from staff
Carol Brady, Joann Manning, and Karen Brune Mathis will be recognized for outstanding contributions to the Jacksonville community during the 22nd Annual Women’s History Month Breakfast. The event, sponsored by the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, will be held March 4 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
The theme of this milestone breakfast is “Women Take Flight,” and astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a U.S. spacecraft, will serve as the keynote speaker.
In July 2005, Collins commanded Space Shuttle Discovery’s historic “Return to Flight” mission. This was NASA’s first manned flight following the February 2003 loss of the Shuttle Columbia.
Collins’ path to space started early in her life as a child in Elmira, N.Y. She read every book she could on aviation, and when she got her first job at 16 she started saving up money for flying lessons.
“I had saved up $1,000, and I took that to my local airport, at age 19,” she said. “I asked them to teach me how to fly.”
Collins earned an associate’s degree in mathematics and science at Corning Community College and then earned a scholarship to Syracuse University, where she earned a bachelor’s in mathematics and economics.
Collins entered the Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training Program in 1978, the same year that NASA opened the shuttle program to women and selected its first class of female astronauts. During her year in the program, this astronaut class visited her base and inspired her dream to become an astronaut.
Following graduation from the program, Collins spent several years in the Air Force and earned master’s degrees in operations research from Stanford University and space systems management from Webster University. While attending the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California in 1990, she was selected for NASA’s astronaut program.
Collins flew on her first Shuttle mission, STS-63 Discovery, in February 1995, as the first woman ever to pilot a space shuttle. She also served as pilot on her second shuttle mission, STS-84 Atlantis, in May 1997. In July 1999, she achieved another milestone by becoming the first woman ever to command a shuttle mission, STS-93 Columbia. In July 2005, she flew her final NASA mission as commander of STS-114 Discovery. Over the course of her four shuttle flights, she logged more than 872 hours in space.
Her many medals, awards and honors include a Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, French Legion of Honor, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the 2005 Al Neuharth Free Spirit of the Year Award and the National Space Trophy. She retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel in January 2005.
Upon receiving the National Space Trophy in March 2006, Collins spoke of a new dream.
“My dream, now, is that people will discover and invent new ways to fly higher, faster and farther, and that someday humans will travel beyond our solar system,” she said. “It will be expensive, it will be risky, and we will make mistakes as we go. But we will do it because we are explorers by nature.”
The cost of the full breakfast, to be held 7–9 a.m., is $30 per person. Tables of 10 are available for $300. Seating will be limited to 800 and pre-registration is required. For reservations or more information, call 665-RSVP.
The local honorees:
Carol Brady joined the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition as executive director in 1997. The coalition is responsible for planning and funding services to address the maternal and child health care needs in Northeast Florida.
Brady led the development and implementation of several initiatives to address infant mortality including the Magnolia and Azalea Projects, which employ unique community-based approaches to address the needs of high-risk women and their families. She is currently a member of the CDC’s Select Panel on Preconception Health, which recently developed recommendations to improve the health of women before pregnancy.
Brady’s recent recognitions include the 2004 National MCH Epidemiology Award for Effective Local Practice, the 2002 Lawton M. Chiles State Public Affairs Award from the Florida March of Dimes, and the 2001 Florida Public Health Association’s Excellence in Maternal & Child Health Award.
Brady is married to Greg Powell and has two children, Kevin and Lauren.
Joann Manning is administrator for the offices of Dr. James R. Henderson. She served as local chapter president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for five years and is currently a regional leadership team member. Manning initiated the Dr. Betty Shabazz Academy II, a mentoring and career path program for young girls.
Manning is a member of Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2000 and served as team captain for Youth Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Jacksonville School Connection. She was selected to the 2002 Class of National African American Women’s Leadership Institute and the 2007 Class of Leadership America.
Manning served the American Cancer Society on the executive committee, regional task force and is currently an advisory board member. Her board service includes Community Connections, Hope Haven and Girls Inc. She was appointed to the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women in 2001 and served as Chair for 2005-06. She is also involved with Camp Sunshine Jacksonville, a camp for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Karen Brune Mathis joined Dreams Come True as executive director in November 2007 and is continuing its mission to brighten the lives of area families.
Mathis had a 30-year career at the Florida Times-Union, starting as business writer and finishing as a metro columnist. Mathis chronicled the doors that opened for women, including membership to private clubs, business groups and the upper echelons of business, industry, city administration and politics. She drew attention to the needs for improved corporate child care support for working parents, more stringent guidelines against sexual harassment, equal pay for working women and other issues that impact the lives of women and families.
Dreams Come True was created in 1984 and has fulfilled the dreams of more than 2,200 children who live or are treated in the First Coast and battle life-threatening illnesses. In 2007, Dreams Come True fulfilled a record 231 dreams.
Mathis is married to Circuit Judge E. McRae Mathis and has two sons in college, Eric and Alex.