Twelve Dignity & Respect Champions Honored

FOR MORE INFORMATION:                                                                      
Samantha Scribner
412.281-0995 – office
814-279-0616 – cell
sjs@judith-kelly.com

WHAT:   Salute To Dignity & Respect Champions of Greater Pittsburgh

WHO:    Twelve Champions of Dignity & Respect from October 2011 to September 2012.
Mary Jo Podgurski, J. Bracken Burns, Jay & Ranny Ferguson, Rosemary Anderson, Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker, Dr. Magi Berger, Charlie Batch, Jesse McLean, Gwendolyn Watkins, Richard Allison, and Paula K. Davis – for more information on each Champion, visitwww.dignityandrespect.org/drchampion.php

WHEN :  Tuesday, October 2
8:30 to 10 a.m.
Program begins at 9 a.m.

WHERE:  Cabaret at Theater Square
655 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

WHY: October is Dignity & Respect Month.  This annual Salute to Dignity & Respect Champions Breakfast kicks-off the month and honors the individuals who have been recognized over the past twelve months.

The Dignity & Respect Champion program started in March 2010; 32 Greater Pittsburgh residents have received the designation based on a nomination by their co-workers, friends, mentors, or admirers.

The Dignity & Respect Campaign began as an internal initiative at UPMC in 2009.  The Dignity & Respect Council of Greater Pittsburgh was formed as a volunteer advisory board in 2009 as the first community extension of UPMC’s Dignity & Respect Campaign.  Since then, the Campaign has been adopted by schools, businesses, communities, and organizations around the country.  In 2011, Maya Angelou was named the inaugural National Dignity & Respect Champion.
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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Salute to Dignity & Respect Champions Breakfast

FOR MORE INFORMATION:                                                    
Samantha Scribner
Judith Kelly + Associates
412.281-0995 – office
814-279-0616 – cell
sjs@judith-kelly.com



WHAT
  Salute To Dignity & Respect Champions Breakfast

WHO
  The 2012 Pittsburgh, Pa., Dignity & Respect Champions and their families as well as elected officials, city leaders and Dignity & Respect council members will gather for the breakfast.

WHEN
  Tuesday, October 2
8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

WHERE CLO Cabaret Theatre
655 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

WHY The Dignity & Respect Council of Greater Pittsburgh will gather in front of the city’s policy leaders to recognize Pittsburgh’s 11 Dignity & Respect Champions of 2012. The Champions were chosen monthly throughout the year based on a formal nomination process.

Champions were selected based on their support of the values of dignity and respect and their application of those values in the workplace and in their communities. Champions will receive honors for their commitment to accepting and including others. The annual breakfast will kick-off Dignity & Respect Month, which is celebrated in counties across the Commonwealth and in many states nationwide.

The Dignity & Respect Campaign of Greater Pittsburgh began as an initiative by the Center for Inclusion at UPMC in 2008. Trying to encourage inclusion through organizational and behavioral change, the employees took a pledge and suggested actions that promote dignity and respect in the workplace. From this, the “30 Tips of Dignity and Respect” were created to inspire change through everyday behaviors. Within four years, the campaign expanded nationally.

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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Dr. Maya Angelou Receives Dignity and Respect Champion Award

Dr. Maya Angelou Receives Inaugural Dignity and Respect Champion Award

Recognized for Her Lifelong Commitment to Making the World a Better Place for All to Live

Dr. Maya Angelou -- celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist -- is the 2011 Dignity & Respect Champion. The honor was awarded by Candi Castleberry-Singleton, founder and chair of the Dignity & Respect Campaign, a not-for-profit initiative that promotes inclusion by treating people with dignity and respect.

"Maya Angelou has demonstrated unshakable faith and a commitment to the values of family, community, and culture throughout her life. Whether as a cable car conductor, a waitress and cook, a dancer with the Alvin Ailey company, an editor of an English Language paper in Egypt, a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, or a Presidential Medal of Arts winner, Dr. Angelou values all members of the human family," said Ms. Castleberry-Singleton. "She exemplifies the characteristics of a Dignity & Respect Champion."

