Recognized for her work on behalf of others, especially youth and families, Judy Watson Olson was honored as recipient of the 2008 Evergreen Award of Marquette County.
The award was announced at the Lake Superior Community Partnership annual dinner on April 11.
Watson Olson was recognized for accomplishments in her career promoting positive youth development throughout the Upper Peninsula. She is president of Great Lakes Center for Youth Development, an organization that works to promote a healthy youth environment by strengthening area nonprofits.
“This award is really for our entire community and its commitment to youth, especially over the last twenty years,” said Watson Olson when she received the award. “I’ve watched the recipients of the Athena Award and now the Evergreen Award over the years and have been so impressed with this group of people. Now to be counted among them is quite an honor.”
Watson Olson has encouraged people and organizations to work together, people who may not otherwise have come together, said Karen Thompson, director of operations at GLCYD. Thompson nominated Watson Olson for the Evergreen Award.
“By building collaborations of support, girls will have a greater opportunity to grow into successful, caring young women,” Thompson said. “Strong women contribute to healthier families and communities.”
The Evergreen Award is the regional version of the Athena Award, and is organized by the Zonta Club of the Marquette Area. The award is open to women and men of Marquette County who are inspirational in their roles as mentors of women and girls. The selection committee evaluated nominees based on how they demonstrated excellence, creativity and initiative in their professions or as volunteers.
Watson Olson began her career at Michigan State University Extension as a district Extension leader for the Upper Peninsula, county Extension director of Mackinac County and 4-H youth agent for Midland County.
“This work was her initiation into the field of youth development and support of young women,” Thompson wrote in her nomination.
In 1987, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation made a twenty-year commitment to three areas in Michigan. Marquette and Alger counties were the remote location for this idea of building model communities where youth grow into healthy and caring adults. Watson Olson was chosen to lead that effort, which eventually would grow to become GLCYD, with more than twenty years invested in making youth issues a community-wide priority.
A regional climate of professional and positive opportunities for women and girls has been strengthened by Watson Olson’s involvement in a variety of programs and projects. She helped the U.P. Children’s Museum and NMU Student Leader Fellowship Program secure grants that helped both in their start up and sustainability. In 1997, she started working with the Marquette-Alger Regional Education Service Area and local school superintendents to begin administering the “profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors” survey. The survey captures a snapshot of how young people are feeling about themselves and the communities in which they live; 2006 marked the fifth time the survey was administered and a decade of data captured about the state of the region’s youth.
“Through Judy’s leadership ‘positive youth development’ and ‘youth assets’ have become commonly-used phrase used to describe the community’s awareness of what is needed for a healthy youth environment,” Thompson wrote.
The Evergreen Award program also includes a scholarship to a local life-long learner pursuing an educational program. This award is made in the spring. Scholarship applications are available by contacting the Marquette Community Foundation.
Evergreen Award and Scholarship sponsors include Barton & Associates, Ameriprise Financial, Hetrick & Associates Insurance Agency, Interiors by Design, The Landmark Inn, Peninsula Medical, Public Service Garage, Range Bank, Zonta Club of Marquette Area and Marquette Monthly. For details, visit www.zontamqt.org or contact Pam Stewart at 228-7500 or pcs@ hetrickins.com
—Ann Gonyea