Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Cook County's 'Unsung Heroines' To Be Honored: Do You Know One?

By Linze Rice | January 28, 2016 5:51am | Updated on January 29, 2016 10:50am
 Bridget Gainer, Cook County Commissioner for the 10th District, is looking for nominations to honor the
Bridget Gainer, Cook County Commissioner for the 10th District, is looking for nominations to honor the "Unsung Heroines" in our lives.
View Full Caption
Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

CHICAGO — Who runs the world? Girls.

More specifically, women.

And Bridget Gainer, Cook County Commissioner for the 10th District, is looking for nominations to honor the "Unsung Heroines" in our lives.

Gainer's district covers much of the city's North and Northwest side, including swaths of the 39th, 40th, 41st, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th and 50th wards — but one woman from each district will be selected for the Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroine Award during a ceremony March 3. One winner will represent the entire county.

The prizes will be doled out during what is designated as Women's History Month, and is sponsored by the Cook County Commission on Women's Issues.

Gainer, whose office is in Edgewater, said the award sought women who "work in our communities, neighborhoods and schools each day without a care for credit or recognition."

Montes is the chairwoman of the women's issues commission, as well as an educator, fundraiser and "champion of women's rights," according to the county's website.

She is considered a "driving force" behind the prize's creation, and in March 2010 the award was renamed in her honor.

Now the commission continues to seek out the extraordinary women across Cook County who meet the criteria.

Nominations are made online through an emailed form that asks for a list of honors, achievements and civil activities, as well as a specific reason why the woman should win the award in 100 words or less.

Those wishing to nominate a woman in the 10th District must make their nomination by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Online, a description of the award includes its mission "to recover and tell the story of the powerful impact women have had throughout history on the development of our social, cultural, economic and political institutions."

"In this spirit, the county honors these remarkable women as a way to bring their stories to light, to thank them and to celebrate the achievements of the many women through the history of Cook County whom they represent."

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: