2012 Mayor's Community Service Award ![]() The Mayor's Community Service Awards
(MCSAs) are an annual campaign to recognize extraordinary District
residents who use service to make a significant positive contribution to
the community. MCSA recipients were chosen in six categories, including
Community Service, National Service, Emergency Preparedness and Public
Safety, Education, Youth, and HIV/AIDS Advocacy. 2012 Recipient for Community Service: Carolyn A. Cook (L to R) Carolyn A. Cook, Mayor Vincent Gray, Maureen Gehrig Cook, DC Serves, Jeffrey D. RichardsonL to R) Carolyn A. Cook, Maureen Gehrig Cook, Susan Horst (L to R) Carolyn and Maureen Gehrig Cook | THE NORTHWEST CURRENT Wednesday, December 26, 2012 Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967 Vol. XLV, No. 52 Mayor awards residents for volunteer work The
mayor’s community service award went to Carolyn Cook, a native
Washingtonian, American University graduate and Chevy Chase advisory
neighborhood commissioner. A women’s rights advocate, Cook founded
United for Equality LLC in 2010 to help ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment so that the U.S. Constitution explicitly states that all women
are entitled to the same inalienable rights as men. The deadline for ratification of the ERA expired in 1982, leaving women facing gender discrimination with insufficient protection under the law with which to fight their grievances, Cook said. She is also working with the nonprofit Cultural Tourism DC to establish a women’s history trail in the city. Cook was inspired to become an advisory neighborhood commissioner in 2009, after Hillary Clinton lost her bid to become president. “There is a dearth of women in political office, and during Hillary’s concession speech I decided to see what I could do to contribute to public office,” Cook said. As commissioner, one of Cook’s goals is to improve the quality of life for her community, from improving access to public parking for people with disabilities to installing bus shelters in Chevy Chase and advocating for senior citizens. |