[Music] welcome to the 2024 women of the Year event it is the most fabulous event that we do at the Brookline commission for women it is the first full day of spring it is women's history month we are so excited to be back in person after a long Hiatus of doing this on zoom and we are thrilled to have both our current honores who are up here on the stage and our past honores who are in the audience to talk to you about all the wonderful things that women are doing in Brooklyn this room just feels like power it's amazing um I would like to start with a land acknowledgement and I would also ask before I start with that if you can silence your cell phones take all the pictures you want but please put your cell phone on silent so as We Gather here today as a community let us take a moment to acknowledge the history of this land we call Brookline this is the unseeded land of the massachusett people whose Traditions language and stewardship continue today through their lineal Descendants the Massachusetts tribe of PAB today we are living on land that was taken by force by 1641 the colonists in Brooklyn had allocated to themselves almost all the land that had been inhabited by indigenous people land was not the only form of theft that occurred lives were also stolen historical records state that in 1675 during King Philip's War seven indigenous men were sold into slavery in the Caribbean by residents of the area that we now call Brook line the seven men represent part of the early slave trade slavery in Brooklyn continued and grew but soon those enslaved were African or of African descent by 1746 enslavers claimed ownership of over half of all Brookline land we acknowledge the theft of the land culture and lives and the ensuing enslavement of indigenous and African peoples that occurred here these early policies set the stage for centuries of systemic racism as we remember these atrocities we must commit ourselves to address the ongoing inequities that are the result of our history of colonialism and racism although we as individuals were not perpetrators of these atrocities we have benefited from these systems thus we dedicate ourselves to addressing them today thank you all right I do have a special greeting for our honores hello and thank you to the brook line commission for women for organizing this event to honor the women who make our Commonwealth so great women's history month is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and to reflect on all of the hard work and contributions that we've seen from talented women in Massachusetts this year's honores have dedicated themselves to our public schools and that is something close to my heart I want to start by congratulating Linda Kirby a lifetime Brook liner who is retiring this year after 37 years of service in our public schools that is no easy job but Linda has always approached her work with personal warmth and a real dedication to her colleagues to fellow teachers to parents and most of all to students for over three decades she has been quote the indispensable backbone of the office of student services so thank you Linda for all all you've done for so many people another big congratulations goes to Mindy Pao the director of English language education for the public schools of Brooklyn as a daughter of immigrants and an English learner herself Mindy has used her empathy and her understanding of the Immigrant experience to provide support and guidance for the hundreds of students and Families who come to Brookline from all around the world we are so grateful for your leadership Mindy and last but not least congratulations to Iris Adler Ellen CLE Colette Phillips Julie raffy Irene sge and Betsy Taran the founders of brooklyn. news who in record time have launched a free weekly online news Outlet thanks to you the Brookline Community is getting stronger it's getting more connected and we know how powerfully important that is in today's environment so let me just say this strong women get it done persistent women get it done and our Commonwealth and our country are better for it thank you again for inviting me to join you and for your wonderful accomplishments keep fighting the right is [Applause] fights it is our tradition to ask our last year's honores to come and say a few words and now I'm going to introduce one of our fabulous Commissioners minaki to introduce one of our fabulous honores from last year hi I'm minaki garia as she said one of the Commissioners and it's my great pleasure to introduce one of our honoraries from last year Ruth Ellen Fitch Ruth Ellen was the first medical director for Brookline so can we get some snaps for that she has also used her skills in the law and finance for multiple things around the town like the town advisory committee financial planning advisory committee and she has worked hard to bring Healthcare and uh address inequities for women so Ruth um please come up and say something and how do you feel the award changed anything for you last year I have to say it was really fun getting the award last year um but this is even more fun being here and and accepting the the award from last year in person and it it just feels really good um I was the first Medco coordinator uh under Bob sperber who was the superintendent of schools at that point in time and we were really I I think we were really fortunate to have Bob as the superintendent and paying attention to the me program the way he did and really giving me the ability and the authority to work on the program and to run the program to the for the real betterment of all students in Brooklyn after I um I did that through I think it was 1980 actually and then you you know eons ago and then I went to law school and really benefited from the diligence and the attention to detail that I needed in the Meco program to pass to go to law school graduate from law school and then practice law for a number of years so I'm a happy Brook liner I think a lot that I've done has really been enabled by living in Brookline and having access to public transportation and close to all that's happening so thank you [Applause] thank you Ruth and that is very inspiring to say the least as is all of our honores today I have the pleasure of U introducing Jane Pierce one of our honores from last year and um I'd like to W welcome her to share some of her reflections year we honored her last year because of her tireless work promoting compassionate and caring reproductive healthare access and equity in addition to co-founding a small army of volunteers who support Brookline essential Women's Health Services Jane is also the managing director of reproductive Equity now a leader in New England and in the nation especially in the light for the reproductive health and equity in the post uh row era so it's my honor to really welcome back Jane and [Applause] Jane hello I'm thrilled to be here in person this year to celebrate this amazing cohort of the 2024 Brookline women of the year you're all doing amazing work every day to make Brookline and the world a better place and I really look forward to hearing more about it from each of you as I reflect on the year since the 2023 Brooklyn women of the Year celebration I wish I had better news instead we've seen continued attacks on reproductive Freedom we now live in a country where 21 states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion 21 states while abortion remains legal here in Massachusetts anti-abortion politicians have made clear their intention to ban abortion Nationwide right now extremists are using a tilted Judiciary to attempt to restrict access to misto the first drug used in a medication abortion regimen currently medication abortion accounts for 63% of all abortions Nationwide as I'm sure many of you know the Supreme Court will hear a case involving for pry Stone this Tuesday which means that this June yet again we will be awaiting a Supreme Court decision that could impact abortion access in all 50 states and could reduce access to abortion even here in Massachusetts despite the sobering news I remain hopeful I'm hopeful because we know that people overwhelmingly support bodily autonomy dignity and health care and the ability to control our own Futures in every single election that has put abortion on the ballot since the dobs decision Kansas Kentucky Vermont Ohio California and Michigan abortion has won and it's going to keep winning in 2024 and Beyond I urge you all not to be complacent even here in Massachusetts we need everyone off the sidelines and in this fight with us to make sure we continue to break down barriers and expand access to care we know the protection of roow was never enough especially for black brown immigrant lgbtq and young people here in Brooklyn we're home to activists and Advocates who never fail to show up to demand our rights many of the people in this room have joined me at the state house and called your legislators to advocate for Reproductive Freedom this community never fails to show up for Equitable access to reproductive freedom and healthare and I am so so grateful for that to the Brooklyn commission for women thank you for continuing to recognize the importance of this work in this moment and most importantly congratulations to all of tonight's amazing honores thank you thank you so much Ruth and Jean for coming and telling us about the impact that this a has had on you and the fight that you're still fighting as we move forward and at this time I'd like to introduce one of our fabulous Commissioners Rebecca Stone who will be beginning to introduce our fabulous 2024 honores thank you again to our 2023 women of the Year thank you for your inspiration and all of your work good evening everyone I'm Rebecca Stone I'm delighted to introduce our first woman of the year for 2024 Linda [Applause] Kirby it is tough to follow Elizabeth Warren doing this a daughter of Brooklyn a graduate of the public schools and a parent of kids in the schools Linda has for 37 years devoted her professional life to supporting Pro blind students she first assisted in the old house system at BHS anybody in here remember the house system at BHS um then she managed the special Awards and scholarships but for decades now Linda has managed and been the heartbeat of the office of student services I myself have been a Linda Kirby fan since my days on the school committee but as her ridiculously long list of nominations made clear Linda has a lot of admiring as one of her nominators explained quote the office of student services is the most student facing and challenging Department in the district dealing with the complexities of special education mental health counseling guidance and nursing Linda is the first person to deal with parents families students and staff she always has a listening ear a Compassionate Heart and the ability to get complex and demanding things done another nominator agreed adding Linda is everyone's go-to