Kent State’s Iris Harvey was honored at the Akron Urban League Women of Power luncheon Nov. 7.

“Women of Power awards are granted to women who have made a difference in the organizations where they work and also to the community at large,” according to Akron Urban League’s website.

Harvey, vice president of university relations, was one of seven women honored during the luncheon.

“It was a terrific honor,” Harvey said. “I’m proud that the community recognized me along with a great many other wonderful women. I was in great company, and I felt very privileged.”

Fred Wright, CEO and president of the Akron Urban League, held the third annual Women of Power luncheon to highlight several women who help in their neighborhoods.

“We call them the ‘magnificent seven,’ and we honor them because they do a lot of work on behalf of the people in our community,” Wright said. “Over 300 people attended the luncheon, and we recognized that they were all significant women who do quite a bit in their communities.”

People in the surrounding communities submit nominations for the Women of Power honors. Seven women are then picked from those nominations and honored.

“The overall award is for both accomplishments and contributions to community and profession,” Harvey said. “So those who nominated me may have talked about a variety of things, but mostly the award asked to demonstrate contributions to a professional career and how that translates to society.”

Harvey also oversees the offices of Government Relations, University Communications and Marketing and WKSU-FM, and she said she views this honor as a reason to work even harder.

“(The honor) certainly gives a warm and privileged feelings that there are others, both in my professional and personal life, who think well of me, and who are taking note of the effort that I’m putting in (towards the community),” Harvey said. “It’s a reinforcement that the work I do, the effort and the results, is meaningful to the people of northeast Ohio, to the university and to my community.”

Other women honored alongside Harvey were Virginia Albanese, Kent State trustee and president and chief executive officer of FedEx Custom Critical; Roxia Boykin, vice president of community benefit and diversity at the Summa Health System; Patricia Divoky, director of the Summit County Department of Jobs and Family Services; Congresswomen Marcia Fudge; Carolyn Hofmann, employee activities coordinator at Akron Children’s Hospital; and Reverend Dr. Diana Swoope, senior pastor at the Arlington Church of God.

Contact Hilary Crisan at [email protected].