Julie Huckestein honored with the
2007
Carolyn Desjardins Leadership
Award
The mission of the Oregon Chapter of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges is to inspire, champion, and celebrate the talents within each of us. To recognize and celebrate this mission, the AAWCC Board of Directors recognizes one person in our state who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and made a significant contribution.
The DesJardins Leadership Award is named for Dr. Carolyn DesJardins', whose career included twenty-six years in the Maricopa Community College District. She was the recipient of numerous awards and honors but her greatest reward was knowing that over 3000 women and many men saw their lives enriched, enabled, and changed forever through the programs, scholarships, articles, and presentations she sponsored or made, as well as through her powerful hugs, deep caring, and strong advocacy for all of us to be the very best we could be.
The Oregon Chapter of AAWCC honors Dr DesJardin’s legacy by presenting this award each year, to someone who has demonstrated the ability to inspire, champion, or celebrate women as leaders.
Angela McMahon, 2006 DesJardins recipient, presented Julie with her award at the 2007 Fall Conference. Her remarks included:
"It is a great honor and a great pleasure for me to present this award to a woman who has been an inspiration to me for many years. Her nominators use these words to describe her: extraordinary, focused, awe inspiring, role model, deliberate, upbeat, inclusive, persistent, wise, impeccable, mentor. When I think of her, one quality comes to the forefront: grace. Her approach epitomizes grace under pressure. With her subtle, quiet, steady manner, she helps people believe in themselves and try new things."
Julie started at LBCC in 1987, holding positions as accounting clerk, accountant, lead accountant, Controller: Budget Officer, and Director, Budget and Finance. She worked in the business office at LBCC and was committed to her own professional development, as well as supportive of the development of those around her. She was (still is) a real role model as she attended school part-time at LBCC and then four year institutions to complete her degree while she worked her way up.
She left for Chemeketa in Feb. 2001 where she now serves as the Assistant Chief Financial Officer.
Julie received her AS from Linn-Benton in Business Administration, her BS from George Fox in Management and Organizational Leadership, and received a Master's in Education: Policy Foundation & Administration from Portland State University.
She was active in the Linn-Benton local AAWCC chapter, holding several offices, including co-President. She received the Community College Excellence Award from Linn-Benton in 2000.
She has served the Oregon chapter in just about every position:
VP Finance 1999-2001
Special Projects 2002-2003
President 2004-2005
Past President 2006-2007
Her colleague Maureen McGlynn wrote:
“Julie Huckestein has this extraordinary ability to remain calm while accomplishing major projects. It's the kind of clear presence that makes people eager to work with and for her. In 2006, Julie and team wrote and received an American Association of University Women Campus Action Project grant - one of 11 projects in the nation and the only one awarded to a community college and in the northwest. With a short start-up and a very tight timeline, Julie dealt with a myriad of details, involved students and colleagues, and publicized the project - all the while staying positive and appreciative. She has this way of saying, "oh, I can handle that…" and she really does. You can always count on Julie to more than do her part.
Again, Julie continued being a learner while balancing her significant workload, achieving her Master's degree from Portland State. We at Chemeketa Community College are honored to celebrate the accomplishments of such an amazing woman whose integrity is impeccable and whose joy for work and life is awe-inspiring.”
Previous winners of the Carolyn DesJardins Leadership Award also include Angela McMahon, Carol Schaafsma, Terri Johanson, Brenda Brecke, Carolyn DesJardins, Nikki Harrington, Alice Jacobson, Marcia Keith, Rebecca Kenney, Dan Moriarity, Mary Spilde, Stephanie Sussman, Gretchen Schuette, and Nan Poppe.
Nominations for the 2008 Carolyn DesJardins Award are open until November 2008. (Read more about the nomination process.)