she always knows what to do and how to do it Linda is also we learned really fussy about furniture when we asked her for a fun fact we might share Linda told us that if she can't find the exact piece of furniture she wants she's going to try to make it herself now Linda your nomin said you knew what to do and how but that is taking DIY to a whole new level anyway in all seriousness it would take far too long to quote everybody who wrote us about Linda Kirby but there was a common refrain people calling Linda indispensable warm helpful excellent at her job and always there to help in any way and one last nominator summed it up absolutely perfectly when they wrote quote recognizing Linda as one of the Brookline women of the year would be not just an acknowledgement of her professional achievements but a celebration of a woman who embodies the very essence of community service and kindness Linda Kirby sets an example for future Generations inspiring them to lead with compassion dedication and an unwavering commitment to what is right for the community the commission for women honors Linda tonight for giving so much of herself to Brookline and for her lasting impact on so many who have benefited from her dedicated professionalism warm friendship and caring attention come on up here Linda yes you can put these aside okay on your chair I want to explain to people that all of our honores are getting a very special Commendation from the state senate courtesy of Senator Cindy cream which says official citation be it known that the Massachusetts Senate hereby extends its congratulations to in this case Linda Kirby in recognition of your being selected as a 24 Brookline woman of the year for your many contributions as an outstanding educator and Advocate thank [Applause] you I'm G that thank you so much Rebecca for those words my goodness um apparently um Elizabeth Warren is my new buddy now so thank you to her too um I want to start by congrat ulating Mindy Iris Alan Colette Julie Irene and Betsy I'm thrilled to be part of this event with you um when I received the call from Liz informing me of this on I hung up the phone and immediately thought oh my God I need to think of a way to get out of this I can't do this this isn't me I don't want it no no no no no but then I thought about all those people that rode in and nominated me my wonderful friends and colleagues both past and present I'm leaving Brooklyn I've been here for a long time they wanted this for me and I am so thrilled I love you for it and I'm G to embrace it I'm Woman of the Year okay okay um I only have three minutes so I'm going to talk really fast um as you can tell by what Rebecca said um it's it should be clear to you that I am a Towny I'm a Towny through and through I grew up here I attended Lincoln School I went to Brooklyn high school and I've either lived here or worked here ever since and I'm the very proud daughter of a towy my both my parents grew up in Brooklyn my dad was a civil engineer for the town of Brooklyn for over 36 years my mom lived here for over 50 years I still have two brothers that live here um and 37 years ago I was working a retail job in kge corner and of course like most stores in kge corner it went out of business so I called my towy dad and I said dad I need a job and the very next day I started a part-time job at Brooklyn high school now over the years there seemed to be some reason or another um to get involved in other things like the Brooklyn educational secretary Association my work with that Union began because um they denied my request to work from home after I had my first child in 1996 even though I I was able to do it it was the right thing to do but they said no and I said well geez now I have to like get involved with this Union so this doesn't happen to anybody else so I did as soon as um I could I got a seat on the executive board and 13 months later I had my second child and um I did work from home when I when I brought him home um so other things that um I got involved in were mainly a necessity for me um I lost my husband to cancer in 2012 and suddenly found myself wondering how I'm going to pay the bills but I was lucky that um I knew so many people in this town and that people knew me and somebody said you know what there's a position that you could do it's the test center coordinator for the College Board um you know kids taking their sat and and um acts and I did it and I was able to pay my bills so it worked out I'm also lucky that I have the family that I do um I have a great family my kids my pride and joy Mary Kate and Casey um so they were definitely having way too much McDonald's meals because I wasn't home to cook I was working a lot but they never complained when I missed their games um where am I oh I also knew at a very very young age that I wanted to be like the queen and uh by the queen I mean my mother because she's the most fabulous woman I know and that's why she's the queen um I've spent the last two decades in Brooklyn working on the fifth floor Town Hall managing the office of student services and supporting the assistant now called the deputy superintendent and Through the Years there were 10 of them um not quite sure why the men didn't didn't fear so fear so well but they did not in that position but let me tell you the women did I worked with some incredibly talented and smart women like Karen schmookler um Casey no Miller and Lisa o Connell I learned so much from these women and