2026 Women of Achievement Nominees
2026 Women of Achievement Nominees
Introducing This Year's Women of Achievement Nominees
We are excited to share the names of the 63 women who have been nominated for the 2026 Women of Achievement Awards. Publishing the full list of nominees is new for us this year, but we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of all of these submissions.
Work from the women listed here may not always get public attention, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a big impact. Women of Achievement Award winners embody the mission of YWCA Spokane by giving generously of themselves to make Spokane a better place for all to live. To even be nominated means their work has uplifted and inspired others in a powerful way.
While only one honoree will be selected in each award category, we wanted to use this opportunity to highlight a broader community of women who are doing meaningful, transformative work across Spokane and beyond.
Our final honorees will be selected over the next few weeks by a committee of community volunteers, board members, and YWCA staff using a scoring method designed to be as impartial and equitable as possible. Honorees are chosen based on their demonstrated impact, as described in the submitted nomination form.
We invite you to follow along for the official honoree announcement in January 2026!
2026 Women of Achievement Nominees:
- Gloria Aston-Baynes
- Molly Ayers
- Haley Barranger
- Susanna Baylon
- Kerra Bower
- Claire Brutocoa
- Becky Bull Schaefer
- Patricia Castaneda
- Namva Chan
- Dawn Cherry
- Sheila Collins
- Terri Crafts
- Kalpana Doppalapudi
- Michelle Drobny
- Amanda Dugger
- Judy Felgenhauer
- Kelly Fukai
- Lisa Gardner
- Emily Geddes
- Ruth Gifford
- Haley Guenther
- Cindy Guthrie Tripp
- Emily Gwinn
- Nikita Habimana
- Shaelyn Hall
- Erica Hallock
- Olga Lucia Herrera
- Julie Holland
- Lori Hunt
- Jennifer Jay
- Tannu Jiwnana
- Amber Jones
- Catherine Kashork
- Shadan Kapri
- Autumn Kern
- Mary Kuney
- Pui-Yan Lam
- Sara Lambdin
- Teresa Landa
- Inga Laurent
- Eva Marquette
- Lisa McGoldrick
- Sheryl McGrath
- Priya Mhlophe
- Lindsey Myhre
- Michele Moore
- Charlotte Nemec
- Stephy Noble-Beans
- Katy Purviance
- Becky Rempe
- Sandra Rivera
- Emily Schwartz
- Dawn Sellers
- خايمي ستايسي
- Sowmya Surapaneni
- Jennifer Vigil
- Sinead Voorhees
- Karla Watkins
- Colleen Weedman
- Anesu Whacha
- Kimberly Wilson
- Marian Wilson
- Maggie Yates
Questions about the nominations proccess? Please reach out to us at woa@ywcaspokane.org or call (509) 789-9305.
2026 Women of Achievement Awards
March 6th, 2026 at the Davenport Grand
Join us at the Women of Achievement Awards and be inspired each March as we recognize and honor eight of Spokane’s outstanding women leaders and raise critical funds to support the women, children, and domestic violence survivors who access YWCA Spokane’s programs and services more than 20,000 times each year.
By: Claire Schueman