Meet the 2017 Leadership Honorees
These awards recognize leaders who have had a significant impact in improving outcomes for children and families and building Communities of Hope across America.
Select the photo below to read more about the year’s honorees.
Wendy Rickman
Building around a strength-based, family-centered philosophy in child welfare leadership, Wendy Rickman is committed to improving outcomes for families in Iowa. She has worked to develop several initiatives aimed at strengthening families and improving outcomes for children, including a system that creates two pathways for handling child abuse and neglect allegations. She has also led the creation of Iowa’s nationally recognized children’s mental health and well-being community learning labs. Over the past five years, Iowa has experienced an overall reduction of 6 percent in the number of children in foster care. Rickman has worked for the Department of Human Services since 1987 and is a licensed social worker.
Bob Hutchison
Bob Hutchison is a business leader and entrepreneur who has invested his money, time and advocacy into improving community resources and opportunities for youth and families in Eastern Kentucky. He has developed meaningful community relationships and partnerships across a wide spectrum, and connected business leaders to philanthropy and investment in their communities. He has volunteered at and helped lead community organizations that serve vulnerable children and families, including the Christian Appalachian Project. Hutchison and his brother own 14 McDonald’s franchise restaurants in Eastern Kentucky, serving as an important employment base in the community. He has also served as a school board member for more than 20 years and was named Kentucky’s School Board Member of the Year in 2016.
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation, led by President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez, responded to a cluster of youth suicides in 2015 by instituting a tribal listening tour and offering resources to those affected by suicide. The tour was part of the Navajo Nation’s Building Communities of Hope Initiative, aimed at raising awareness and preventing suicide. The tour visited every high school across the three-state nation, despite a cultural taboo about discussing suicide. Tribal leaders also declared a week in December and a week in June as Navajo Nation Suicide Prevention Week. Their efforts have included training for all Navajo Nation employees, trauma-informed care and an outreach campaign. In May, the Indian Health Service launched a suicide prevention campaign, “Love Your Life,” in partnership with the Window Rock, Arizona-headquartered Navajo Nation to connect young people to behavioral health care.
Oglala Sioux Tribe
The Oglala Sioux Tribe has taken on the important work of preventing youth suicides, declaring a state of emergency to focus on this vital issue. Nationally, suicide is the second leading cause of death for Native American youth ages 15 to 24 years old. After the Pine Ridge, South Dakota, tribe experienced a cluster of youth suicides in 2014 and 2015, more Indian Health Service mental health counselors were made available to young members of the tribe. Tribal leadership testified in 2016 before a House subcommittee about the ongoing need for more funding for mental health services that are culturally appropriate, as well as investment to spark job creation and economic development to provide young people with hope and opportunities. Suicide prevention has been an ongoing effort of the tribe, with programs for youth and college students provided through grants from the federally funded Suicide Prevention Resource Center.
Judge Colleen McNally
The Hon. Colleen McNally has served as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge since 2001, presiding over family, dependency, guardianship, adoption and juvenile drug court cases. As Judge McNally began her tenure as presiding judge of Maricopa County Juvenile Court in 2013, the county and the state were experiencing an explosion of their dependency caseloads. Under Judge McNally, Maricopa County initiated a Safe Reduction Workgroup in partnership with the Department of Child Safety to engage multiple systems from three branches of government, private and public entities and community organizations. The county juvenile court designed 10 initiatives aimed at safely expediting permanency. And under her leadership, the Cradles to Crayons court-based initiative aimed at expediting permanency for infants, young children and families has thrived and expanded. As a result of her vision for collaborative systems innovation and the relationships she forged with key stakeholders, Maricopa County’s child welfare system created a unique, wide-reaching, multidisciplinary working partnership that set the table for real improvement and much-needed safe reduction.
