and natural for me to do that for others. “

Goldie Byrd, professor, Dean of College of Arts & Sciences at N.C. A&T

From her nomination: “Dr. Byrd is a leader in her community, in her profession and in our state. She is doing research to address challenges of Alzheimer’s, providing opportunities for African Americans to consider and pursue successfully careers in science, technology and math, and now serving as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at N.C. A&T.”

About: In addition to her role as a professor and dean at N.C. A&T, Byrd keeps her plate full with mentoring, public service and research. Her cutting-edge research into Alzheimer’s Disease is part of the country’s largest study of African American genetics and Alzheimer’s.

Byrd, 55, also serves on nonprofit boards that advance academics and science, particularly women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics).
“Providing meaningful opportunties for extensive outreach, engagement and empowerment in underserved communities is very important to me,” Byrd says.

Byrd said her most meaningful professional accomplishment centers around her mentoring, for more than two decades, of underrepresented students who have gone on to careers in science and medicine. She was recognized for this service at the White House by President Obama with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2010.

“All Americans should give back to the community,” Byrd says. “Women have always given back, even when they were not recognized. We have an obligation to be role models in giving back, for the benefit of the next generation. Our communities need all of us.”

Jane Gibson, public support coordinator with Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro

From her nomination: “Jane Gibson exemplifies the hospice ideal of compassionate service. ... She is by definition a servant-leader. She demonstrates through her devotion to the hospice mission a new way of serving — the mission is first.” — Cynthia Adams

About: The loss of her sister more than two decades ago is what eventually led Gibson, 64, to her work with Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro. Her sister died just four months after a fatal diagnosis, and at the time, Gibson says her family had a hard time dealing with the shock. “I was struck by how much we needed and didn’t know how to get what we needed,” Gibson says.

Later, through her work with the Junior League, she was asked to join a task force to help grieving children. “When I started hearing about what the model program would look like to support grieving children and families, I got so excited, because this was exactly what my family needed and didn’t get,” Gibson says. “... I had such an epiphany about that, that I got fired up about hospice care.”

That eventually lead to a job with HPCG, where Gibson has become a well-known face of the hospice movement, educating the community about dealing with death and dying in a dignified manner.

“When you look at life in reverse, it all makes a lot more sense. You see the connectedness of things. I’m always kind of amazed that one interaction here spurs another action over there,“ she says.

Yolanda Leacraft, retired; member of ABC Board of Greensboro

From her nomination: “Yolanda did not consider her position a job but a calling where she sought to bring women from diverse backgrounds together to accomplish specific goals, encourage them to overcome obstacles in their lives, and counsel them on a one-to-one basis. ... She has been a change agent in many areas such as her work to reduce poverty among women, improve housing and be a voice for those who needed an advocate.” — Jeanne Hudgens Smith

About: Leacraft, 80, has worked over the years to foster the advancement of women, and her work in the Greensboro community at times has centered around affordable housing, domestic violence and the welfare of women and children.

As a former administrator of the Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women, she helped to found Summit House, a residential alternative-to-prison program that kept mothers convicted of nonviolent crime together with their children. It has served as a model for programs all over the country.

Leacraft has also mentored individual women over the years, being a coach and helping them go on to school, get better jobs or get their family life on track. “When I run into somebody, and they say, 'I own a home now,’ that makes you feel really good.”

Women in the community have supported Leacraft in return. When she was chosen to represent the National Association of Commissions for Women at the U.N Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the women of Greensboro raised the funds for her to go.

“I care so much about the community I live in. I would just like to see women recognized for what they actually do. ... I’m just a small part of that; anything that I have done represents many more women who have done more than I have.”