Anthena Award nominees announced

Debra Bish: Corporate executive vice president of marketing for First Place Bank; developed the bank’s partnership with General Motors over the launch of the Chevrolet Cruze; organized the bank’s 2009 holiday food bank campaign in Youngstown, Cleveland, Detroit and Flint, Mich.; named a 2010 Distinguished Sales and Marketing Awards honoree by the Sales and Marketing Executives of Cleveland.

Brenda Burbick: Certified long-term care ombudsman specialist with the Ohio Department of Aging; manages the volunteer ombudsman program for Area Agency on Aging 11; received the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Excellent Advocate Award in 2005; responsible for involving volunteers in the 2008 effort to ensure that the area’s nursing home residents benefited from the federal economic stimulus package.

Christine Comeau: Owner of Minuteman Plumbing and Drain;vice president of Austintown Junior Women’s League; Austintown Band Parent since 2000, serving as president, head chaperone, trip coordinator and activities director; trustee of Austintown Colts Youth Football Organization.

Donna Detwiler: Pre-admission/pre-certification coordinator and access-case manager for Forum Health; counsels patients who have been diagnosed with cancer and coordinated patient reimbursement with health-insurance companies; facilitates the local multiple myeloma support group for patients and caregivers in Columbiana, Trumbull and Mahoning counties; Relay for Life volunteer; Eucharistic minister and committee volunteer for mission service at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New Middletown.

Carmelita Douglas: Director for internal audit for the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority; grant writer for YMHA’s successful $10 million Capital Fund Competitive Grant award; served on the boards of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Burdman Group, the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership and the former Youngstown Area Urban League; founding member of the Zeta Gamma undergraduate chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Jennifer Hanigosky: Area sales manager for Home Savings and Loan Bank; involved in the Youngstown-Columbiana Association of Realtors; teaches financial credit management classes at various schools in the Valley; participated on the Women’s Council for Home Builders Association.

Sandra Haynes: Associate vice president of investments with Wells Fargo Advisors; coordinator for Day of Caring; board member for First Covenant Church; council member for Canfield Lion’s Club; member of the shawl ministry for Hospice of the Valley.

Carol Hitchcock: Owner of Home Instead Senior Care; ambassador for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber since 2005; committee member for the Pizza Cook-Off to benefit the Youngstown Development Program for Children in Austintown; volunteer with Mission of Love; member of the zoning appeals board for Jackson Township.

Karen Jones: Executive officer for the Warren Area Board of Realtors; served for 12 years on Lordstown Village Council; president of the board of public affairs in Lordstown; has traveled to Russia 29 times with LifeLine Missions, an organization she formed to give care to disabled orphans and the elderly in the former Soviet Union; recording secretary for the Lordstown High School Alumni Association.

Mary Keller: Radiology manager of Southwoods Imaging; supervises the company’s involvement in Relay for Life; mentors students in radiology technology.

Linda Krestel: Manager of Struthers Federal Credit Union; served on the Ohio Credit Union League Chapter Structure Task Force in 2008 and 2009; has served as deacon, elder and Sunday school teacher at Struthers Presbyterian Church; member of the Struthers Rotary Club since 1997; member of the Struthers School Foundation for Education Excellence.

Diane Less: Co-founder of Angels for Animals; raised more than $3.5 million in private funds to build the Angels for Animals facility; primary fundraiser for Angels for Animals; worked with county commissioners in Columbiana and Mahoning to implement a mandatory spay and neuter program; founder of the Spotted Horse Studio, which specializes in vehicle graphics.

Shawna L’Italien: Attorney with Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell law firm; chairwoman of the firm’s associate development committee; member of the Salem Community Hospital Board of Trustees; board member of Salem Kiwanis and the United Community Scholarship Foundation; vice chairwoman of the board of the Columbiana County Mental Health Clinic; the only attorney on the Business Advisory Board for the Salem Area Industrial Development Corp.; volunteer at Kensington Christian Church’s Vacation Bible School.

