Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 12-18-18

Local
Three Selected As 2019 Women’s
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women (COSW) has selected three Tampa women as their 2019 Hall Of Fame Inductees. This is the second year the organi- zation, created to honor women who have made sig- nificant contributions, has recognized women from the community.
The honorees are: Ms. Maryann Ferenc, Attor- ney Carolyn House Stewart, and Mrs. Joanna Tokley.
They will be honored at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, April 26, 2019. The luncheon will take place at the Westshore DoubleTree Hotel, 4500 W. Cypress, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Ms. Maryann Ferenc
is a successful business owner, leader, and advocate for business in Tampa Bay.
Ms. Ferenc began her career in the food industry working in her parents’ restaurant in Detroit, Michigan. After high school, she enrolled at Wayne State University. She earned her degree in theater while managing a gourmet health food restaurant. She has served as an Assistant to the Director of Ruth Eckerd Hall. During her tenure at Eckerd, she founded the Hospitality Division.
In 1986, she joined forces with co-proprietor Chef Marty Blitz to open the doors of Mise en Place. Ms. Ferenc is credited with introducing New American cuisine to Tampa Bay Area, and was involved in the downtown renais- sance when she moved Mise en Place to Kennedy Boule- vard at Grand Central Av- enue in 1992.
Eastern Stars, Court #96,
Harram
Hall Of Fame Inductees
MS. MARYANN FERENC
She is involved in feed- ing the hungry while ac- tively supporting downtown and Tampa’s independent businesses network. Ms. Ferenc is a visible and powerful presence in Tampa Bay, and is linked to several community organi- zations, including Feeding America Tampa Bay, Taste of the NFL, Visit Tampa Bay, Tampa Independent Business Alliance, Tampa Downtown Partnership and the Greater Tampa Cham- ber of Commerce where she is currently serving as Treasurer.
A native of Richland County, South Carolina, At- torney Carolyn House Stewart earned her B. A. degree in History and Social Science Education from the University of South Florida in 1974, and her J. D. de- gree from the University of South Carolina Law Center in 1977.
She became the first African American woman to become employed as Assis- tant Litigation Counsel for the Jim Walter Corporation in 1977. She left the Jim Walter Corporation in 1980 to work as Assistant State Attorney in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, where she was also the first African American woman to serve in that capacity. Four years
ATTORNEY CAROLYN HOUSE STEWART
later, she was named Assis- tant County Attorney for the Hillsborough Office of the County Attorney. She then entered private prac- tice working at the Butler and Burnette Law Firm.
Initiated as an under- graduate in 1972, Attorney Stewart joined the Gamma Theta Omega Graduate Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. after beginning her legal career. In 1998, she was appointed International Program Committee Chair, which was followed by her serving as International Secretary, and Vice President. Attor- ney Stewart became the twenty-eighth International President of the organiza- tion in 2010. She completed her term as international president in 2014.
Attorney Stewart is a founding board member of the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs. She is the re- cipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Florida Commission on the Status of Women and the National Bar Association. Atty. Stewart is a legacy life member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).
Attorney Stewart was interviewed by The Histo- ryMakers on September 10, 2018.
MRS. JOANNA TOKLEY
For 12 years, Mrs. Joanna Tokley served as classroom teacher at Mid- dleton and Plant High Schools. She taught Biology, Science, and Mathematics. She also served as a Human Rights Specialist. Mrs. Tokley also volunteered during election campaigns registering, educating, and working as a poll worker.
After leaving the school district, Mrs. Tokley em- barked on her second ca- reer, beginning as a pioneer helping women find non- traditional jobs in the con- struction trades, and other careers new to women as the Director of The Tampa Urban League’s Labor Edu- cation Program, 1978 to 1982. During her tenure, she wrote and designed a Rites of Passage program for training hundreds of girls and young women to become successful adults in the areas of self-esteem, so- cial grace, etc., and a pro- gram still being used by the Derrick Brooks Crime Pre- vention Program, today.
Mrs. Tokley continued to further the cause of women in the local commu- nity through her member- ships and leadership roles in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Epicure- ans, Inc., The Athena Soci- ety, and The Order of
She is a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and other re- ligious membership organi- zations. Mrs. Tokley also mentored numerous (at least 15) young women who have become her goddaugh- ters and have attained suc- cessful careers and community volunteer posi- tions as a result of her coun- seling.
Mrs. Tokley is a mem- ber of several organizations including: being an inaugu- ral member of The Charmettes; The Athena Society; and Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women (inau- gural member), among oth- ers.
She designed and imple- mented the cutting edge 1980 Teen Pregnancy Pre- vention Program that’s served thousands of young women and parents on building self-esteem and strengths to avoid and re- duce the incidence of teen pregnancy; established a free computer skills pro- gram for single mothers and single fathers and male heads of households in partnership with IBM Cor- poration and Hillsborough Community College, and assisted parents seeking higher wage jobs.
Mrs. Tokley was an advocate for the renaming of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd., as well as an ac- tive participant in Civil Rights, the establishment of the Hillsborough County Healthcare Program, the implementation of the Hillsborough County Human Rights ordinance, took an active role in estab- lishing single-member dis- tricts for Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa.
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