they were an absolute joy to work with um so Brook line is home to me it's where I am um every Thanksgiving around no noon time my brother rich and I start texting people to find out if Brooklyn could have possibly beat Newton in the Thanksgiving day football game and you know what we're always going to do that um to the Brooklyn commission for women you are the women of the Year all day every day because you have the backs of all women and girls in Brookline thank you so much for all the work that you do um and listen uh thanks to my dad for getting me that job 37 years ago I think it worked out well for me thank you so so much thank [Applause] you take my gift oh thank you and congratulations to to Linda I'm Julia Kazan and it's my honor to introduce our second Woman of the Year Mindy Paulo a [Applause] child a child of immigrants from Azor and an English language learner herself in elementary school um Mindy's empathy and understanding of the challenges of the Immigrant experience has meant essential support and guidance for over 800 students um and their families each year would come to Brookline from all walks of life and from all over the world as director of English language education and bookline a job she took um on after teaching English as a second language at Brooklyn High um Mindy has over 22 years of advocated for taught celebrated befriended and supported thousands of English Learners and their families as they navigated the compliments Journey of complicated journey of making Brooklyn their new home excuse me my new my my job tonight was to Was Made Easy by what Mindy's nominators told us um such warmth and as and with such warmth and enthusiasm they wrote quote on any given night you'll see um in one office light burning bright and in the Clark Road in Brookline it was Mindy's office um her nominators continued quote Mindy's com compassion for our friends families is evident in everything she does you can find her working alongside a parent who is struggling to support their child on her every way to a children's home to check on their safety well-being cising with staff about new ways to ensure that all Brooklyn's um English Learners feel supported and loved seeking new funding sources for Creative um initiatives for families buying balloons for the next uh El sponsored community events or collaborating with Community Partners she always knows just how who how to connect and and with who um nominators also told us that Mindy is equally devoted and energetic as a professional colleague and Mentor they wrote quotes teachers decide to spend their career in Brooklyn schools in part because of Mindy's support um collegial uh friendship and Prof professionalism another said quote at our department meeting she listens carefully and problem solves us as a team and is every And if every any student um talks about students and always um with warm thoughts another shared with that Mindy truly wants her staff to experience personal and professional success she embodies what it means to lead with empathy compassion and a strong commitment to education and she's always willing to take an extra task if she feels it might help en lighten the road um on someone in her team after reading those nominations it was no surprise to her from Mindy herself that as she puts it she's Adventure at heart who went white water rafting a TV and on atving um a volcanic Mountain suining over rainforests and waterfalls um raffling all over U all in one same week it's amazing um her Nom her nominations continued quote Mindy is an outstanding leader and a champion for Brook Lin's English Learners families and a Powerhouse of positivity and enthusiasm in endorsing Mindy I am confident that her tireless efforts and compassion approach makes her an Exemplar candidate for the women of the year um so the commission for the uh commission for women excuse me the commission for women wholeheartedly agrees congratulations and I'm so happy to bring up Mindy Paulo to the [Applause] podium thank you Julia and thank you to the brook line commission and a warm congratulations to my fellow award recipients Linda and the Brookline news team you all rock some 200000 miles across the Atlantic there once stood a little girl on an island where hydranges grow alongside the roads Vineyards are Bountiful and striking black lava permeates the landscape she is one of nine siblings who lived in a home with just three rooms that had no electricity or running water this little girl never owned more than three outfits at a time and one of those outfits was reserved for Sundays her feet were always bare she never had any shoes she attended a room Schoolhouse until grade 4 but she loved learning she wanted to be a flight attendant when she grew up whenever she saw a a plane fly above she would often wonder is that plane going to America despite their impoverished situation this little girl had a dream a dream to come to America that dream came true when she turned 11 years old she arrived in Boston wearing a dark dark blue skirt suit and her first pair of shoes black velvet Flats she had no possessions other than the clothes on her back but she had a heart and mind filled with hope the hope for a better life one of opportunity and of prosperity although she experienced many obstacles during her early years here in Massachusetts especially linguistic and cultural barriers she successfully navigated her way through life in a new country through it all she held tightly to the promise of a better life I stand before you today because of this little girl this little girl is my [Applause] mother that's the story of resilience that's what I for every day this recognition is not only a tremendous honor for me personally but also a testament to my mother's resiliency and strength and the dedication of Educators everywhere who work tirelessly to inspire and empower the Next Generation as I reflect on the last 22 years I recognize it has been a privilege to serve the Brookline Community but more so I appreciate how this community has served to me during my time as the Director of English language education more than 14,000 students and yes I counted and their families have taught me about sacrifice resilience hope and love their lived experience as some of the most beautiful and heroic stories from the students who fled War torn countries and those who came to seek worldclass medical care to the students whose parents were leading Cutting Edge research to cure diabetes and those whose parents played for the Boston Red Soxs we've had students share the stage with celebrities break World Records develop apps that you're probably using Lobby for social justice lead Community organizations and so much more and they've done so with Brilliance with dignity confidence and humility like my mother they are my heroes they are my why I have stood on the shoulders of giants and have been surrounded by an incredible Village of Educators staff families and students I share this award with every person who has been a part of my journey while it would be impossible to name them all there are some that I would especially like to thank Mr John Dempsey he decided to hire me as a senior in college without lure without a degree but somehow he said she's going to do it so I loved kids I love to challenging myself I said why not there I was at the Den Devotion School teaching Spanish Dr Bill lupini and Dr Jennifer Fisher Mueller at 25 years old they decided to hire me as the Director of English language education I'm not sure what I knew in terms of being an administrator but somehow they saw something in me that I didn't see in myself Miss Ola and Dr Angela Allen Who provided me with unwavering support guidance encouragement and mentorship especially during my first few years being an administrator you each gave me my start in book line you believed in me and you provided me with the support that I needed to be able to continue I am forever grateful that you did this for me coming to work in Brooklyn has always been a joy and that that's because of the incredibly talented and amazing team of Educators I have served and I continue to serve to my El family past and present and there are many of you here today thank you thank you I am humbled by your Collective action to nominate me it has been a gift truly a gift working with and for each and every one of you your caderie has been invaluable and I am truly fortunate to be a part of such a supportive and committed professional family yes I call you my family because Brookline often gets a lot more time from me than my own family does to the brook line commission for women I am sincerely grateful for your belief in my work it is truly humbling to be recognized among such esteemed women who share a passion for making a difference in their communities as we celebrate women's History Month I'm reminded of the countless women who have paved the way for progress in equality breaking barriers and shattering stereotypes along the way their courage and perseverance inspire me to continue to push boundaries and strive for inclusive spaces where everyone everyone has the opportunity to thrive I am arnor to now be among those you have recognized through the years thank you for being a Beacon of Hope in our community as you Empower advance and celebrate our achievements and our contri contributions and to my family my parents my husband my sister there are no words to express my thanks for your unwavering support encouragement and love you have taught me to be someone's strength and to be someone's reason to believe you have taught me to call out injustices and advocate for those who are often marginalized you keep me grounded and remind me why I do this work and to my daughters Emerson and Breslin and my godchild Jazelle your [Music] innocence your dreams fuel my passion to ensure that every child receives a quality education with Equitable access to succeed so that you can all live in a beautiful world every child deserves that I accept this award with immense gratitude and appreciation as an educator I have the profound opportunity and responsibility to shape the minds and futures of the Next Generation it is a privilege and a joy to be a part of this Noble profession and I am deeply committed to making a positive difference in the lives of students and families not just here in Brooklyn but around the globe thank you Brookline for this incredible honor [Applause] what are you doing thank you Mindy that was a great presentation and congratulations again I'm Carol Carol it's a great pleasure to introduce uce our final honores a powerful group of six women who came together to do something extraordinary this past year we're sorry they all couldn't be here but we're happy that Ellen and Julie and Irene and uh Colette are here with us I want to thank those who nominated this group for so beautifully describing what these women have done as they wrote to the commission