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Brenda Safford to Recieve YWCA's Erskine Award

Worcester, MA - Brenda Safford, director of multicultural affairs at Assumption College, will be one of five women to receive the YWCA’s prestigious Katharine F. Erskine Award during the 13th annual Tribute to Women–Katharine F. Erskine Awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 at Mechanics Hall.

The award is given to accomplished professionals who are dedicated to making life better for their community, especially the lives of women and girls.

The recipients and categories in which they are being honored are: Carmen “Dolly” Vazquez, Arts & Humanities; Sarah “Sally” Bowditch, Business & Law; Ann L. Flynn Ed.D, Community/Social Service & Government; Safford, M.A., Education; and Marianne E. Felice, M.D., Medicine & Science.

Safford learned the value of education when she began her career as an administrative assistant for the Worcester Public Schools. As a non-traditional student, she attended Quinsigamond Community College, where she volunteered with the YWCA’s teen parent program. Safford graduated with highest honors and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in social and rehabilitation services from Assumption.

She was recruited by the YWCA to direct the teen parent program and later was promoted as director of the career resource center and teen services. Stafford encouraged many of the teen parents and people from the community who used the YWCA career resources to pursue higher education. She set an example by entering a graduate program at Assumption where she received a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling. She had referred so many people to Quinsigamond, that it was a natural match when the college hired her as coordinator of admissions and financial aid. Stafford was active in recruiting, including many non-traditional and minority students. She was an adjunct faculty member and served on many search committees for faculty and staff. Stafford also served as advisor to the Black Student Union and as an advisor in the Advising Center.

Safford participated in the New Leaders Institute and in later years chaired the program and served as mentor to participants. She is now a member of the committee working to rebuild the program to promote leadership among minority members of the community.

She is a member of the City Manager’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, the Mayor’s Youth at Risk Task Force, and serves on the board of directors of AIDS Project Worcester. Safford is a member of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation Scholarship Committee and the Worcester State College Intergenerational Studies Committee. While at Quinsigamond, Safford was also involved with Hispanics Achieving and Celebrating Excellence (HACE), which promotes the value of education in the Latino community.

The Erskine Awards are named in honor of Katharine F. Erskine, who was an advocate for women for 80 years. Erskine was a member of the YWCA as a teenager in the early 1890s and served as president of the YWCA twice; in 1930 and again in 1960 during the building campaign to construct the present facility at One Salem Square.