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Diane L. Bell-McKoy,
who graduated from UMBC in 1973 with a B.A. in Sociology/Social Work,
has been named UMBC’s Distinguished Alumna for 2003.
After almost 20
years working with drug treatment programs and poverty issues, and as
an advocate for children, Diane Bell-McKoy took the reins as
president and CEO of the Empower Baltimore Management Corporation in
1994. She has faced the challenge of bringing together people from
different backgrounds with varying experiences and beliefs to put
together and carry out a collective vision.
Under her
leadership,
Baltimore’s
Empowerment Zone has had unparalleled success and has become a
national and international model. Bell-McKoy and her staff, in
partnership with others in the business community, have seen the
creation of 5,000 new jobs and helped 8,000 unemployed city residents
find work. Empower Baltimore has also created new initiatives, such as
a Hospital Hopkins and University Hospital program, which has trained
hospital workers and upgraded them to work as surgical technicians.
In her previous
position as deputy chief of staff to the Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke,
former mayor of Baltimore, Bell-McKoy spearheaded the development of
an agency dedicated to the delivery of both human services and
community capacity building assistance; designed and implemented a new
policy structure to guide the mayor in matters related to social
capital (The Mayor’s Human Services Sub-Cabinet); designed the City’s
rebuilding policies committee; served as the chair of the Sandtown-Winchester
Initiative in partnership with the Jim Rouse Enterprise Foundation;
and designed the City’s first Youth Leadership Program.
"Diane is a distinguished alumna who is
precisely the kind of citizen that UMBC strives to graduate," says
Cynthia M. Hill, assistant vice provost, who nominated Bell-McKoy
for the award. "Her strong liberal education is effectively blended
with a strong sense of social responsibility. She is in every sense a
leader with an extraordinary ability to forge collaborations among
government, business, and community entities to increase social
capital and improve the quality of life for those who might otherwise
remain
disenfranchised."
At the annual
Alumni Awards Reception and Ceremony on April 24, UMBC also
honored:
Outstanding Alumna
of the Year
Adrienne A. Jones
B.A., Psychology
'76
Speaker Pro Tem,
Maryland House of Delegates
Community
Leadership Award
Emma Byrne
B.A., Sociology '70
Retired Teacher,
Baltimore City Schools
Alumni Volunteer of
the Year
Robert Baruch
B.S., Computer
Science '89
President, CEO and
Founder, Raba Technologies, Inc.
In addition to
celebrating the achievements of UMBC alumni, over 40 student
scholarship and award recipients were recognized.
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