2011 Woman on the Move Award
All of these women were nominated for their outstand professional accomplishments and their contributions to the Greater Richmond Community. They were recognized at our 4th annual Women on the Move Luncheon on September 22nd.
Congratulations to our 2011 WOMAN ON THE MOVE!
Deborah Johnston
Owner & President
Care Advantage, Inc
Debbie Johnston is a trusted, local entrepreneur who saw the need to bring the “Care” back into “Health Care.” She is the owner and president of Care Advantage, Inc., Nurse Advantage, and All About Care which have become leading Healthcare companies for personal and companion home healthcare along with facility staffing. She is the author of “The School of Heart Knocks” about her journey from a humble start to a career as a Registered Nurse and then into the entrepreneurship of a multi-million-dollar compassionate care company. She is a huge philanthropist and has given back to the community by donating over $500,000 to nonprofit organizations. She is also the Founder of Eunice’s Circle of Widowed Friends which is a Social Group for Widows, Widowers, and those individuals who have lost a loved one.
Our other Finalists
V.P. & Director of Clinical Services
Dominion Youth Services, Inc.
Molly Cheek has been an integral part of the development of Dominion Youth Services since 1999. She has provided the primary clinical vision for how services have been designed and offered to the hundreds of clients served over the past ten years. Her compassion and caring about the lives of clients started with the days at Horizon House where she provided direct counseling and made sure that each resident had someone to care about them...her. Her positive regard for all children has long been the example that others have modeled themselves after. Through her efforts, Dominion Youth Services is known throughout the state as a premier provider of mental health services/counseling for adolescents and young adults. Her leadership has helped the company grow from 3 employees to over five hundred.
COO
Johnston-Willis Hospital
Tracy has proudly worked in the health care industry for nearly thirty years, starting as a “Candy Striper” as a teenager. She then became a nurse, and from there went into direct patient care which transitioned later into hospital administration - where she remains today. She became Chief Operating Officer of Johnston-Willis Hospital in 2004 and her role there has given her the opportunity to make a difference everyday, something she aspires to do daily. Under her leadership the hospital expanded and received a tremendous amount of recognition and praise. Her compassion, intelligence, and perseverance have also led her to become chairwoman of the Greater Richmond Chamber.
Our other outstanding Nominees
CEO & President
Kleane Kare
In 1986, equipped with a vacuum cleaner, one car and a dream, a very determined Sharon Dabney-Wooldridge started out. With patience, persistence and plain hard work, she created what is now one of Virginia’s most successful commercial and governmental janitorial cleaning small businesses: Kleane Kare. Armed with her studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, professional experiences in banking and financial investing and strong desire to succeed, Sharon continues to grow as an entrepreneur. Her efforts have earned Kleane Kare the coveted “2000 Micro Enterprise Merit Award” for Outstanding Achievement by the Virginia Micro Enterprise Network. Additionally, her belief in environmentally-safe cleaning services positions Kleane Kare miles ahead of traditional janitorial firms.
Co-Founder & President
Posh Tots
Andrea and her partners started the online store, PoshTots, in 2000 and the site quickly earned a reputation as a “style star and the designer of choice for Hollywood moms and creative parents.” PoshTots was sold to BabyUniverse in 2006 for $12 million dollars. After Baby Universe’s parent company filed for bankruptcy in December of 2001, Andrea purchased the company again for $735,000 and it is an incredibly successful retailer…again!
Director of Marketing
Baskervill
Tracey has contributed significantly to her company as the Director of Marketing and was instrumental in helping the firm weather the Great Recession. She increased the national awareness of the firm's services and markets, securing new business and adding to the bottom line. She also increased Baskervill's commitment to the environment and their communities with sustainability practices. Tracey is an idea-person with a unique abiity to see ideas through to fruition through actionable plans. She has a knack for motivating people and encouraging them to succeed. She was instrumental in establishing SMPS PROBono, a non-profit initiative to provide other non-profits with pro-bono marketing, communications and PR services.
CEO & Founder
Partner MD
Linda has consistently demonstrated a talent for identifying successful businesses and growing them into thriving enterprises. In 2003, PartnerMD was started with only 40 patients and one physician. PartnerMD is now the largest concierge medical practice under one roof. The practice has over 4,000 individual and corporate clients, a staff of 50, and offices in Richmond, McLean and Midlothian. The company was awarded the Companies to Watch Award and Linda received the 2010 Executive Women in Business Achievement Award by Style Weekly. Aside from PartnerMD, Linda started the first exclusively school-age childcare program in Richmond in 1983 which she ultimately sold for $5 million. Linda also designed and started the Compass Schools, a private preschool and kindergarten, where she served as CEO for three years. In additional, she served on Lt. Govenor, tim Kaine's Healthcare Commissions charged with reducing the costs of health care.
Director of Operations
Madison+Main
Molly Quarles successfully runs essentially, two businesses. She is the Director of Operations for Madison+Main, a creative marketing and new media firm that provides innovative solutions for emerging businesses, and she is the founder of SproutLaunch.com – a website that inspires good deeds and rewards users for doing them. What Molly has done is spearhead a much needed movement, wherein kindness can return to everyday life. She is a force to be reckoned with as she took a simple idea and innovatively created a space that inspires everyday people to be kind and pay it forward everyday.
Esquire
Locke Partin DeBoer and Quinn
Colleen is accomplished in several legal practice areas: adoption & surrogacy, person injury and employment law with a focus on women's issues. She is passionate about helping people in need, whether it is the need to have a family after years of experiencing infertility, or the need for a foster family to stop DSS from arbitrarily removing children who have been in their home for three or four years, or the need to find resources and overcome the devastation of rape, sexual assault, or job loss, to the need to get good advice through a difficult employment situation. Colleen is courageous and will take on any case that calls for justice--even it it means taking a stand against government entities or large corpoations. She frequently trains and teaches in the areas of anti-discrimination, harassment or retalliation. In addition to being the lead author of the newest edition of the Virginia CLE book, "Adoption Procedures and Forms," you will find articles written by her in more than 117 publications. When asked what kind of law she practices, Colleen answers, "building families and re-building lives."
Public Relations Director
UNOS
As the city’s first female newscaster to anchor a 6 o’clock news broadcast, Lisa Schaffner with her charming smile and can-do attitude has left her mark on broadcast journalism in the area. After twenty-two years as a newscaster, Lisa is now the ‘face’ of UNOS, United Network for Organ Sharing, a non-profit organization that handles organ sharing. Lisa works around the clock to ensure the best job is done. Whether it was behind the desk as an anchor, in the home as a mother, or now as public relations directorfor UNOS, she has a fiery spirit that knows how to get the job done – and does it.
Partner
Whitestone Partners
Before working as a partner in Whitestone Partners, Inc. she had her own consulting firm, Pro HR Services, where she provided human resources, workforce and professional development expertise to companies ranging in size from small businesses to Fortune 10 organizations. She performed comprehensive HR audits, helped businesses develop positively impactful HR systems, wrote training curricula and testing for a Fortune 10 company, developed and delivered more than 30 unique workshops focused on management skills and development. As a partner of Whitestone Partners, Inc. she is a critical asset to the team, bringing her knowledge, ambition, and dedication to her clients as she works with their best interests in mind. She is the social media guru of Whitestone Partners, Inc. as well, and she works hard to stay on top of it all.