Jinx Patel Named Athens Area Chamber Citizen of the Year

March 21, 2024, Athens, Ga. ― Athens Area Chamber of Commerce has recognized Virginia “Jinx” Patel as its 2023 Upshaw Bentley Citizen of the Year. Honored at the Chamber’s 120th Annual Meeting on March 13, 2024, Patel was nominated by the Rankin Foundation and was celebrated for her outstanding service to the Athens community.

“Jinx Patel has been, and continues to be, an essential component of the fabric we call ‘Athens.’ Her touch is felt in the Athens business community, an astounding number of nonprofit organizations and by her ready and ever-present smile. The Chamber is honored to recognize her as the 2023 Upshaw Bentley Citizen of the Year,” said David Bradley, president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.

Named in memory of the late Upshaw Bentley, the Citizen of the Year award recognizes a person who has performed dedicated volunteer service to the community. Over the past 50 years, Patel has contributed to Athens mightily. Her service has supported education at all levels, promoted the arts and sciences, and contributed to regional economic development.

Patel began her volunteer service with the PTA in the 1970s and has continued a lifelong commitment to education. Jinx joined the Jeannette Rankin Foundation in the 1980s as a volunteer grant application reader when the nonprofit was still grassroots. She was the first co-chair of the Rankin Foundation’s “It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race” held in 2017. Currently, she serves on the foundation’s national Planned Giving Advisory Board and co-chairs the Great Force Strategic Growth Campaign, expanding the organization’s capacity to award Scholar Grants to non-traditional women/non-binary students who are seeking their first associate or bachelor’s degree.

“We are very fortunate to be one of the many organizations Jinx chooses to dedicate her time to,” said Karen Sterk, CEO of the Rankin Foundation. “Because of her commitment to this organization, more women in Georgia and around the country are transforming their futures through education.”

From 1998 to 2009, Patel contributed her professional expertise as research director of Athens Research and Technology, Inc. to the Advisory Committee for Biotechnology at Athens Technical College. In 2007, 1.she was awarded the “Advisory Committee Member of the Year in Biotechnology.” She also served on

the college’s Lead Gift committee, helping obtain funding for an 80,000 square-foot biotech and life sciences building.

Patel’s commitment to the Athens arts community is also vast, serving on the boards of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, Georgia Children’s Chorus, Friends of the UGA Opera and the Classic Center Cultural Foundation. Patel is currently the president of the CCCF board of trustees and co-chairing the Friends and Family Division of the Classic Center’s ELEVATE Campaign, with the goal to increase the Athens-Clarke County economy by an additional $30 million of economic impact annually.

Patel has also invested her time and talents in the business community. She has served on the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Foundation for Athens-Clarke County and the Development Authority of the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County. While serving on the Authority, she was instrumental in helping bring Caterpillar Corporation to Clarke and Oconee counties in 2013.

The Athens Area Community Foundation and its commitment to the six-county nonprofit community has also benefited from Patel’s board service.

May: A Month of Awareness and Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

As we enter May, we are in a pivotal time for advocacy and remembrance within Indigenous communities. This month, we focus our collective attention on the harrowing realities faced by Indigenous women across North America—a crisis encapsulated by the ongoing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

The “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” movement highlights a grave issue that has persisted largely unaddressed due to systemic and resource allocation inequities. The statistics are sobering and reveal a deep-seated crisis. The latest data from the National Crime Information Center reveals a deeply concerning situation: at the end of 2022, 658 cases of missing and murdered Native American women and girls remain unresolved. This situation is indicative of significant gaps in the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), where only a minimal number of these cases are thoroughly investigated or followed up. Indigenous women face disproportionately high rates of violence, being over 10 times more likely to be murdered than women from other ethnic groups, and murder is the third leading cause of death among these women.

This crisis does not exist in a vacuum but is the result of historical and ongoing systemic inequities that disproportionately affect Native communities. These include disparities in legal systems, health care and education, compounded by a lack of adequate representation in the media and governmental neglect. The systemic barriers contribute to a cycle of violence and marginalization of Indigenous peoples.

At the heart of the solution is education. For Indigenous people, education is more than a pursuit of knowledge; it is a critical tool for survival and empowerment. The Rankin Foundation advocates strongly for educational initiatives that empower Indigenous women and Two-Spirit individuals, enabling them to advocate for their communities and craft solutions that address systemic neglect.

This month, we encourage everyone to take actionable steps to support MMIW awareness and advocacy:

Educate Yourself: Read articles, watch documentaries and engage in conversation. Read books like Red River Girl and watch series, such as PBS’ Bring Her Home and Paramount+/Showtime’s Murder in Big Horn. These resources help facilitate meaningful group discussions in classrooms, book clubs and film groups.

Engage Digitally: Share stories, pictures and videos on social media using hashtags like #MMIW, as well as #MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People), #MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls), #MMIR (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives) to raise awareness.

Support Respectfully: Approach discussions about MMIP without presumption, affirming the dignity of all individuals who have experienced violence.

Honor and Grieve: Allow space for the grief that accompanies the great loss of life in this epidemic, and honor those who have been lost.

Wear Red to Educate and Advocate: We urge you to wear red this month as a symbol of solidarity and remembrance, supporting frontline organizations and advocating for necessary policy changes.

Each of these actions contributes to a broader effort to bring attention, drive change and support those affected by this crisis.

As we reflect on the power we hold—to learn, to share and to act—let us move from awareness to concrete action. Together, with resilience and relentless advocacy, we can strive for a future where no Indigenous person is missing or murdered without justice and recognition.

Nationally recognized tribal college president, Dr. Sandra Boham, to present keynote address at annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture

The public is invited to the feature presentation March 13 at UGA’s Russell Library.

February 22, 2024, Athens, Ga. ― Dr. Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College and an accomplished leader in American Indian higher education, will present the annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture on Wednesday, March 13 at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia. The lecture is sponsored by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and the Russell Library and is free and open to the public.

Hailing from Jeannette Rankin’s home state of Montana, Dr. Boham has spent her career as an advocate for indigenous education and social justice. Under Dr. Boham’s leadership, Salish Kootenai College is the first tribal college in the country to establish a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and notably has the highest graduation rate of any tribal college or university in the country at 62%. (The average U.S. tribal college graduation rate is 21%.) In 2020, the American Indian College Fund named her Tribal College and University Honoree of the Year.

“If Jeannette Rankin were alive today, there is no doubt that she and Dr. Boham would be friends and colleagues advocating for indigenous education,” said Karen Sterk, CEO of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, the Athens-based nonprofit founded in 1976 with a bequest from Jeannette Rankin who was elected by Montanans as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and was a longtime resident of Georgia. “Before her passing, Jeannette shared with Rankin Foundation co-founder and Athens’ resident Reita Rivers that she wished she had done more to advocate for Native Americans.”

Recently, the Rankin Foundation honored the late Congresswoman’s request with the establishment of the National Tribal Scholar Grant program that will award education grants to students attending tribal colleges around the country. The unrestricted non-tuition grants are dedicated to women and Two-spirit students at tribal colleges who are 25 and older, demonstrate financial need and are pursuing their first
associate or bachelor’s degree. The 2023 Montana pilot program awarded more than 50 grants to tribal college students in the state, most of whom are single mothers.

“Elevating the voices of all Americans is of high importance to the Russell Library,” said Sheryl Vogt, director of the Russell Library. “And we very much look forward to offering our podium to Dr. Boham, one of the premier educators in our country.”

The Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture will be held Wednesday, March 13 from 3 – 4 p.m. in Room 271 at the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries building, University of Georgia 300 South Hull Street, Athens, Ga. A reception will follow. Tickets are free but registration is requested at bit.ly/2024LegacyLecture. Parking is free for off-campus visitors as well. Guests should bring their license plate number to the front desk staff at the library’s main entrance to validate parking.