Ms. Castleberry-Singleton presented the Dignity & Respect Champion award to Dr. Angelou at her home in North Carolina. During their time together, Dr. Angelou reflected on four themes:

•The meaning of dignity and respect -- "When we have dignity and respect we join the communities of human beings and they join us. We are one. Human beings are more alike than we are unalike."

•Living with dignity and respect -- "If you're not respected you can't relax. So if you can't relax, you can't learn. And if you can't learn you don't know anything. You not only don't know who anyone else is, you can't know who you are."

•The human condition -- "You must speak up! Speak up for your soul's sake. For your spirit's sake."

•Courage -- "Courage is the most important of all virtues because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can be anything erratically. You can be kind, fair, true, generous, just, merciful, all of those things every now and again. But to be that thing consistently, you have to have courage."

Videos of Dr. Angelou's comments to Ms. Castleberry-Singleton are available at http://www.dignityandrespect.org.

The Dignity & Respect Champion designation is a program of the Dignity & Respect Campaign, a national, grassroots initiative created in 2009 to encourage and promote the message of inclusion, beginning with the core belief that everyone deserves dignity and respect. This awareness and advocacy effort promotes positive behavioral change in individuals, communities, schools, and organizations. The Campaign extended from an internal effort at UPMC, a Pittsburgh-based organization, to a community-wide initiative in 2009; it broadened beyond the greater Pittsburgh area in Fall 2011 with the celebration of October as Dignity & Respect Month.

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Partners in Life, Partners in Community Commitment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact: Melissa Allen
412.969.2530
maa@judith-kelly.com

Ranny and Jay Ferguson Recognized as December

Dignity and Respect Champions

Husband and Wife Partner in Commitment to Give Back to Community

Ranny and Jay Ferguson

(PITTSBURGH, PA) – Both strong advocates for the community, Ranny and Jay Ferguson work tirelessly to spread the notion that everyone deserves dignity and respect. They believe that an individual must value themselves, in order to value others.

“If we don’t give value, dignity, and respect to children across all sorts of ethnicities, races, or economical background, and if they don’t feel they have that kind of respect among their peers and among others, that is where things begin to break down. It is about commitment. If commitments aren’t made, or aren’t kept, there can be devastating effects. Accountability is as much a large part of inclusion as treating each other with dignity and respect,” Jay said.

Nominated by chief inclusion and diversity officer, UPMC,Candi Castleberry-Singleton, Ranny and Jay have been selected as the December Dignity and Respect Champions for their dedication to giving back to the community.

“Ranny and Jay Ferguson are not only leaders, they are community citizens. Jay is authentically interested and involved in the initiatives his organization – Fifth Third Bank – supports. Jay’s wife, Ranny, is his partner in their commitment to the community.They show up, whether it’s a neighborhood event or a corporate reception. They walk the talk and write the checks,”Candi said.

In November, Jay became chairman of Fifth Third Bank of western Pennsylvania, where for eight years he served as president of the western Pennsylvania market. In addition, Jay currently serves on the boards of directors of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children and UPMC St. Margaret Memorial Hospital, where he is vice chairman and treasurer of the Hospital’s foundation.

Ranny retired after teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and The Ellis School, and is now a full-time community advocate.She volunteers with many organizations such as the Race for the Cure, The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, among others.

“I truly believe that supporting people and being involved with people in our community only strengthens the ties we have all among us, and it also strengthens Pittsburgh. I often feel that when I volunteer, I am the one who benefits. You give some of yourself, but you get so much back,” Ranny said.

Jay and Ranny are modest about receiving the award, and credit their parents for teaching them about important values.

“We’re honored and proud. Jay and I are both native Pittsburghers who were raised by professional parents, but ones who felt strongly about giving back to the community. They taught us about the value of each individual person. ” Ranny said.

Jay adds, “Respect and inclusion are one of Fifth Third’s four core values. It is something that we instill in each of our employees and our recruits that come on board. This is something very important individually and as a corporation or organization. I think unless you manifest those kinds of values as a corporation, you may not do so as an individual.”

The Dignity and Respect Campaign is an awareness initiativedesigned to join individuals, community leaders, community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and corporations under the common notion that everyone deserves dignity and respect.

For more information and to take the Dignity and Respect Pledge, visit http://www.dignityandrespect.org/

Posted on behalf of Joanne Quinn-Smith by Joyce Kane.  Joyce is the Owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Bracken Burns Honored as Dignity and Respect Champion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact: Melissa Allen
412.281.0995
412.969.2530
maa@judith-kelly.com

Washington County Commissioner Bracken Burns Receives Dignity & Respect Champion Award

Commissioner Burns Honored for Years of Service to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Region

(PITTSBURGH, PA) November 30, 2011– County Commissioner Bracken Burns has dedicated 40 years to Washington County government, working tirelessly to make sure everyone had a place in the community where they were valued and accepted for their differences.

Bracken has tried to build a regional community that embraces diversity and encourages its citizens to love and respect each other. He often reminds others that “inclusion is not just about race, it also includes gender, age, geography, income, folks with handicaps, etc.”

Nominated by Melissa Allen, County Commissioner Bracken Burns was selected as the November Dignity and  Respect Champion for expanding the work he does in Washington County to surrounding communities and throughout the southwestern Pennsylvania region.

“Bracken’s devotion to the community is invaluable. Within just minutes of talking with him or hearing him speak to others, you can tell that the work he does is truly from the heart. He’s dedicated to making our communities welcoming to all of us,” Melissa said.

Serving as Washington County Commissioner since 1996, Bracken decided not to run for a fifth term in office. Since taking office 16 years ago, Bracken’s accomplishments include spearheading construction of the 50 bed Alzheimer’s Unit at the Washington County Health Center, developing an Attendant Care Training Program to aid elderly and disabled citizens, leading historic preservation efforts to restore and utilize the old jail as a Family Court Center, and more.

Commissioner Burns is known for starting all of his public comments with the phrase, “It’s a great day in Washington County.” He feels that we all have an obligation to be a “cheerleader for our community.”

Bracken is an influential supporter of the Dignity and Respect Campaign. In addition to advocating with Washington County Commissioners to recognize October as Dignity and Respect Month, he wrote a personal letter to nine other counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, promoting the Campaign and October as Dignity and Respect Month. Thanks to Bracken’s efforts, October was proclaimed Dignity and Respect Month in 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties.

Bracken has always admired the saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” He feels that those of us who have been blessed with health, wealth, a good family, etc. have an obligation to assure that others in the community are given the same opportunities.

In addition to being recognized as a Dignity and Respect Champion, Bracken has received many honors that show his dedication to fighting for everyone’s right to be treated equally. These awards include the Mental Health Neighbor of the Year Award in 1991, the Friend of 4-H Award in 2003, the NAACP Human Rights Award in 2007, and the Teen Outreach Social Justice award in 2009, among many others.

In accepting the award, Commissioner Burns said that he was, “humbled and honored to be recognized for doing what he called “the minimum expected of each of us – loving your neighbor.”

The Dignity and Respect Campaign is an awareness initiative designed to join individuals, community leaders, community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and corporations under the common notion that everyone deserves dignity and respect.

For more information and to take the Dignity and Respect pledge, visit dignityandrespect.org.
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Dr. Podgurski Named Dignity and Respect Champion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact: Melissa Marullo
412.969.2530
mam@judith-kelly.com

Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski Recognized as October

Dignity & Respect Champion

Director of The Washington Hospital Teen Outreach and President of Academy for Adolescent Health Inc. Honored for Work with Teens


(PITTSBURGH, PA) October 31, 2011– As an advocate for teen health, Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski works tirelessly to make the community a safe and respectful environment for youth to make healthy and smart decisions as they grow.


“One of the challenges we have is to reframe culture. We have to make it unacceptable to be disrespectful to others and it starts with young people. It has to be automatic to know that it is not o.k. to not respect others. If I can get kids to know that, that is a huge leap in changing our whole culture,” Mary Jo said.


Nominated by Washington County Commissioner Bracken Burns, Mary Jo was selected as the October Dignity & Respect Champion for her work at the Academy for Adolescent Health and The Washington Hospital Teen Outreach.


“Mary Jo is the personification of the phrase dignity and respect. She has devoted her life to the adolescent population and, in addition to respecting them, she demands that they respect each other,” Bracken said.


The Academy for Adolescent Health, Inc., which Mary Jo founded in 1988, provides programs for teens and youth and works to create a community in which young people are respected and able to enjoy physical and mental wellness. The organization serves as an advocate for youth, parents, professionals, and community members to encourage wellness.


Mary Jo lives in Washington, PA with her husband of 38 years. She attributes her success to her loving parents and supporting family.


“I’ve been married since ’73, and he is a wonderful partner. My father was an Italian immigrant, and my parents taught me to respect all people regardless of race, ethnicity, orientation, or funds. That was rare considering the time. Adults matter in the lives of teenagers. I’m teaching these young people how to make healthy choices so they can be good human beings.”


The Washington Hospital Teen Outreach holds an annual Ambassador for Respect Program in which 20,000 students participate in a “pass it on” activity that encourages recognition of respectful behavior. Each year the program centers around a different topic, including focusing on the word “respect” and what it means, listening to a speaker who talks about poverty among African Americans, a focus on self-respect and how young people think about themselves, and most recently, respecting people of all abilities.


Mary Jo is modest about receiving the award, as the passion for her work is driven by the youth, and not recognition.


“Everything I do is a joy. I do it because the kids are worth it. They are worth my time and they are worth all of our time. I was raised to believe you do things for the right reasons, not an award. My reward is working with the kids.” Mary Jo said.


The Dignity & Respect Campaign is an awareness initiative designed to join individuals, community leaders, community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and corporations under the common notion that everyone deserves dignity and respect.


For more information and to take the Dignity & Respect pledge, visit dignityandrespect.org.
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Everett McElveen September Dignity and Respect Champion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact: Melissa Marullo
412.969.2530
mam@judith-kelly.com

Everett McElveen Recognized as September

Dignity and Respect Champion

President and CEO of Life’sWork of Western PA Honored for Helping Individuals with Disabilities Achieve Independence and Self-Sufficiency

(PITTSBURGH, PA) September 22, 2011– Everett McElveen works so the mission of Life’sWork remains the same as it did 84 years ago – to provide opportunity, employment, and independence to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. With this mission, he assures the organization treats everyone with dignity and respect, hoping to change the community for the better.

“Treating people with dignity and respect is good for all of us, and if we did that, a lot of the problems we have in the world would be solved. Our communities would be better, kids would be respectful in school, parents would treat their children consistently in that manner, bullying, everything would be different.”

Life’sWork started as an experiment in 1927 to find out if women who could not leave their homes due to housework and children could contribute to the family budget. Now, it is a nonprofit organization that assists more than 2,000 individuals each year to achieve independence and self-esteem through employment opportunities.

Nominated by Bernadette Turner, Everett was selected as the September Dignity and Respect Champion for working to create a respectful environment for all of those around him.

“Everett is oblivious to size, color, and physical ability when he is talking to a participant about their work at the center or smiling with them as they proudly show him their completed project. From the moment you walk in the doors, the employees are warm and welcoming. That type of environment is not happenstance, that is leadership. Everett is dignity and respect,” Bernadette said.

Everett lives in Ohio Township with his wife, and has been working at Life’s Work for seven years, a job that frequently reminds him how blessed he is. Everett believes treating others with dignity and respect is important in our daily lives because we are all one in the same.

“I find my job rewarding because of the families and the individuals we assist. People take it for granted that we are able-minded and able-bodied. From a disability perspective, the teenage years are difficult enough. People don’t realize if you are born with a disability, it is an added burden on your daily life. People are very bias towards others that are not like them. We are good at picking out what makes us different, but we are not aware of things that make us exactly the same,” Everett said.

The Dignity and Respect Campaign is an awareness campaign designed to join individuals, community leaders, community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and corporations under the common notion that everyone deserves dignity and respect.

For more information and to take the Dignity and Respect pledge, visit:
· www.dignityandrespect.org
· Dignity & Respect Campaign on Facebook
· DRCampaign on Twitter
· Text RESPECT to 94253

October is Dignity and Respect Month.
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