local news is the Bedrock of a connected community in an age when local newspapers all over the country are dying leaving people feeling isolated uninformed and less trusting of the press Iris Adler Ellen CLE Colette Phillips Julie raferty Irene sey and Betsy tarland revers that Trend right here in Brooklyn and while we honor this them tonight as a group each of these women brought something to the from their successful careers in journalism marketing and business Irene ad is the iris Adler is the former executive director for programming podcasts and special projects at WBUR and was executive editor at the New England cable news she also we learned is besided owner of a golden doodle who now rules her household Ellen CLE served as Deputy managing editor and editor of the editorial page at the Boston Globe she named her 25-year-old fishing boat the rewrite Colette Phillips founded her own thriving communication firm after coming from Antigua where she hosted a weekly television show called let's talk making her the Oprah wirey of Antigua Julie rery has been been Dean has been a Dean for communications at Harvard and is a former journalist who scared an entire County Board of Supervisors enough that they adjourned their meeting meting to the men's room so that she could not hear the issue they were discussing Irene sey was edited of the camell Chron of the Cambridge Chronicle for and a longtime reporter and future writer for the globe she also owned up to winning a rigged election for class president in fourth grade at the braford elementary school when the teacher declared that's a girl this time bety Harland for four decades been uh been strengthening leadership and performance in nonprofit sector and her family has lived in Brooklyn for for even longer her children are the fourth generation of a family to call coolage Corner home following the demise of the Brookline tab these talented women came together in the fall of 2022 to to discuss the news desert in Brooklyn they understood the importance of of having a reliable trusted local news source to build community and ensure a thriving democracy and so they gave birth to Brook line. news committing not just to cover the news the cover issues people programs and institutions that affect our community but also looking to train a new generation of journalists over but uh and for other budding news operators in the area within six months they raise Seas money developed the brooklyn.new webbsite incorporated as a nonprofit and hired a full-time editor launching the free weekly online news Outlet the following May behind the scenes they continue to nurture their Endeavor volunteering time each week to advise edit and oversee The Newsroom ensuring that Brookline news delivers high quality service for the public interest today not even um not even a year after its first issue Brookline news goes across the Brookline Community to more than 5,000 subscribers and that number grows daily none of this would have happened without the initiative skill and in and incredible commitment these Six Women brought back brought to fighting back the Ed tide of local journalism the commission for women celebrates their honor um honors and brings them the quality local journalism back to Brooklyn on behalf of the group uh um Colette Phillips and Julie raffy will will have something to [Applause] say wow thank you I'm I'm really honored and and I know I speak for all of us that we're really honored to be in the company of of Mindy and Linda and and it's really uh really brings a lot to to me to be in such great company uh I want to acknowledge that two of our co-founders Iris Adler and Betsy tarlan couldn't be here tonight uh but I want to acknowledge them as well as my our co-winners today I also want to acknowledge the men who were also key to the founding of brooklyn. news um including Fred Perry is sitting there um I think actually Fred came up with the first check to pay for Brook line. news uh Craig Hower our it Domino uh Dynamo and and and Sam mint the person agreed to be our founding editor and first employee and of course I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't also want to thank our families who have Toler ated all the time and all the angst uh that have gone on in us doing this effort um and I'm glad that we're not all going to speak because we know you all want to be out of here before 8:30 so you know a lot of people think that we started Brook line. news because we missed the Brookline tab um that wasn't really quite it we started it because we missed facts we missed knowing what the heck was going going on in Brookline Brookline wasn't unique in terms of being short on facts more than 2500 daily newspapers have closed down in 15 years that's one quarter of all newspapers in this country now one out of every five Americans lives in a News desert for most of us what we hear is the national news and that's all we get and what that national news does is it polarizes us and it costs us money as Nancy Gibbs director of the shorstein center on media politics and public policy at Harvard wrote In The Washington Post recently research shows that fewer knowledgeable local reporters means less accountability leading to higher public spending lower social cohesion fewer people voting or running for office less ticket splitting and more polarization as people rely only on national news sources yep the lack of local news outlets is slowly killing democracy and