About the Jeannette Rankin Foundation The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides unrestricted Scholar Grants to students who identify as women, non-binary or Two-spirit, are 35 and older and demonstrate financial need — from all states and backgrounds. The Rankin Foundation’s National Tribal College Scholar Grant and Emerge Grants in Georgia and Montana are eligible for qualified students 25 and older. Inspired by its namesake, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation transforms futures through education. rankinfoundation.org

About the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies was established in 1974 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc., Georgia General Assembly, and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The library’s original mission was to collect and preserve materials documenting the life and career of Richard B. Russell, Jr., United States Senator from Georgia from 1933 to 1971. The Library’s holdings have since expanded to include approximately 500 manuscript collections and more than 1,000 oral history interviews documenting modern (1900-present) politics and public policy in Georgia and an array of issues related to the American political system. The Russell Library enjoys a national reputation as one of the largest and foremost repositories for modern congressional papers. In 2014, the Russell Library received a Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities. l https://www.libs.uga.edu/russell-library

51 Indigenous women receive grants for tribal college education in Montana

May 31, 2023

By: Nora Mabie

The Jeannette Rankin Foundation has awarded grants to 51 Indigenous women attending Montana tribal colleges.

The Native Woman Scholar Grant program launched earlier this year and provides $2,500 unrestricted education grants to Native women. Grants this year total $127,500.

Sara Meyers, a student at Salish Kootenai College, is pursuing a degree in Native language education.

Every reservation in Montana has a tribal college, which offer various two- and four-year degrees. The grants are awarded directly to students and aim to ease financial burdens associated with pursuing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree

Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College, said education “empowers (Native) women to achieve economic independence, build self confidence and allow for the integration of Indigenous knowledge, culture and language into all aspects of the workplaces and organizations in the communities where they live.”

Several grant recipients said the funds will help them achieve their educational and career goals.

Sara Meyers, who is pursuing an associate’s degree in Native Language education at Salish Kootenai College, said she wants to be part of the “revival of our Salish language.”

“With my education, I aim to be a Salish language teacher and encourage others to get their education, be rooted in their culture and serve the community,” she said.

Morgan Harrison-Woolf is a student at Blackfeet Community College, and she hopes her education will help her become fully independent.

Morgan Harrison-Woolf, a student at Blackfeet Community College, said as a mother, stroke survivor and student, “I am thrilled to keep pushing forward and continue facing the odds. I hope to be fully independent again and find a position within my community.”

Cheyenne Robinson, a student at Little Big Horn College on the Crow Reservation, is pursuing a degree in business marketing.

“I plan to use my degree to run a nonprofit I’ve founded to help encourage, inspire and protect our community while bringing awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous people,” she said.

The Rankin Foundation will accept applications for its second round of Native Woman Scholar Grants in November 2023. The foundation was founded in 1976 to honor Jeannette Rankin, who was the first U.S. Congresswoman and first woman to hold federal office. For more information, visit rankinfoundation.org.

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‘I want to be an example for my children:’ Mother to graduate from Lehman College after 17 years of deferring

May 29, 2023, 5:58pm Updated on May 29, 2023

By: News 12 Staff

A mother will be walking across the stage at Lehman College this week and earning a bachelor’s degree after nearly 17 years of deferring.

When Fatema Mia was a young girl, she had big plans for her future.

“I was thinking one day when I grow up, I will be a doctor,” she says. “I didn’t think about marriage and stuff, I was? just always think about studying.”

However, Mia says plans changed when she was 15 and arranged to be married in Bangladesh and then immigrated to America at 20.

“I had to stop it because of family obligations,” she says. “taking care of the mother-in-law, the father-in-law, the home, everything, the children.”

But Mia’s dream of attending college never escaped her mind. She says she registered for school in 2006, before she stopped to raise her kids.

Then in 2017 she re-enrolled. Now, she’s just days away from being a graduate of Lehman College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and childhood education.

When the mother takes a walk down the stage Thursday morning, she says her three children will be right there rooting her on.

“I want to be an example for my children, to show them it is never too late,” she says. “My daughter always says, ‘I’m proud of you, mom.’”

Mia is a Jeannette Foundation Scholar Grant recipient. The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides unrestricted Scholar Grants to students across the nation who identify as women or nonbinary, are 35 and older, and demonstrate financial need. To learn more about funding opportunities visit rankinfoundation.org.

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2018: Bill Loughner

Bill was our first-ever Volunteer of the Year because of his dedication to the Rankin Foundation. He has led the way as our longest-tenured Volunteer Application Reader. Bill and his wife, Helen, have been long-time supporters of Rankin.

