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Marin Hall of Fame Picks Four New Inductees

By Beth Ashley

One is an ordained minister working at San Quentin Prison and the Marin County Jail.

Another is a Latina who—among other things—has brought environmental education to Spanish speakers in Marin and to residents of five countries in Latin America.

A third woman has become an international leader in the effort to remove land mines in war-ravaged countries and to return the de-mined land to life-saving agricultural production.

The fourth is executive director of Community Action Marin, the county's anti-poverty agency, who has devoted a 34-year career to helping the poor and disenfranchised.

These are the newest electees to the Marin Women's Hall of Fame, an organization honoring women of outstanding accomplishment who personify the leadership role of women in the world and in the Marin community.

The four—Peggy Harrell of Sebastopol, Hilda Castillo of Sausalito, Heidi Kuhn of San Rafael and Gail Theller of Novato—will be inducted during a dinner celebration at Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael on Thursday, March 20.

All four are "wonderful, absolutely phenomenal," says Anne Latta of Terra Linda, president of the Hall of Fame board.

Each was nominated by a member of the Marin community and selected by a committee of the Hall of Fame organization, a collaboration of the Marin Women's Commission, the Marin YWCA and Marin branches of the American Association of University Women.

The honorees were chosen from among 51 nominees. The selection committee was headed by Jennifer Puff and Carol Shellenberger.Here is background on the honorees:
Harrell's nominator, Deputy Public Defender David Brown, cites her 19 years of work as a spiritual adviser to jail and prison inmates and her work role in creating inmate services which are considered the best in California. Current services range from drug and alcohol recovery programs, to ESL and parenting classes, meditation and breast cancer awareness classes, AIDS awareness and job preparation workshops, and several literacy programs, including one teaching inmates to read to their children.
"The spiritual solace and guidance of the religious programs help the jail inmates deal with the difficult and painful situations they face," Brown says.

At San Quentin, Harrell is a spiritual adviser on Death Row. She visits the prison at least twice a week, providing comfort and guidance to men facing execution, and has attended three executions.

"She went into the room with other witnesses so that those men could see her at their last moments," Brown says.

Harrell has often been asked to speak publicly about her work on Death Row, but declines to do so, Brown says, wanting the inmates to know that her work is for them alone, "with no further motivation on her part."

He calls her "a unique combination of high energy and spiritual calm," and says the guiding principle of her work is that "all people are much more than the worst thing they have ever done" and each deserves the best of care.

Harrell says she is "very pleased" to have been selected, but attributes many of her accomplishments to the "forward thinking program" of the Marin County Sheriff's Department, which runs the county jail. She says the honor of her selection derives "from the people I have been allowed to serve."*

Castillo, according to nominator Eliana Reeves of Greenbrae, is a trail-blazing environmentalist who directed the bilingual education program at the Pacific Environment and Resources Center in the Headlands for seven years before becoming director of bilingual studies and outreach at the Headlands Institute, her present job.
At the institute, she "continues providing environmental education to English language learners and elementary and high school students from diverse school groups and underserved communities." She created the Spanish version of the Family in Nature program for Latino families.

She has also developed environmental education projects in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and for seven cities in Bolivia.

In October, she was honored by the Sierra Club with the Hannah Creighton Environmental Justice Award.

Castillo, a native of Venezuela who came to this county 22 years ago, prides herself on broad volunteer commitment in the Marin community, including the San Rafael Canal area, where she created a Spanish language training program for women wishing to become licensed child care providers.

She calls her selection to the Hall of Fame "a real honor," and characterizes herself as a person who "loves life and believes in people."*

Kuhn, whose efforts on behalf of land-mine removal have been tireless - here, in Washington, D.C., New York and overseas - is praised by nominator Ann Laurence for having also achieved remarkable balance in her life: a wife and the mother of four, she is also "an incredibly warm, sincere, trustworthy friend" whose sense of neighborhood is "much broader than for most of us."

Kuhn is the founder of Roots of Peace, which she launched in 1998 with the backing of leading Napa Valley vintners: The idea was to raise money to de-mine and replant abandoned (hence worthless) fields in countries such as Croatia (which Kuhn has visited four times) and Afghanistan. Two hundred and fifty acres of land in Croatia have already been converted to productive farmland; Roots of Peace is now working in the Shomali plains area north of Kabul.

Kuhn, using analytical and communications skills acquired in her earlier career in management for American Express and as the journalist-founder of Newslink International, has enlisted a broad array of corporate, governmental and civic partners in her work and has received significant financial backing from individuals and humanitarian foundations.