it's increasing the costs of the average Municipal bond issue by $650,000 a year a recent study showed no one is watching what's going on in town governments and City Halls around this country anymore why simply because it's not profitable so we started to work to create Brook line. news sitting on Irene seis and I said her name correctly Irene SEI backp porch in the late summer of of 2022 because we think local government can be more transparent and accountable we want to build community and we want to help train the next generation of journalists which we are doing working with organizations and universities around town including brandise bu students from Boston College and Emerson University all of whom are getting their first professional journalistic experiences working with us because we want to make sure there is a pipeline of future journalists we're also bringing together the growing number of nonprofit newsrooms that are springing up across Massachusetts and New England we convened a meeting in January for more than a hundred of people like us who are opening news outlets from Six States to talk about ways that we might collaborate but why do we ultimately do this not just for the facts but because preserving journalism is preserving democracy the fourth estate journalism is the only non-governmental body mentioned in the Constitution the founding fathers knew how important journalism is but as Brian mcgory former editor of the Boston Globe recently wrote quote we are at a perilous moment in our Civic life democracy is under threat quality information is in short Supply misinformation and disinformation are all over your social media feeds lies have become the currency of a certain kind of office holder not in Brooklyn of course at every level but all is not lost as Walter Robinson who used to head the globe Spotlight team recently wrote in Commonwealth and he said much of the country has been fixated on whether we can trust the news we read and watch what is more worrisome is that much of what we should see in the news is not being covered at all most everywhere the Watchdog has stopped barking but the Watchdog is Awakening perhaps nowhere is this more evident than here in Massachusetts we now have the will and the means to expand this pro-democracy movement and that's really why this Intrepid group of Aging journalists and business people started B Brooklyn doc news because we believe quality journalism at every level of society will help preserve our democracy and so I want to thank uh uh the commission I want to thank all of you for listening and I want to turn it over to Colette who will have a few words thank you to the commission for acknowledging women you know there's a saying that women hold up half the sky and that's true um like the late prime minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher says when you want something said done you ask a man but if you want when you want something said you ask a man but when you want something done you ask a woman so we know that women get the work done and I am very very proud to be a part of this wonderful group of women who basically decided that they wanted to create something I think this is going to be the legacy of Ellen and Irene and Iris and Jill and Betsy who really came together I came to the table a little later but I helped to give ideas and make my contributions from a marketing and Communications perspective I also know that it takes a village as they say in the African proverb not to just raise children but to really do something really important and so I want to say tonight how many people in this room are subscribers to Brooklyn news all right whoa yeah and to the rest of you what's up with [Laughter] that we owe you well you could still subscribe we we like people in Newton too so one of the ways that you can really make this Village even bigger is to subscribe but to be able to sustain this organization because it is a nonprofit I invite you subscription is free so I want to invite you to consider being a donor I mean you can be a donor of $100 you could be a donor of a thousand a 100,000 whatever whatever you can give we are open to that and because we want to see Brooklyn news a 100 years from now when we are all gone that Brooklyn news will still be thriving and this will be the legacy of the founders and I want to give a shout out to the men we all have to remember as women we do need male allies and Fred and Craig have been great allies to this wonderful group of women who have brought you Brookline news so thank you to the commission congratulations to all the honores tonight and thank you for [Applause] listening I just want to take another minute to applaud for our amazing 2024 [Applause] honores we have all been inspired by what they've said and our 2023 Nom honores also we continue to be inspired by you I want to thank in particular the rest of my Commissioners if you guys could stand up because they have been all all hands to get this done hadasa did the programs Rebecca is our scribe we have all worked together to make this happen so thank you we can't do it without each other and I'd like to thank all of you for coming it is so nice to have people in person applauding and not just putting up a little sign in their square or rectangle I guess it's a rectangle um but I also want to remind everybody that alone women are powerful but together we are Majestic so on that note persist thank you all for [Music] coming