I remember settling down on my bed with the newest issue of a popular teen magazine one day back when I was around 14 years old. I always looked forward to getting my monthly magazines – ‘Teen, Seventeen, YM and the like; I’m pretty sure I subscribed to them all. As most  teen girls know, it is CRUCIAL to stay on top of the latest celebrity gossip, fashion trends and makeup tips. However, as I was flipping through my “bible,” I came across a different sort of article about a subject I had never heard of before – the treatment of women by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It was a fascinating article – my young mind had never before conceived that this type of behavior was allowed – revered, even – in this modern day and age. It broke my heart to learn what the Afghan women went through; that some of them even encouraged it, because they had never known any differently.

This was my first introduction to Mavis Nicholson Leno, more famously known as Jay Leno’s wife. She has been a driving force behind the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campaign to Help Afghan Women and Girls and the United States’ most outspoken critic of the Taliban’s horrific treatment of women. Why am I talking about this on the EDC’s blog? What does this have to do with McLean County or economic development? Well, Mavis Leno is this year’s keynote speaker at the YWCA McLean County’s Women of Distinction awards dinner (Thursday, May 27th).

I have been involved with the Women of Distinction event for the past three years. I first became familiar with it back in 2004 when I was an intern at a local company and was invited to attend. Eleanor Clift was the keynote speaker.  I remember being excited to be at an event where I had actually heard of the keynote speaker before – you see, I had watched her many Sunday mornings on The McLaughlin Group on PBS (thanks to my dad). Regardless of whether or not you agree with her political beliefs, you have to admit, she makes the show interesting. Anyway, at the event, I bought two of her books, one of which was Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment.

This book was a major eye-opener. I never knew the struggle that women went through to get the right to vote. Why don’t they talk more about this in school? I remember learning that the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, but I don’t remember learning anything else about it or what securing that right entailed. I think if they taught this, maybe young people would be more inclined to get involved in the political process. But, I digress…

This book (and Iron-Jawed Angels, the movie it was made into starring Hilary Swank) changed my view of my life as an American citizen. I no longer take the right to vote for granted; I try not to take our other basic rights for granted. So, when I was invited to be part of the Women of Distinction steering committee a few years ago, I heartily said “yes!” I love the YWCA and what it stands for: eliminating racism and empowering women. I feel this year’s keynote speaker defines that mission down to its very core.

So, back to this blog post’s title, “Who is a Woman of Distinction?” Well, I think Mavis Leno is a woman of distinction. She has worked tirelessly for her cause. But, you don’t have to be a celebrity (or married to a celebrity) to be a woman of distinction. You don’t have to chair a national campaign to be a woman of distinction. A woman of distinction is someone who has made a difference in someone’s life, in her community, in her profession; someone you would want your daughter, your sister, your niece to emulate. Your next-door neighbor could be a woman of distinction. Your co-worker could be a woman of distinction. Your child’s baby-sitter could be a woman of distinction. All it takes is for you to recognize her. All it takes is for you to nominate her. Don’t wait for someone else to do it; follow Mavis Leno’s lead, follow our “founding sisters’” lead, and GO FOR IT!

For more information or a nomination form, click here.