We’re thrilled to announce that, for the first time, two women are the recipients of the 2025 Governor Madeleine M. Kunin Achievement Award!
Dottie Deans and Joan Lenes are long-serving members of the Emerge Vermont Cabinet. Their guidance, mentorship, and networking support over the years have been crucial to Emerge Vermont’s growth and continued success. But it’s for their long-time dedication to public service and public servants that we are recognizing them.
A former educator, Dottie Deans has been a leader in both the Democratic National Committee and the Vermont Democratic Party, serving as chair of the Pomfret town committee, the Windsor County committee, and the state committee. She has represented Vermont as our Democratic National Committeewoman to the DNC and has been a part of the leadership of the Association of State Democratic Committee Chairs for many years.
Joan Lenes is a former state representative from Shelburne, serving in the Vermont House from 2009-2015. She is a cofounder of the Robin’s Nest Children’s Center in Burlington and a former educator. She also worked at the University of Vermont’s Center for Service Learning for many years.
The criteria for nominees of the award are:
- She must be a Democratic woman living in Vermont with significant political achievements;
- She should be viewed as a role model for other women and girls, who has maintained a consistent focus on mentoring and supporting other women in their political, professional, and educational pursuits;
- Her focus has been on policy work that expands opportunities for others and/or focuses attention on important or emerging policy fields, especially as related to women’s rights, environmental policy, international relations, journalism, the arts, and education;
- There must be evidence of her work having an impact on the lives of other Vermonters, at the local, state, federal, and/or international level.
Awardees:
2024 – Marcelle Leahy – spouse and behind-the-scenes support to the former senior U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
2023 – Louvenia Dorsey Bright – Former State Representative and first Black woman to be elected to the Vermont Legislature
2022 – Maxine Grad – Former State Representative and Chair of the House Judiciary Committee
2021 – Gaye Symington – Former Speaker of the Vermont House
2020 – Mary Sullivan – Former State Legislator and DNC National Committeewoman
2019 – Jane Stetson – Former DNC Fundraising Chair
2018 – Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce
2017 – Sallie Soule – State Legislator and Commissioner of Employment and Training
Governor Kunin has had an expansive political career spanning nearly five decades, as a community advocate, member of the Vermont House, Lieutenant Governor, Governor, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, and Ambassador to Switzerland. She is the only woman to serve as Governor of Vermont, the first Jewish Governor of Vermont, and the first Jewish woman elected Governor of a U.S. state. She has worked as a journalist and college professor, and is the author of several books, including “The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family.” She founded Emerge Vermont and the Institute for Sustainable Communities. Kunin is the mother of four grown children, and has been a tireless advocate for the rights and opportunities of women and girls.