Century College honored four women with the annual Women of Distinction Award for 2010.  They were Lynn Tellers Bankes, chief of police for the City of White Bear Lake; Debra Davis, executive director of the Gender Education Center; Gloria Contreras Edin, an attorney who specializes in immigration law, and Nancy Stephan, president of Honoring Women Worldwide.

Chief Lynn Tellers Bankes has a particular interest in domestic violence and has led many workshops on the subject.  She is a frequent speaker at schools, and volunteers at the East Metro Women's Council.  She also teaches at Metropolitan State University and is a mentor to many female police officers. 

Debra Davis, executive director of the volunteer-run Gender Education Center, is an educator, public speaker, activist and workshop presenter on topics related to gender awareness, transgender issues and other GLBT topics.  She is known for her gentle humor, serious message and unfailing support of women, girls and transgender people.  In light of recent news stories about bullying and gay teen suicide, Davis' message is especially important. 

Gloria Contreras Edin provides immigration law assistance to help families with many issues.  Her office location on Payne Aveune in St. Paul is accommodating to the Latino, Hmong and Middle-Eastern communities.  Edin is the past executive director of Centro Legal, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to immigrants.  She serves on many philanthropic boards and is a national speaker on the topics of immigration policy and how it affects women and children. 

Nancy Stephan founded Honoring Women Worldwide in 2007 to honor and unite women globally to positively change and thrive by teaching, promoting and demonstrating the importance of assisting one another to further women's causes.  Honoring Women Worldwide offers monthly gatherings with guest speakers, in addition to mentoring programs for women and students. 

Each Women of Distinction award recipient is being honored not only for her professional accomplishments, but also for her work in improving the lives and increasing opportunities for women and girls.  Century College began its Women of Distinction awards in 2005 to highlight the accomplishments of women in our society and also to celebrate that more women gain access to higher education through community/technical colleges than through any other type of post-secondary institution. 

Century's sixth annual awards ceremony and reception was held on Thursday, December 9, 2010 at Dellwood Hills Gold Club.  Robyne Robinson, former of Fox 9 News, guest hosted.  The Women of Distinction awards are sponsored by Century College and te Century College Women and Gender Studies Department. 

From Century College New Release, Dec, 2010.