Women's Hall of Fame Honors Local Women of Excellence

The San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1984, and 27 years later stand-out women are still being honored for their contributions to the well-being of San Mateo County.

The 2011 Women's Hall of Fame awards ceremony took place last night at the South San Francisco Conference Center, and for most honorees this one night was a reward for a lifelong career of service to the county.

At the time the first awards ceremony was established, it was the first of its kind in California. The hall of fame has added over 200 women to its ranks since.

"Our annual Women's Hall of Fame and Young Women of Excellence Awards are a testament that women and girls make a tremendous difference in our communities," commission president Jei Africa said in a statement.

Here are the 2011 honorees:

Ann Therese Ban
Raegene Castle
Celia Harnett
May Lacsamana Nichols
Karen Schwarz
Cheryl Sinclair

Honorees are chosen by the Commission on the Status of Women of San Mateo County, a nonpartisan group appointed by the county Board of Supervisors which established and continues to organize the Women's Hall of Fame, based on nominations submitted by the general public.

In addition to the Women's Hall of Fame, the commission also established a way of commending young women of San Mateo County in 1992: The Young Women of Excellence Awards. The 2011 Young Women of Excellence are Jessica Esquivel and Alison Nicole Logia.

The award for Young Women of Excellence was established to provide "visibility and empowerment to young women for their accomplishments in community service, academic achievement, and acts of courage and perseverance in their daily lives," according to a statement by the commission.

Stay tuned to San Mateo Patch for feature profiles on the honorees.