The Girl Scouts of Gateway Council has chosen six area business and community leaders as its 24th annual Women of Distinction.
They will be recognized at a noon event April 11 at the Hyatt Downtown.
The council recognizes local women whose accomplishments, careers and community service exemplify the values of the Girl Scouts.
Proceeds from the event are directed to the Girl Scout programs for area girls, regardless of their families' ability to pay.
The 2013 honorees are:
• Jill Langford Dame, attorney, teacher and nonprofit leader serving as the interim director of the Jacksonville Children's Commission and the newly named executive director of Leadership Jacksonville, to succeed another honoree in that role.
• Isabelle Owen Spence, current executive director of Leadership Jacksonville, a community program designed to develop leadership and trusteeship. She has announced her retirement.
• Estelle McKissick, a Jacksonville native and product of the Duval County Public Schools who has worked for the school district for more than 50 years.
• Shannon Miller, the most decorated gymnast in American history, now living in Jacksonville and president of the Shannon Miller Foundation.
• Rita Perry, publisher of the Jacksonville Free press, serving the African-American community for more than 26 years. She organized the first Girl Scout troop at Riverside Presbyterian Day School in the 1970s.
• Cindy Sanborn, vice president and chief transportation officer for CSX Transportation, where she directs the daily operation of more than 1,200 trains on the company's eastern network.
For information about the event, visit girlscouts-gateway.org.