By Jane Plitt
Alexandria, VA – Behind the Big Reveal announcement, local community leaders and a new Alexandrian, Lynn Kehoe, came forward to pull off a glorious happening. While supportiveness is typical of Alexandrians, Kehoe took it to a new level. Intrigued with The National Center of Women’s Innovations’ (NCWI) aims and accomplishments, Kehoe asked, “How can I help?” Which had me asking if she would take on the organizing of the Big Reveal Event.
“I have a track record of handling big events, and I can mobilize my own team of volunteers to pull it off,” she instantly responded. Lynn shared her life history of taking on challenges, from being a bank examiner in turbulent times to becoming a principal in a real estate investment firm (Sarofim Reality Advisors), but the kicker was later becoming a race car driver and assembling a woman-only team that medaled.
Breathtakingly, she then founded Shift Up Now, Inc. in 2016 to support women racers, and in 2022 she co-founded Shift Up Now Foundation. Clearly, NCWI had found a gem.
The result was a flawless Kehoe event where the food, drink, and ambiance all added to the excitement of learning that Virginia Tech would design the Dr. West Traveling Exhibit and that its first stop would be at its Innovation Campus in 2025. The photos below capture the excitement and rapture hearing the news, connecting with community leaders like Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Vice President and Executive Director Lance Collins and Vice President Dr. Pamela Gilchrist, Director of Government and Community Affairs, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, President of the Washington School for Girls Dr. Beth Reaves, and corporate and community leadership including Kim Brown of NASA, Paul Stimmers of Holland & Knight, Dominion Energy’s team including LaTasha Corprew, very pregnant Latoya Asia, ever supportive Peggy Fox, Gaston Araoz, John Marshall’s Senior Vice President Jennifer Ferrara, local Wegmans ambassadors Melanie Pattinson and Kat St. Helen, Alicia Manning and Danielle Mendoza from Rosie Riveters demonstrating the Dr. Gladys West Stem Challenge in action, plus many others.
Donna Parry donated her time taking photographs, but NCWI Board Secretary and Zebra Community Liaison Lucelle O’Flaherty also snapped great shots, recruited key people, and helped recruit Volunteer Alexandria to help produce the name tags and assemble the step and repeat system. Jim Bruen, Ann Kaupp, and Diane Redvanly greeted all warmly.
NCWI recruited new donors and are ever grateful for the growing number of committed people and organizations that believe brainpower has no gender and that it is urgent we encourage all girls with the inspiring, innovative accomplishments of their foremothers. Want to join our band of passionate believers or get in touch with me? [email protected]
Speaking of inspiring foremothers, Alexandria, the friendliest city to dogs, take note of the role Dorothy Leib Harrison Woods Eustis played in establishing The Seeing Eye, the first dog guide training school for the blind in the U.S. Eustis built on her first husband Walter Woods’ interest in selective breeding of cattle for his dairy farm. She observed and cultivated the loyalty and intelligence of her German shepherd. After Wood’s death, she relocated to Switzerland with her young family and built an experimental kennel.
With her next husband George Eustis, they bred dogs for defense work. A blind American insurance salesman Morris Frank obtained one of Eustis’s dogs, and “Buddy” became the first seeing-eye dog in the United States. Ultimately, Eustis created The Seeing Eye, a Morristown, NJ school that, in 1964, trained and gave over 3,000 seeing eye dogs to the blind. Bark on! Women to the rescue, creatively responding to needs and making the world better.
On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, technically went into effect, although it took until 1965 for the Civil Rights Act to fully include women of color. Now, the day is known as Women’s Equality Day; however, we are a far cry from equality and our lack of recognition as women innovators, along with the dearth of women in STEM (28%, of which women of color are 2%) must change to find the best brainpower to solve world challenges. Join our effort. www.womensinnovations.org
ICYMI: The American Legion, a Vital Part of Alexandria’s Heritage
