Jane Kramer

Passion for music, children and culture has been woven into Jane Kramer’s identity from a very young age. Coupled with her deep commitment to opportunity and equity, it is no surprise that her life’s work has been dedicated to creating and growing Enriching Lives through Music (ELM), a full scholarship, multi-year music program serving over […]

Paola Gianturco

Paola Gianturco is an activist author/photographer who has documented women’s lives in 60 countries, has had five books published—and is a grandmother. Paola has always viewed the world through a multicultural lens, inspired by her American mother and Italian father. Paola’s father came to the US from Italy to be a fellow in radiology at […]

WINIFRED BAKER

Winifred Baker’s musical and conducting excellence brought the best of choral music works to audiences in Marin, the Bay Area, New York and Europe. For forty years, she conducted the Winifred Baker Chorale and San Francisco Civic Chorale. The Chorales have performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the Marin Symphony, the San Francisco Civic Opera, […]

ANNA HALPRIN

Anna Halprin, a Marin County resident for over fifty years, has won national and international awards in recognition of her prestigious achievements as a dancer and choreographer. Halprin is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed 20th century dancers, whose ranks include celebrities such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham. She […]

MARGIE BELROSE

Margie Belrose is founder and director of The Belrose School and Theatre in San Rafael. At The Belrose, Margie Belrose teaches, performs and directs. Theater colleagues proclaim that Margie exemplifies the stage motto, “The show must go on.” Through hard work and steadfast devotion to her dream, she has earned the respect of associates and […]

SISTER M. SAMUEL CONLAN

Sister Samuel was a dedicated and exemplary educator, and a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic. She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Stanford University, and joined the faculty of Dominican college in 1957, serving as President of the College from 1968-80. She continued to teach English, and under her leadership the college […]

Kay Boyle

Kay Boyle was a renowned poet, teacher and author of poetry, short story collectives and numerous articles. For twenty years her short stories in the New Yorker helped to define literary form. As a woman in a man’s profession, she served as the New Yorker’s foreign correspondent in the 1940s. She was encouraged by her […]

Isabel Allende

Internationally acclaimed author Isabel Allende began writing novels in 1981. Since then her books have been translated into twenty-seven languages; two of the books were made into motion pictures and theater plays. All her works have a common theme: life is precious and should be lived free from oppression. Her novels feature female protagonists whose […]

Emily Gates

Emily Gates is known not only as a inspirational community member and role model for young women and girls, but also as one of the most respected and beloved chorus and musical theater teachers in Northern California. Born and educated in Ohio, Ms. Gates married her high school sweetheart and began a music teaching career […]

Ann Brebner

Ann Brebner is helping to change the face of downtown San Rafael through her successful efforts to renovate and restore the Rafael Theater as a permanent home for the Film Institute of Northern California, which produces the Mill Valley Film Festival. As a past Board President and current member of the Board of Directors she […]