Yulanda McCarty-Harris: Director of equal opportunity and diversity at Youngstown State University; chairwoman of YSU’s Diversity Council; created the YSU Diversity Leadership Recognition Celebration; fellow of the Ohio State Bar Association Foundation; member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; adviser for Youngstown’s Community of Faith Credit Union.

Linda McNally: Director of the Culinary Arts Center; part of the John Zidian Companies Brand Development Team; developed the West Coast market area for Gia Russa brands; designing a series of charity events at the Culinary Arts Center.

Lynn Miller: Corporate marketing director for Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Services; member of the Rotary Club of Warren; member of the board of directors for HandsOn Volunteer Network; member of the Forum Health/Trumbull Memorial Hospital Foundation Communications Committee; on the marketing and public relations committee of the YWCA of Warren.

Robin Miller: Owner and vice president of Gilbert’s Insurance and Consulting; personal lines insurance consultant with the company; involved in the Brookfield School District; board member for the Community Food Warehouse.

Joyce Mistovich: Art educator for Boardman schools and teaches art for seventh- and eighth-graders at Boardman Center Middle School; supervisor of the middle school’s television studio; commissioner for the Boardman Township Park Board; serves on the Boardman Township Branding Committee; member of the Junior League of Youngstown; works on the Friends of Scouting campaign for the Boy Scouts of America.

Cathy Lou Pokrivnak: Administrative assistant for Youngstown State University; student employee supervisor at YSU; president of her local chapter of the American Business Women’s Association; trustee of the Orchard Park Condo Board.

Barb Scott: Owner of Community Caregivers of Mahoning County and board member for the Jake Scott Foundation.

Constance Shaffer: Executive director of the YWCA of Youngstown; acquired $3.5 million in low-income housing tax credits in 2007 to renovate the historic YWCA building; started the Young Women with Bright Futures Award; developed the YWCA Workforce Development project and Women’s Leadership Conference.

Suzyn Schwebel Epstein: Community volunteer; member of the Board of Directors for the Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association; docent for the Butler Institute of American Art; member of the Junior League of Youngstown; member of community advisory committee for the Youngstown State University Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies program; member of the Jewish Community Relations Council board.

Patricia Shively: Associate director of the Marion G. Resch Center for Student Progress at Youngstown State University; president of the YSU Women’s Club; co-director of YSU Press Day; steering committee member for United Way; faculty adviser for the Non-Traditional Student Organization.

Susan Stricklin: Vice president and marketing director for Home Savings and Loan; member of the Goodwill Industry Board; Marketing Advisory Board member for the American Bankers Association; board member of the Potential Development Program.

Catherine Tolbert: Senior vice president of nursing and clinical services and chief nursing officer for Humility of Mary Health Partners; member of the adjunct faculty of Kent State University College of Nursing; member of the Niles Kiwanis; member of Trumbull County Relay for Life.

Gwen Vennetti: Industrial nurse for V&M Star; created and developed health care and wellness program for V&M Star; created and implemented an annual health fair at V&M Star; chairwoman of V&M Star’s Community Relations Committee.

Kathleen Marie Vrable-Bryan: District Administrator for the Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District; member of the Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries Group, the Youngstown Symphony Guild and the Stambaugh Pillars; raises funds for St. Michael Church’s Scholarship Fund and Appalachian Partnership.

Elizabeth Ward: Manager for Hill, Barth & King; founding member of the firm’s Professional Women’s Advancement Team; secretary and founding member of the Howland Community Scholarship Foundation; adviser to the Warren YWCA Finance Committee; member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Mahoning-Shenango Valley Estate Planning Council.

Cary Wecht Horvath: Chairwoman and associate professor for the department of communication at Youngstown State University; author of a communications textbook that is used at YSU, Kent State University and the University of Dayton; serves on the Austintown School Bond Issue Committee; member of Austintown Junior Women’s League.