The 2017 honorees are S. Yvette Carter, Roslyn Levy, Jeanna Mastrodicasa, Ilene Silverman, Dr. Marie Herring, Julie Samples and Candice King.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council
Every year, the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council take the opportunity to honor extraordinary women in the Gainesville community by presenting them with the Women Who Make a Difference awards. The awards recognize exceptional women who have positively impacted the community around them. All seven of the women selected for 2017 have worked diligently to improve the Greater Gainesville area. Their efforts and success will be acknowledged at the honorary banquet on June 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UF Hilton Conference Center in Gainesville.
S. Yvette Carter
S. Yvette Carter has fond memories of being introduced to the Girl Scouts organization when she became a Brownie as a third-grader in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Since then, Carter has been involved in service to others through her passions for empowering young women, social justice, equality and health education. Carter serves as a board member of several local organizations, including PACE Center for Girls Alachua and the NAACP Alachua Youth Council. She is also a founding member of the Center for Advocacy and Research on Health Equality. She was named one of Business in Greater Gainesville magazine’s 2016 Fierce Award winners.
Carter graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in family, youth and community sciences and has continued to work in Gainesville. As the community relations director of Gainesville Regional Utilities, she is a vital voice on issues of diversity, inclusion and volunteerism.
Roslyn Levy
As a child, Roslyn Levy only participated in one after school activity: Girl Scouts. Levy attended the University of Michigan, receiving a Bachelors of Arts in Spanish literature. During her first year, she led a Brownie troop. In the past, she has been president of the board of trustees of WUFT-TV and WUFT-FM, and the past president of the Florida Museum of Natural History, Alachua County Medical Alliance, Gainesville Women’s Forum, Gainesville Hadassah and Gainesville Fine Arts Association. She is currently a docent at the Harn Museum of Art, a board member of University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts, a volunteer at Gainesville Harvest and Habitat for Humanity and a mentor for Take Stock in Children in Alachua County.
Jeanna Mastrodicasa
Jeanna Mastrodicasa was a Cadette and Senior Girl Scout in Troop 533 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She earned the Silver award and the Gold Leadership Award. She co-founded the Campus Girl Scouts while an undergraduate at the University of Georgia. Mastrodicasa holds four degrees. Most recently, she earned her doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Florida. She was a Gainesville city commissioner from 2006 to 2012, and she served as mayor pro tempore from 2010 to 2011. During this time, she led an initiative to improve safety and underage drinking in Gainesville’s bar district. She has been awarded several honors, including the 2012 Voice for Equality Award and the C. Arthur Sandeen Improving the Quality of Life Award. Mastrodicasa is the associate vice president for University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. She serves on the Gainesville Police Advisory Council and sits on the boards for Family Promise of Gainesville and the Friends of Susan B. Anthony in Gainesville. She is also a member of the Gainesville Women’s Forum and the League of Women Voters of Alachua County.
Ilene Silverman
Growing up in Gainesville, Silverman lived on Northwest Eighth Avenue, right down the street from the Girl Scout Hut. Her mother was the Girl Scout leader for her sister’s troop, and she was the baby sister tag-a-long. Her appreciation for the valuable lessons embodied by Girl Scouts shows in the many Silverman Show programs that she produced and hosted on behalf of the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council. The summer of 2002 saw the debut of The Ilene Silverman Show, a half-hour interview community affairs program. The show now broadcasts multiple times each week on several local TV channels, so Silverman feels that she is reaching significant portions of the community.
“My horizons have expanded exponentially,” Silverman said. “I am continually impressed by the large number of professionals and volunteers who are so dedicated to improving life in Gainesville. I can’t imagine running out of topics and events to cover.”
Dr. Marie Herring
The Girl Scouts’ mission is to build courage, confidence and character of young women. Dr. Marie Herring was raised with the same ideology and taught to serve all mankind. Herring’s educational accomplishments include a cum laude degree in mathematics, a master’s degree in math education, a specialist degree in math and gifted education and a Doctorate of Ministry degree. She is a board member of the Duval Fine Arts Academy and the Alachua County Christian Pastor’s Association. Herring co-founded the Alachua County Empowerment Revival Team, a group of professional women who help other young women and support community members. She has also initiated several outreach programs at her church. She is blazing a trail for women in ministry as the first African-American female pastor at Dayspring Missionary Baptist Church.
Julie Samples
Julie Samples has made it her life’s work to aid and support women in the health field. Her career started at the University of Florida with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing.
Samples is the assistant chief nursing officer at North Florida Regional Medical Center. Over the years, Samples has been published several times and invited to contribute on professional papers and be part of research teams.
Samples also has served her community through various organizations, including Planned Parenthood of the Tampa Bay area, Hillsborough County Regional STEM Fair, Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network, and the March of Dimes Babies and You Program Committee.
Candice King
Candice King began her Girl Scout career as a Brownie in Washington state and continued through Juniors in Virginia. King currently serves on the board of the Rural Health Partnership of North Central Florida and the Alachua County Health Care Advisory Board. She was formerly the chair of the board of directors of the Alachua County Children’s Alliance and has previously served on boards of numerous nonprofit organizations in the arts, health care and programs for children with disabilities. King has also been a prolific community volunteer in schools, church, Girl Scouts, and both disability and health organizations. King returned to ACORN Clinic as the executive director in 2013 after previously serving in the role in the mid-2000s. ACORN Clinic is a nonprofit clinic providing low-cost medical and dental care to low-income, uninsured residents of North Central Florida.