Women of Distinction

2006 Nebraska Women of Distinction

Dianne Seeman Lozier
Dianne is a founding member of the Women's Fund of Greater Omaha and spearheaded their successful endowment campaign. Under her leadership, the Women's Fund has produced "Can we stop the violence in Omaha," which led to the formation of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council of Greater Omaha. Dianne began the Courtwatch program within Douglas County District and County Courts and helped develop legal services for the community's domestic violence clients. She is also a founding member of Project Harmony, a center that provides comprehensive, "one-stop" legal, medical and social service resources in child abuse and neglect cases. Dianne has a bachelor's degree in social sciences, a law degree, and an MBA from UNO. 2006 Woman of Distinction Dianne Seeman Lozier, continues to provide an active voice and serve as an eloquent spokeswoman regarding pay equity and status of Nebraska's women.

Mary Ethel Emanuel
Mary Ethel Emanuel grew up in Dodge, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She came to appreciate her home state and the Great Plains during a summer internship in Washington D.C. where she yearned for the vista of Nebraska's horizon, and realized, much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz: "I want to go home. Home." Mary Ethel feels lucky to work for the Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism for nearly twenty years "while getting paid to promote a product I love, and work with hundreds of the most wonderful people". Mary Ethel has authored several book editions of "Nebraska, Off the Beaten Path," under the pen name of Hannah McNally. She has also written many articles about Nebraska's people and places in magazines including Nebraska Life, AAA Living, AAA Home & Away, Rural Nebraska Electric and Grassroots Nebraska. As a Nebraska Working Woman of Distinction, Mary Ethel Emanuel's noteworthy contributions through her work personify the qualities that can inspire all of us to live your work and work your dreams while contributing so much to Nebraska.

Valda Boyd-Ford
Ms. Boyd-Ford is the Director of Community and Multicultural Affairs at UNMC, after four-years as an Assistant Professor at Creighton University School of Nursing. Valda is the founder and executive producer of Valda's Place, a weekly Cox Cable talk show that addresses broad perspectives on health and diversity since 1997. She developed the Center for Human Diversity, a clearinghouse and resource for training, consulting, organizational change, and speaking as it relates to cultural competency, diversity, and vulnerable populations. As a member of Unite for Sight, an international organization with 4000 volunteers, she works to eliminate preventable blindness, improve eye health, develop clinics and provide other forms of medical and social relief in underdeveloped countries, urban inner-city neighborhoods, refugee camps, and homes for the elderly and disabled. Valda is the recipient of many prestigious honors and awards, and for her capacity and the talent to incorporate true cultural, social, economic and linguistic diversity in all that she does, Valda Boyd-Ford is indeed a 2006 Nebraska Woman of Distinction.

Women of Distinction Nomination Form (PDF 113k)

Women of Distinction 2005