WEST PALM BEACH — Six hundred people were in attendance as seven Palm Beach County women and one organization were honored for their outstanding service and achievements to enrich the lives of individuals in Palm Beach County, during the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
Bernice King, daughter of civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and chief executive officer of the Atlanta center created to honor his legacy, was keynote speaker for the event hosted by the West Palm Beach Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Delta Heritage Foundation.
Proceeds finance scholarships for county youth. The honorees, selected by a committee following a formal nomination process, were:
• Trina Slade-Burks (Arts), co-founder and owner of ATB Fine Arts and Designers, who alongside her husband, artist Anthony Burks, integrates art and education into culturally enriching programs for youth and adults.
• Barbara Carey-Shuler (Business), owner of Shuler’s Memorial Chapter.
• Camille Coleman (Education), Area 4 superintendent for the Palm Beach County School District, who moved up the ranks as a result of her ability to inspire students, teachers and parents to excel.
• Eugenia Millender (Health), clinical director for Florida Atlantic University’s Diabetes Research and Education Center located in the Palm Healthcare Pavilion in West Palm Beach, named Nurse of the Year in 2011 by the Palm Healthcare Foundation.
• Estella Pyfrom (Humanitarian), who used $900,000 of her own retirement money and investments to create Estella’s Brilliant Bus, a mobile unit equipped with 17 computer work stations and designed to improve access to computer instruction and educational programs to underserved youth. She has gained national media attention and this year was named a CNN Hero for her work.
• Alberdia Floyd (Social Action), who was the first African-American president of the American Legion Auxiliary for the State of Florida.
• Genesis Community Health (Keeper of the Torch), a nonprofit organization led by director DeAnna Warren that promotes and provides health to people who lack access to the healthcare system.
• Alma Horne (The Fortitude Award), a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a renowned educator who has dedicated more than 46 years of service to the sorority.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DELTA SIGMA THETA
CHILD OF KINGS: Women of Excellence Awards keynote speaker Bernice King was appointed CEO of The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in January 2012. Her mother, the late Coretta Scott King, founded the center in 1968 after renown civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
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