Commission on the Status of Women

CSW Outstanding Achievement and Contribution Awards

2015 Award Recipients

Camellia Bellis, Program Manager for Sanford Harmon Program, Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics
Through her work as an educator, community advocate, and non-profit founder, Cammy Bellis has dedicated herself to changing the lives of LGBTQ children and their families in the Phoenix area.  Her list of volunteerism on behalf of LGBTQ youth is long and impressive, but perhaps one of her greatest contributions is her creation and development of an important non-profit group called Mothers in Transition.  Trans and gender questioning youth are some of the most vulnerable children in society, experiencing one of the highest levels of family rejection, school harassment, discrimination, violence and suicide rates.  In 2013, Cammy undertook a major advocacy role that serves a small and largely invisible group of individuals – that is, parents of transgender children who share custody arrangements. Imagine having a child who was born a girl but at age 5 or 6 began to talk about feeling as though she was a boy.  That situation is challenging enough as is; what is forgotten is that children undergoing these challenges have mothers and fathers (and other family members) who may or may not share similar attitudes toward handling and supporting their child. In addition to the psychological stress this can cause the parents and family members, there are legal issues, medical issues, and financial issues to consider.  Cammy founded the Mothers in Transition non-profit group to serve this population: the goal is to provide support to mothers undergoing these family stresses with a gender non-normative or trans-gender child. She also has reached out to a number of other agencies as partners in this work, and has been providing family court advocacy and education to support children and mothers in this process. Additional goals for this group include developing a family law best practices guide as well as a guide for mothers. Thus far, she is providing support to 10-15 mothers from seven states who are presently involved in custody battles.  Her impact on these families is immeasurable.  In the words of one of her nominators, “I cannot think of a person whose efforts to be an ally to one of the most misunderstood and marginalized communities to be more deserving of acknowledgement.”  The CSW agrees.

Anne Suzuki, Assistant Dean, Enrollment Services, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
Throughout her career, Anne Suzuki has dedicated herself to being an advocate for women, underrepresented groups, and our community’s most needy populations, valley foster children.  Above and beyond her position as Assistant Dean in Enrollment Services, Anne has made it her priority to get to know young freshman women, especially those first generation, financially-challenged women often hailing from difficult family systems. She understands the complexity of fears of financial survival impacting educational dreams, and has creatively fought for added scholarships and other pathways to assist students in attaining their dreams. She has sought funding for true hardship cases in creative ways, and there are many students who would not have graduated without her direct advocacy.  Beyond that, Anne has challenged first generation students, held them accountable, directed them to services beyond the scope of ASU, has mentored them even after graduation, helped them dream their future, and has communicated that she sees a bright future for them. Many of these women would not have graduated had it not been for Anne’s dedicated mentoring.  In addition to helping students at ASU, Anne has dedicated countless hours to helping children in foster care realize their potential and has worked to help them get on the path to education and success.  Anne has worked to help foster children understand that the negative circumstances in their lives does not have to equal destiny, and that education is a way out.  Anne spent hours visiting residential homes, testing the waters to bring in grant monies, and developed relationships with fostering agencies. She developed these relationships not so that she could become the hero for these individuals and pat herself on the back, but to join with them—to get to know them and identify realistic needs assessment, and to spend the time connecting with those already working with this population in order to come alongside to support them. In result, Anne created a leadership course producing mentors for younger foster children to help prepare them for college. The course was a success and these young women will be better prepared for the educational roads ahead.  As one person put it, “there is nothing that Anne wouldn’t do to help someone in need – it is simply who she is.”

Rebecca Tsosie, Associate Vice Provost, Office of the University Provost and Regents Professor, College of Law
Through and beyond her work as an outstanding professor and administrator, Dr. Rebecca Tsosie has proven herself to be a tireless advocate for women and native populations at ASU.  In her 20 years at ASU, Dr. Tsosie has made mentoring one of her top priorities and as a result has been a solid source of support for hundreds of Native American students, helping them to achieve their educational goals.  As Dean Douglas Sylvester of the College of Law explains, “Rebecca takes her role as mentor and teacher very seriously, never turning away a student who may be homesick or struggling with a concept or a course.”  She is always there.  In addition to her outstanding mentoring, Dr. Tsosie has worked to increase the visibility of Indian law, not only by transforming ASU’s Indian Legal Program into one of the nation’s best, but also through helping to create the Masters of Law degree in Tribal Law, and developing the award winning Indian Legal Clinic.  And now in her role as Associate Vice Provost for the Office of Academic Excellence and Inclusion, Dr. Tsosie is committed to changing the campus climate by creating programming for faculty women, particularly faculty women of color, thereby constructing a more inclusive culture for our entire community.  As one of Rebecca’s colleague’s noted, “In my years at ASU, I have rarely come across someone as thoughtful and dedicated to helping women and underrepresented groups as Rebecca Tsosie.  Her approach is methodical – she listens, she studies, she develops a clear understanding of the issue, and then she works to change it.”

Wendy Cheng, Assistant Professor, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Throughout her time at ASU Dr. Wendy Cheng has worked tirelessly to advocate for needed change within and beyond the university.  Dr. Cheng has created substantial awareness at ASU by her creation of the ASU Ethnic Studies Working Group – an ongoing working group that consistently educates the university community about why Ethnic Studies matters, and how learning about the experiences of groups marginalized by ethnicity in the US provides important lessons as we work to create a more inclusive and accessible community on our campus, in our local community, and nationally.  An essential part of this working group entails programming that brings important speakers and scholars to campus to engage the ASU community in important conversations surrounding diversity issues.  Some of the many topics explore through these events include racism, ethnic studies, immigration, racial stereotypes of Native populations, and challenges facing faculty of color.    In the words of her nominators, “In her advocacy, research, and teaching, Dr. Cheng demonstrates consistently a commitment to promoting a more just and inclusive future for all, and helps us to realize our institution’s potential as an agent of social change.”

Elaine Rostad, Director of Student Services, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion
Throughout her long career at ASU, Elaine Rostad has dedicated herself to improving ASU’s campus climate and the status of women and underrepresented groups in the university system through her extensive service and volunteerism directly at ASU.  There are those that volunteer for university service, and then there are people like Elaine, who volunteers for every type of service opportunity because she believes that working together, we can make a difference.  University Career Women, Staff Council, Committee for Campus Inclusion, Counsel of Academic Advisors, Campus Resource Council, and the Commission on the Status of Women – these are just a few of the many entities that Elaine regularly assists, supports, or in some cases, leads.  In addition to her extensive work on university organizations, Elaine has proven herself as a dedicated mentor helping staff, particularly women staff, achieve their career goals and potential.  As one colleague notes, “if there is something that needs to be done to make ASU a better place for women, Elaine is one of the first to jump in and make it happen.  And it is that type of drive, energy and commitment, that makes change happen.”

I Am That Girl Student Organization
Tired of the stereotypes and seeing how women students at ASU were portrayed in the media, Tamsyn Stonebarger and Amanda Luberto saw the need to make a change.  Through their hard work, they brought a chapter of the national movement “I Am That Girl” to ASU.  “I Am That Girl” focuses on improving the status of women by teaching women to celebrate who they, have honest conversations about things that matter, and most importantly to support one another’s success.  Through weekly meetings at both the Tempe and Downtown Campuses, the organization engages women to realize their full worth and to support one another’s goals and ambitions.  They promote independence and self-esteem.  Additionally, the organization has also worked to engage men with special programming such as “Real Men” dedicated to highlighting the ways that men can advocate for women’s issues.  As one student remarked about her experience with the organization, “made me feel accepted in a place I was afraid I wouldn’t be.”