Carol Coughlin (from left), Maria Johnson Darby and Natalie Villabon-Martz are among the 2012 Spirited Women of Baltimore award winners. (Courtesy Spirited Women Awards)
By Catholic Review Staff
Three Catholic women are being honored by this year’s Spirited Women of Baltimore awards.
Maria Darby, Natalie Villabon-Martz and Carol Coughlin are among five Baltimore-area women receiving awards for their community and business leadership.
First offered in 2007, the annual awards are presented by communications professional Monyka Berrocosa and her organization MyCity4Her.com, a Baltimore-based online network aiming to empower and inspire businesswomen. The awards have four categories: Spirited Woman of Baltimore, Spirited Woman Rising, Spirited Woman in Balance and Spirited Woman in Business.
Darby, a 1985 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, and a parishioner of Ss. Philip and James in Charles Village, was named the 2012 Spirited Woman of Baltimore. According to the organization, the Spirited Woman of Baltimore award recognizes “an incredibly accomplished, spirited woman in the prime of her life who acts as an example, leader and mentor in her community and profession, and has done so for some time.”
Darby, a 1989 graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., has worked as the vice president of advancement for Girl Scouts of Central Maryland for the past six years and has raised millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations over the course of her 20-year career, according to the Girl Scouts. She also has held leadership positions in several professional and community organizations.
Villabon-Martz was one of two women named a 2012 Spirited Woman Rising, which recognizes “up-and-coming” young businesswomen.
A Tae Kwon Do black belt by age 9, Villabon-Martz says she incorporates martial arts tenets such as courtesy, integrity and perseverance into her position as vice president and chief operating officer of Clemons & Associates, a Baltimore-based association management business.
She continues to test Tae Kwon Do students for black belts and advanced ranks. Villabon-Martz is also involved with the federal No Child Left Behind Program and volunteers with the Latin American Association, along with several other organizations. She is a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Baltimore.
Awarded with Spirited Woman in Balance, Coughlin is the founder of Bottom Line Growth Strategies, an executive financial advisory company. The award “honors a working mother who is successfully juggling all that life brings her – family, career, all the while engaging in spirited endeavors, such as community service, mentorship and philanthropy,” according to the award organizers.
Coughlin has helped companies obtain multi-million dollar turn-arounds, negotiated sales and mergers, and guided company growth. She is a graduate of Loyola College, now Loyola University Maryland, and a member of Church of the Nativity in Timonium.
The awardees will be honored at the Sixth Annual Spirited Women of Baltimore Power Lunch, Aug. 15, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore.
Copyright (c) July 25, 2012 CatholicReview.org