Montgomery Women Honors Award Recipients at 10th Annual Power Tea

Online, March 11, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Montgomery Women is proud to announce the 2014 Rising and Shining Star Honorees. The Rising Star Award honors the life of Phyllis Campbell Newsome, a visionary activist and founding member of Montgomery Women. The Shining Star Award honors two beloved founding members of Montgomery Women, Delegate Jane Lawton and County Council Member Marilyn Praisner.

2014 SHINING STAR HONOREE
BONNIE FOGEL
Founder and Executive Director, Imagination Stage, Inc.

Montgomery Women is proud to honor Bonnie Fogel for her lifetime of service to our community. Bonnie founded Imagination Stage, Inc. in 1979. Almost 34 years later, Imagination Stage serves approximately 100,000 children and their families each year and is the largest theatre and arts center for children on the East Coast. As Executive Director of Imagination Stage, Bonnie is responsible for strategic direction, mission and vision and finding the resources to support the organization. She has also been involved with many different organizations in the community with a view to promoting the value of the arts for cultural, social, and economic benefit of the community. She is currently on the Board of Advisors for The Siena School and on the Board of Directors for Pull Tabs for Charity. She is also on the Ronald McDonald's Charities Committee and the Leadership Montgomery Scholarship Committee. Through the years she has also served on many Boards including the Communities in Schools in the Nation's Capitol, Arts Council of Montgomery County, and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce. Bonnie has won many awards throughout her accomplished career including the Helen Star from Theatre Washington and Arts Stars award from Montgomery College. Bonnie has also been named in Maryland's Top 100 Women (twice!), Washington Business Journal's Women Who Mean Business, Smart CEO: 25 Top Business Women, and Washingtonian of the Year from Washingtonian Magazine. Montgomery Women congratulates Bonnie on being an outstanding leader and a Shining Star in the community.

2014 RISING STAR HONOREE DR. HEDIEH MIRAHMADI
President, The World Organization for Resource Development and Education

Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi, this year's Rising Star, currently serves as the President of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing conflict between diverse societies. She is a world renowned expert in community based programming that promotes social cohesion and builds resilience against violent extremism. In furtherance of that mission, Hedieh established the International Cultural Center where people from diverse traditions perform community service, participate in educational programs, and share in artistic expression in order to foster peaceful co-existence and social harmony. In recognition of her important work in interfaith relations, Hedieh was recently appointed to the Montgomery County Faith Community Advisory Council for whom she Co-Chairs the Faith Community Working Group and directs its Prevention and Intervention of Violence subcommittee. She is also a Board member for the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families. Dr. Mirahmadi earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Southern California, her B.A. in History from UCLA, and her degree in Islamic doctrine from the As-Sunnah Foundation.

Montgomery Women is a non-partisan leadership and political action committee started in 2001 by a diverse group of experienced and emerging community leaders who recognized the need to provide a forum for women's voices in Montgomery County. When Governor Parris Glendenning made three dozen green bag appointments in the State of Maryland and not one of them was a woman. A group of women decided that something needed to be done.

Our membership includes many of the County's most influential women in business, education, civic affairs, government and politics. We bring together women from all cultural backgrounds and every corner of our County to advance common interests and support outstanding women in their quest for positions of power and influence.