It is our great pleasure to announce the recipients of our 2018 Champions of Change awards, Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet Hewitt! The award, now in its second year, recognizes those who exemplify Saint John’s core values: Love, Courage, Effort, Gratitude, Respect, Community and Growth. Please consider joining us, if you haven’t already reserved your ticket, at our November 3 Party for Change event, to be held from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the Mather Jet Center, 10510 Superfortress Ave., in Mather, where we will present the awards to our 2018 Champions of Change.
Councilwoman Ashby has championed huge change for the women and children of Saint John’s, most notably leading the funding charge at the City for the purchase and renovation of an additional residential facility to house 90 more women and children, which opened in July, 2017. Hewitt, a nine-year veteran of Saint John’s board of directors and six as board chair, has overseen Saint John’s efforts to open and operate its social enterprises (Plates Café, Plates Midtown and First Steps), providing the women of Saint John’s the opportunity to learn real employment skills and obtain jobs after graduating from the program. He was also instrumental in orchestrating the 2017 expansion.
“We couldn’t do what we do for our women and children without the support and dedication of community leaders like Angelique and Chet,” comments Saint John’s Executive Director Michele Steeb. “They both truly exemplify what it means to give back to our community, and do so with undying courage to fight for what’s right for the women and children we serve.”
About Councilwoman Ashby
Councilwoman Ashby is the sole female on the Sacramento City Council. As the District One Representative since 2010, she has a proven track record of successfully advocating for our community – she is a Champion of Change. Councilwoman Ashby partnered with statewide good governance agencies to establish an entire suite of Ethics & Good Governance priorities for the City of Sacramento. She is bringing more than 5000 high-wage jobs to Natomas through the Fortune 500 firm Centene, and introduced a public safety accountability initiative that created a body-cam program and a police oversight committee. Councilwoman Ashby has received numerous awards including the 5th Assembly District Woman of the Year (2012), awards from Sacramento Magazine, Sacramento News and Review, Sacramento Business Journal and FemDems of Sacramento, and was recognized nationally as one of 25 women leaders in government by the Governing Institute of Washington D.C.
About Chet Hewitt
Chet is currently president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and its nonprofit intermediary, The Center. In his career, he has also served as director of Alameda County’s Social Services Agency, associate director at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, and director for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He won national recognition for his work to transform the financing and delivery of child welfare services in California, steering the focus on the healthy development of families and youth. Most recently, he launched the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, which is supporting efforts to effect policy and system change in California’s Central Valley, and the Positive Youth Justice initiative which is working to transform juvenile justice systems across the state. Chet has received numerous awards for his work to advance health equity and social justice, including the 2017 Terrance Keenan Leadership in Health Philanthropy Award, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Families Leaders Fellowship, the Al Geiger Memorial Award – Metro Chamber, and the 2016 Robert T. Matsui Community Service Award.
Blog by Sue Cawdrey
Grants & Communications Manager
Saint John’s Program for Real Change
Responses