12 named this year’s Stanislaus County Outstanding Women and Outstanding Young Women

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Stanislaus County Commission for Women each year honors some of the county’s Outstanding Women and Outstanding Young Women.

The commission’s 2024 Outstanding Women Brunch will be held at 10 a.m. March 9 at Greens on Tenth, 953 10th St., Modesto. For more information and a link to buy tickets, which are $45, go to www.stanislauswomen.net.

A dozen women are being feted this year. Here, from the commission, is a bit to know about each:

Outstanding women

Marjorie Derby

A lifelong resident of Stanislaus County, former Ceres teacher Marge Derby is dedicated to ensuring equal access to education, activities and safety for disadvantaged youth and families, those living with a disability, and the elderly. She is active with Salvation Army’s Red Shield Center and Friends of the Ceres Library, and volunteered in earlier years with Omega Nu, the county children’s Mental Health Board, Howard Training Center, United Cerebral Palsy and other organizations. She was a CASA volunteer and served on the oversight committee to build the Susan Burris therapeutic pool at Sonoma School. Derby is a fundraiser for many Red Shield projects and recreational activities, including the Steven Derby scholarship, named for her son.

Amanda Hughes

Amanda Hughes lives and works in her hometown, Modesto, and has developed deep connections within the community. She understands the problems of Stanislaus County, especially the issue of poverty, which affects the community’s health, education rates, economic development and natural environment. Hughes served as program director at Stanislaus Community Foundation and was instrumental in its participation in the Stanislaus READS! Initiative. She now is the executive director of Stanislaus 2030, the public and private partnership designed to revitalize the local economy. Amanda is a past president of the Stanislaus County Commission for Women and has served on the board for 11 years.

Allison Jeffery

Turlock resident Allie Jeffery is an associate director at Legacy Health Endowment, dedicated to increasing access to healthcare services and educating people about healthy lifestyle decisions. She also volunteers in the health field as a board member, raising awareness of mental health, emergency shelter and suicide prevention issues. She serves on the Stanislaus Health Foundation, Stanislaus County Emergency Food and Shelter Program Advisory Board, Turlock Community Development Block Grant Committee and Kiwanis of Greater Turlock. Allie was also a recreation commissioner for Turlock and recognized as a Healthcare Hero for her dedication to improving healthcare access in the Central Valley.

Amy Abid Jeffries

As a founding board member of Modesto Children’s Museum, Amy Jeffries spent a number of years volunteering her time to create the museum in her hometown, which opened its doors last September as a place for children to learn through creativity and adventure. She spearheaded the organization’s development, served as secretary and will be its president in July 2024. Jeffreies also serves on the board of Modesto Chamber of Commerce and on the Asset Development Committee for the Stanislaus Community Foundation. She is the first named female shareholder at Gianelli, Friedman & Jeffries. In 2021, she was named by San Francisco Magazine as a Rising Star of top female attorneys in Northern California.

Betty Julian

For more than 20 years, Turlock resident Betty Julian has advocated for women and children in our county. An attorney specializing in family law, she is vice president of the Stanislaus County Bar Association. Julian is also on the board of directors for the Family Justice Center, which provides comprehensive services to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. She is a member of the Turlock Chamber of Commerce and a partner at McCormick Barstow in Modesto. Turlock’s Letter to Santa program raises funds to provide coats and other clothing, toys, and a turkey dinner to children and their families. As a board member, Julian helped raise more than $200,000 last year for the Santa program, helping thousands of Stanislaus County needy residents.

Ruth Luman

Modesto Junior College faculty member and Modesto resident Ruth Luman is dedicated to assisting refugees and immigrants who are learning English and navigating the complexities of their new home. She trains her colleagues to understand how to best serve students experiencing culture shock as they attend schools here for the first time. Luman partnered with agencies such as World Relief (where she also serves on the community board) to provide English classes for women who recently arrived from Afghanistan, including offering childcare. She helped establish a women’s sewing circle at MJC, where new skills are learned and refugee women feel safe on campus.

Colleen Preston

Lifelong Modesto resident Colleen Preston volunteers her time and expertise to many organizations, some of them related to health education. She helped Davis High School write a grant that resulted in receiving $75,000 to address food insecurity and student health and well-being. A food pantry was established for Davis students and their families and the Spartan Center was created to promote social and emotional health through counseling and peer mentoring. During 2023, the center supported more than 2,000 students. Preston retired from Kaiser Permanente after serving as a neonatal intensive care nurse, hospice nurse and, eventually, chief nursing officer. She was on the 2021-22 Civil Grand Jury and now volunteers for League of Women Voters of Stanislaus County.

May Rico

Since 1993, May Rico has dedicated herself to serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking in Stanislaus County, all at one organization: Health Alternatives to Violent Environments, or HAVEN. She began there as a student intern and became a legal program assistant, then legal program director, program manager, associate director and, finally, executive director, which she has been since 2015. Under Rico’s leadership, HAVEN expanded services to include educational programs for teens about healthy relationships. She also focused on social justice issues, supporting LGBTQ and immigrant rights, among others. Rico serves on the board of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and also received an outstanding woman award from Oakdale Soroptimist.

Bette Belle Smith Award

Amy Wolfe

Amy Wolfe dedicates herself to the community as a member of Modesto Rotary, for which she is president-elect. She is on its foundation board, whose purpose is to donate funds to organizations such as Modesto Children’s Museum, LearningQuest Stanislaus Literacy Centers, HAVEN and the Center for Human Services. She is on the board of the League of Women Voters of Stanislaus County and of Protected Harvest, a nonprofit organization that certifies crops as sustainably grown. Wolfe is active in her daughter’s school Parent Teacher Organization and was a Girl Scout leader. Other volunteer board service and leadership includes the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Modesto Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Stanislaus County. She co-owns Mujeres Poderosas, a public relations firm of three women who work with nonprofits and small businesses. She previously was president of Ag Safe, a nonprofit organization providing health and safety education to the agricultural community.

Outstanding Young Women

Damaris Diaz

Riverbank High senior Damaris Diaz serves as the student representative to the Riverbank School Board. As a community leader, she listens to fellow students and relays their concerns to the school district. She is active in many school clubs, including Future Farmers of America, Women’s Empowerment Club and California Scholarship Federation. She also is the historian for SkillsUSA, a career technical student organization. She is active in her church and volunteers to provide meals to unhoused individuals.

Reece Riley

Oakdale High senior Reece Riley volunteers in her school’s Senior Mentor program to help freshman students navigate high school. She creates and teaches lessons to younger students, tracks the progress of 45 individuals and offers them advice and friendship. She demonstrates patience and positivity. Reece also is a peer counselor at her church. These experiences have cemented her future plans to become an educator.

Audrey Rosenow

At Beyer High, Audrey Rosenow has been active on the robotics team since she was a freshman, eventually becoming the team captain and helping her team secure a spot in the national competition. She served as a STEM camp counselor and on an outreach team to Tuolumne School in Modesto, sharing her love of robotics with students. She has volunteered hundreds of hours with younger students at Downtown Modesto Partnership events, Trades Day at MJC and Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s Inspire Youth Inspire Dreams event.