The Association for Women in Communications – Santa Barbara (AWC-SB) honored five distinguished creatives building community through the arts at the 2025 Women of Achievement Awards luncheon, May 21.
The honorees are: Adriana Arriaga, visual artist, entrepreneur and activist; Teresa Kuskey, founder/artistic director of La Boheme Dance; Frances Moore, co-founder/artistic director, Santa Barbara Ring Shout Project; Melinda Palacio, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate; and JoAnne Wasserman, artistic director and conductor, Santa Barbara Choral Society.
The awardees’ disciplines include visual art, dance, choral music, traditional Ring Shout song and movement, and poetry.
Caroline Feraday, award-winning journalist at KCLU Radio, emceed the event.
The 17th Annual Women of Achievement awards luncheon was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Women Connect4Good.
More than 150 guests, including AWC-SB members, public officials, and sponsors, filled the historic Cabrillo Pavilion to celebrate the honorees and their work that embodies this year’s theme Creative Communication: Building Community Through the Arts.
As individuals and collectively, the honorees employ the arts as an impactful form of communication and a way to bring people together. Their work inspires, empowers, and lefts us up.
The luncheon featured inspiring music and dance performances and a poetry reading that showcased the honorees’ community-building artistic work, and the Ladies Social Strumming Club provided a musical welcome to the program.
“We are so grateful to share this day and honor these five remarkable women creatives, each a beacon of creativity and strength, who use their art to express their unique stories and build community,” said Brooke Holland, AWC-SB Board member and Women of Achievement co-chair with board member Judith Smith-Meyer.
“Through the power of creative communication, they build communities that celebrate diversity, inspire collaboration, and transform the world around them,” Holland said.
The annual Women of Achievement Awards recognize exemplary women communicators, providing inspiring role models for women pursuing careers in journalism, public speaking, writing, public relations, filmmaking, photography, and related disciplines.
The 2025 Women of Achievement Luncheon is supported by sponsors Women Connect4Good / Dr. Nancy O’Reilly; the Santa Barbara Independent; Brooks and Kate Firestone; Natalie Orfalea Foundation; Santa Barbara Foundation; La Boheme Productions; Oshay Family Foundation; Santa Barbara Choral Society Board; Montecito Bank & Trust; PIP Printing and Marketing; KCSB-FM; and Montecito Journal.
Community members may learn more about becoming a member of AWC-SB at https://awcsb.org/become-a-member/.
AWC-SB hosts monthly meetings for its members and guests, featuring topics that help communicators hone their skills and stay up to date with important developments in the technology, practice, and ethics of communications.