She also works at the political level, participating in the international and U.S. campaigns to ban land mines

At a Palo Alto reception in June, 2000, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan paid tribute to Kuhn: "You have turned mines to vines by replacing the seeds of death with the seeds of life. You have shown the world that even with modest beginnings, a partnership backed up by persistence can make a real difference.

Laurence calls Kuhn "a model of intelligence, grace and diplomacy…of a woman living her convictions and dreams."

* Theller, according to nominator Lori Stokes, "has dedicated her heart and soul - indeed, her life - to the struggle for human dignity, for human rights, and for a community commitment to meeting the human needs of the poor and disenfranchised."

As executive director, she has built Community Action Marin (CAM) from a small agency with a $40,000 budget to one of the county's strongest service organizations with a budget of more than $10 million.

Under her leadership, CAM has become the county's largest provider of affordable, high-quality child care, helped provide key services to those with AIDS, developed peer-run programs serving the mentally ill and the homeless, and collaborated with Goodwill to place more than 600 homeless, unemployed persons in permanent jobs.

She was a key figure in creating the Helen Vine Detox Center for persons fighting alcohol addiction.

In addition to providing its own services, CAM has acted as a helpful fiscal agent for other organizations (like Marin City's Isoji and the Marin Continuum of Housing and Services) and has spun off a number of agencies such as Homeward Bound, the Marin County Food Bank, Marin Child Care Council, Farmers' Market and Ritter House, all once nurtured and developed under the CAM umbrella. Theller's focus, Stokes says, has been to empower women and families to escape poverty, succeed and thrive.

"Much of what CAM has achieved can clearly be attributed to Gail's vision, her collaborative spirit, her skill in attracting and engaging a team of talented professionals, and her ability to successfully frame requests for federal, state and private funding."Theller, while feeling "honored" at her selection, says "at the same time I am really saddened that my beloved Marin County harbors so much pain and suffering that a do-gooder like me is called for and needed and then subsequently acknowledged."
In commenting on her work, she says that "there are gross inequities in this county, and I will continue to do what I can to change the status quo."

Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet will be available sometime in February. Ticket cost has not yet been set, according to Latta. For further information about the Hall of Fame and ticket availability, consult the web site at marinwomen.org. Contact Beth Ashley at bashley@marinij.com


	Marin Hall of Fame Picks Four New Inductees By Beth Ashley Marin Independent Journal One is an ordained minister working at San Quentin Prison and the Marin County Jail. Another is a Latina who—among other things—has brought environmental education to Spanish speakers in Marin and to residents of five countries in Latin America. A third woman has become an international leader in the effort to remove land mines in war-ravaged countries and to return the de-mined land to life-saving agricultural production. The fourth is executive director of Community Action Marin, the county's anti-poverty agency, who has devoted a 34-year career to helping the poor and disenfranchised. These are the newest electees to the Marin Women's Hall of Fame, an organization honoring women of outstanding accomplishment who personify the leadership role of women in the world and in the Marin community. The four—Peggy Harrell of Sebastopol, Hilda Castillo of Sausalito, Heidi Kuhn of San Rafael and Gail Theller of Novato—will be inducted during a dinner celebration at Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael on Thursday, March 20. All four are "wonderful, absolutely phenomenal," says Anne Latta of Terra Linda, president of the Hall of Fame board. Each was nominated by a member of the Marin community and selected by a committee of the Hall of Fame organization, a collaboration of the Marin Women's Commission, the Marin YWCA and Marin branches of the American Association of University Women. The honorees were chosen from among 51 nominees. The selection committee was headed by Jennifer Puff and Carol Shellenberger.Here is background on the honorees: Harrell's nominator, Deputy Public Defender David Brown, cites her 19 years of work as a spiritual adviser to jail and prison inmates and her work role in creating inmate services which are considered the best in California. Current services range from drug and alcohol recovery programs, to ESL and parenting classes, meditation and breast cancer awareness classes, AIDS awareness and job preparation workshops, and several literacy programs, including one teaching inmates to read to their children. "The spiritual solace and guidance of the religious programs help the jail inmates deal with the difficult and painful situations they face," Brown says. At San Quentin, Harrell is a spiritual adviser on Death Row. She visits the prison at least twice a week, providing comfort and guidance to men facing execution, and has attended three executions. "She went into the room with other witnesses so that those men could see her at their last moments," Brown says. Harrell has often been asked to speak publicly about her work on Death Row, but declines to do so, Brown says, wanting the inmates to know that her work is for them alone, "with no further motivation on her part." He calls her "a unique combination of high energy and spiritual calm," and says the guiding principle of her work is that "all people are much more than the worst thing they have ever done" and each deserves the best of care. Harrell says she is "very pleased" to have been selected, but attributes many of her accomplishments to the "forward thinking program" of the Marin County Sheriff's Department, which runs the county jail. She says the honor of her selection derives "from the people I have been allowed to serve."* Castillo, according to nominator Eliana Reeves of Greenbrae, is a trail-blazing environmentalist who directed the bilingual education program at the Pacific Environment and Resources Center in the Headlands for seven years before becoming director of bilingual studies and outreach at the Headlands Institute, her present job. At the institute, she "continues providing environmental education to English language learners and elementary and high school students from diverse school groups and underserved communities." She created the Spanish version of the Family in Nature program for Latino families. She has also developed environmental education projects in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and for seven cities in Bolivia. In October, she was honored by the Sierra Club with the Hannah Creighton Environmental Justice Award. Castillo, a native of Venezuela who came to this county 22 years ago, prides herself on broad volunteer commitment in the Marin community, including the San Rafael Canal area, where she created a Spanish language training program for women wishing to become licensed child care providers. She calls her selection to the Hall of Fame "a real honor," and characterizes herself as a person who "loves life and believes in people."* Kuhn, whose efforts on behalf of land-mine removal have been tireless - here, in Washington, D.C., New York and overseas - is praised by nominator Ann Laurence for having also achieved remarkable balance in her life: a wife and the mother of four, she is also "an incredibly warm, sincere, trustworthy friend" whose sense of neighborhood is "much broader than for most of us." Kuhn is the founder of Roots of Peace, which she launched in 1998 with the backing of leading Napa Valley vintners: The idea was to raise money to de-mine and replant abandoned (hence worthless) fields in countries such as Croatia (which Kuhn has visited four times) and Afghanistan. Two hundred and fifty acres of land in Croatia have already been converted to productive farmland; Roots of Peace is now working in the Shomali plains area north of Kabul. Kuhn, using analytical and communications skills acquired in her earlier career in management for American Express and as the journalist-founder of Newslink International, has enlisted a broad array of corporate, governmental and civic partners in her work and has received significant financial backing from individuals and humanitarian foundations. She also works at the political level, participating in the international and U.S. campaigns to ban land mines At a Palo Alto reception in June, 2000, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan paid tribute to Kuhn: "You have turned mines to vines by replacing the seeds of death with the seeds of life. You have shown the world that even with modest beginnings, a partnership backed up by persistence can make a real difference. Laurence calls Kuhn "a model of intelligence, grace and diplomacy…of a woman living her convictions and dreams." * Theller, according to nominator Lori Stokes, "has dedicated her heart and soul - indeed, her life - to the struggle for human dignity, for human rights, and for a community commitment to meeting the human needs of the poor and disenfranchised." As executive director, she has built Community Action Marin (CAM) from a small agency with a $40,000 budget to one of the county's strongest service organizations with a budget of more than $10 million. Under her leadership, CAM has become the county's largest provider of affordable, high-quality child care, helped provide key services to those with AIDS, developed peer-run programs serving the mentally ill and the homeless, and collaborated with Goodwill to place more than 600 homeless, unemployed persons in permanent jobs. She was a key figure in creating the Helen Vine Detox Center for persons fighting alcohol addiction. In addition to providing its own services, CAM has acted as a helpful fiscal agent for other organizations (like Marin City's Isoji and the Marin Continuum of Housing and Services) and has spun off a number of agencies such as Homeward Bound, the Marin County Food Bank, Marin Child Care Council, Farmers' Market and Ritter House, all once nurtured and developed under the CAM umbrella. Theller's focus, Stokes says, has been to empower women and families to escape poverty, succeed and thrive. "Much of what CAM has achieved can clearly be attributed to Gail's vision, her collaborative spirit, her skill in attracting and engaging a team of talented professionals, and her ability to successfully frame requests for federal, state and private funding."Theller, while feeling "honored" at her selection, says "at the same time I am really saddened that my beloved Marin County harbors so much pain and suffering that a do-gooder like me is called for and needed and then subsequently acknowledged." In commenting on her work, she says that "there are gross inequities in this county, and I will continue to do what I can to change the status quo." Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet will be available sometime in February. Ticket cost has not yet been set, according to Latta. For further information about the Hall of Fame and ticket availability, consult the web site at marinwomen.org. Contact Beth Ashley at bashley@marinij.com
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