When asked why he loved volunteering for Rankin, Bill said, “I volunteer for the Jeannette Rankin Foundation because it does amazing work for women who really need the help, women who have changed their lives because of our help. How could this not be a good thing? Amen.”

Thank you so much to Bill for your generosity, passion, and dedication to this foundation!

2019: Jinx Patel

Jinx Patel is a woman who welcomed me with open arms when I came to the Athens community. She went a step further. When I talked to her about doing a new program called It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race, she not only stepped up to become our first year’s co-chair, she personally took me to meet Athens stakeholders and used her influence to engage them in the program. That is what I call leadership. She and her husband, Gordhan Patel, are and have been the sponsors of the Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture for four years. Jinx joined our Planned Giving Committee in 2019 and has volunteered her time and energy to insure the long term future of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the GREAT FORCE Steering Committee. She has given generously of her time, talent, influence, and treasure and we treasure her.

2020: Lisa Nunez

Lisa Nunez Lisa has been an extraordinary help in the Rankin Home Office, working weekly for the past seven years. She has been a Volunteer Application Reader with us for five of those years. In 2020 she started volunteering as a Racial Justice Facilitator and facilitated at, It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race, in the fall. “Rankin provides a unique service for women who are endeavoring to change their lives through education. I enjoy being a part of the Rankin team and I feel that whatever small part I play in volunteering, that I may be contributing to helping these women realize their goals.”

2021: Libby Pollock

Libby Pollock has been a dedicated volunteer with Rankin for nine years. She has served on the Board of Directors for nine years, the longest tenured Board Member to date. During that time she has served as a Volunteer Application Reader, yearly, Chair of the STAR Party for three years, and Chair of the Board of Directors for two years. In her years of volunteering with us, Libby has inspired many to donate to the Jeannette Rankin Fund. She is a prodigious fundraiser and has consistently raised important funds for Rankin via the STAR Party. Libby also has the distinction of recruiting our long-time Presenting Sponsor for the STAR Party – Assurant. Her dedication to this organization has been incredible and we are so very grateful that she has found a passion for supporting Rankin Scholars.

2022: Valerie Bell

Valerie Bell has been a member of the Jeannette Rankin Board of Directors since 2017. She is the Executive Director of Athens – Clarke County Library, a position she has held since 2015. Valerie’s inspired leadership was instrumental in the Athens Clarke County Library being named Georgia Library of the Year in 2018.

Valerie has been a volunteer on the Rankin planning committee for It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race since the program originated in 2017. She has leveraged her leadership as the Co-Chair for four of those years. Valerie has stepped up as a partner in the racial justice work by providing funds from grants to support It’s Time to Talk. She has partnered with us providing in-kind support via library space for training the Volunteer Racial Justice Facilitators as well as offering the first Beloved Community Dialogue.

2023: Dorothy and Jim Newland

Volunteers of the Year

We are over the moon excited to announce that Dorothy Sams Newland and Jim Newland are our Volunteers of the Year for 2023. Dorothy wrote the Rankin Biography Book that we’ve shared widely for the past decades. Jim was an early volunteer, with a background in the banking business, he helped the Founders put in best practices for fiscal responsibility. In the 90’s Jim served as our first male Board Chair. And currently, Dorothy and Jim are working with the Rankin Foundation on our long-term sustainability. We are most grateful for their contributions to the success of Rankin Scholars and the Rankin Foundation.

Margaret James Black

Margaret James Black Memorial Scholarship

Given by Tracy Cosgrove

This fund honors the memory of Margaret James Black, who came to Glacier National Park in Montana in the 1920s to work as an executive assistant at Glacier Park Lodge. She met and married Hugh Black, a seasonal park ranger from Michigan, and in 1932 the two founded what became St. Mary Lodge and Resort. While growing the business to include an expanded grand lodge, motels, cottages and cabins, restaurants, gift shops, outfitters, and a supermarket and gas station, Margaret found time to raise six children. She was a generous supporter of her children and their endeavors, as well as her many, many grandchildren. Margaret passed in 2008, at age 105. Her legacy lives on with Margaret Black Cottages/The Cottages at Glacier Park, which today is managed by her youngest daughter and three grandchildren.

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