Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership and Oak Tree Award Recipients Named
In lieu of an in-person Annual Dinner this year, Centre Foundation celebrated community giving by hosting a week-long social media celebration during Centre County Philanthropy Week (November 16-20, 2020).
As part of the celebration, Dr. Barbara Farmer was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership Award, which recognizes women in our community who have made a significant impact through their leadership.
Dr. Farmer has a long history of leadership in our community through her roles as the principal at Houserville/Lemont Elementary Schools, Penn State Director of Multicultural Affairs for the College of IST, and as the creator of the WPSU radio show, “What Matters.”
The Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership Fund was created in 2017 by Barbara Palmer to honor her longtime friend Mimi, when Mimi received the Oak Tree Award. Additionally, in honor of the fund’s awardee each year, a $2,500 grant is given to a local nonprofit of her choice. This year, Dr. Farmer selected the Community Diversity Group, which focuses on bringing diverse people together to cultivate inclusive and engaged communities.
Centre Foundation also named “our Centre County community” as the 2020 recipient of the Oak Tree Award, which recognizes someone who has made a significant impact in the community through their work with Centre Foundation.
“Our community stepped up in a variety of philanthropic ways. In light of this extraordinary group effort to lift one another up, we couldn’t pick an individual recipient for the Oak Tree Award. Through record-setting participation in Centre Gives, various organizations working together to feed and house our most vulnerable community members, encouraging student philanthropy through Centre PACT, and so much more, our community truly set an example for how to compassionately care for each other through times of crisis. We hope this recognition is a source of pride for the community and highlights each of our roles in shaping the future as we wish to see it,” said Molly Kunkel, Executive Director of Centre Foundation.
For more information or to get involved with Centre Foundation, please contact Molly Kunkel (molly@centrefoundation.org | 814.237.6229).
