Students earn prestigious award for public service

The public service and community volunteer efforts of two graduate students in ASU's School of Public Affairs helped them earn awards from the Phoenix Women's Commission for the Mary Ann Huerta Jenkins Fellowship.

The fellowship honors the strength of women in public service as a memorial to Jenkins, a longtime assistant to the Phoenix city manager, recognized for supporting women's issues and the underprivileged in the community.

Students Erin Thomas and Dolly Haddad in the master's program received $2,500 scholarships.

Thomas has mobilized community resources and served as a teacher for at-risk and underperforming students in area schools. Haddad is a founding member of Home Safe, ASU's violence prevention resource and advocacy center.

"They've already brought awareness to issues within their own community," says Jasmine Cortez of the Phoenix Women's Commission. "By impacting just one woman in the community, that woman will impact another and another. It's a cycle of empowerment."

The award is intended to support their education and preparation for further public service. Both students are Phoenix residents and will be honored in March.

The annual fellowship was developed in 2003 as a partnership between the Phoenix Women's Commission and the School of Public Affairs in the College of Public Programs at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus.