(Photos | Courtesy of Bend Chamber of Commerce)
The Bend Chamber’s Women of the Year Awards, sponsored by U.S. Bank, is a celebration of the achievements and contributions of the women of Central Oregon. “This year, a record number of nominations were submitted, which is a testament to the scope and scale of women’s impact on our communities, businesses and daily lives,” said Robin Rogers, executive vice president of programs and events at the Bend Chamber. “We’re very excited to announce the recipients in each of the six award categories,” she added.
The awards ceremony was held at a packed Tower Theatre on April 5, and emceed by Julie Harrelson, 2017 Woman of the Year Award recipient and CEO at HGI. “Awesome to be a part this tremendous event. The talent, dedication and leadership demonstrated by the award recipients and all the nominees is amazing,” noted Harrelson.
As an added bonus for the recipients of the Young Hero Award, each received a scholarship award of $1,500. The scholarship award is sponsored by Express Employment Professionals, Robberson Ford Lincoln Mazda and Bigfoot Beverages.
A special presentation in honor of the passing of Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Pamela Hulse Andrews was both powerful and emotional. “It was wonderful to see the outpouring of appreciation of Pamela as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient”, said Katy Brooks, Bend Chamber CEO. “She was a trailblazer for the arts, for women in business and for the local press, and it was heartwarming to honor her among her many peers and friends.
Pamela Hulse Andrews
Lifetime Achievement Award
It is with heavy heart that Pamela’s passing came just after her nomination for this award. It is with proud heart that we celebrate all she has accomplished through the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pamela was the Founder, Co-Owner and Publisher of Cascade Publications, Inc., which publishes Cascade Business News (CBN), Cascade Arts & Entertainment and Cascadia Magazine Company, which publishes Sunriver Magazine.
Pamela launched CBN in Bend in 1993. Bend had not had such a professionally, well covered business publication prior to that. In 1998, Cascade Arts & Entertainment received the Central Oregon Arts Association’s Business of the Year Award and in 2000, Pamela was honored with Oregon’s Small Business of the Year Award.
Pamela’s commitment, dedication and hands on experience in Central Oregon the last 25 years has greatly enriched our community. Her guidance and involvement has inspired many and she has been instrumental in the development and success of many of Central Oregon’s nonprofit organizations. Pamela has been a role model for many women and men, by encouraging them to make our community a better place to live. She is respected for her “I’ll do it my way” attitude as it has shown her strength and fortitude in addressing and overcoming business challenges and for experiencing the good and bad of economic times in Central Oregon.
Carol Stiles
Woman of the Year Award
Over a period of 20 years, Carol developed the first Head Start program for Bend and Central Oregon. During that time, she and the programs that evolved from that first program have impacted so many families and children in central Oregon.
While serving as the executive director of the Head Start Programs in Central Oregon, Carol was a part of the group of citizens and professionals that came together to create a community action plan addressing parenting and family services needs throughout our community. The Family Resource Center was born with Carol as one of the founding members.
She spearheaded the administrative and funding arm of the Family Resource Center bringing Central Oregon Community College into the mix as an anchor for several enriching programs that served the needs of Central Oregon’s families. She has shaped our community from the inside out by working to bring much needed services that help sustain healthy families in our community to this day.
Dana Barbarto
Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Dana Barbato was someone other HR professionals called when they needed help with discrimination or harassment complaints. In 2015, she woke up and decided her peers in HR needed a software platform to walk them through the minefield of workplace investigations – InvestiPro was born.
Dana stepped out of her successful 26-year career in human resources (and the safety of that career) and created InvestiPro, the first fully-automated workplace investigation platform that ensures a respectful, compliant and consistent process, every time.
In an incredibly short amount of time, Dana has taken InvestiPro from just an idea to a company with offices in Downtown Bend and a product that is used by businesses nationwide, including WinCo Foods, Oakland Zoo, Bremerton Housing Authority, RH Technologies, Chromalox, and many more.
Kristin Lingman
Community Hero Award
Kristin Lingman’s accomplishments are but one example of her selfless, giving spirit. From her time working with Easter Seals, to serving the community in an inner city ER, to rural EMS outreach — the common vein is service.
Kristin’s job as outreach manager for AirLink involves interaction with rural EMS providers, many of whom are in crisis. Rural EMS agencies deal with ever-increasing costs of operating an ambulance, decreasing numbers of volunteers to do the work, shrinking reimbursement and increasing requirements to maintain EMS credentials. Kristin saw the need to do something about it.
Along with help from some friends at Bend Fire Department and AirLink, Kristin formed a non-profit organization solely charged with helping local EMS agencies. Utilizing funds raised by providing EMS to events and concerts, the Rural Emergency Medical Services Initiative (REMSI) helps EMS services serving Central Oregon with EMS training, administrative functions such as billing, and scholarships for future EMS providers to name a few. REMSI also works as a conduit to allow access to a huge network of EMS providers (both local and national) to share both administrative and clinical best practices. Kristin’s passion for 
public services resulted in this idea, and REMSI is serving as a model of EMS support for other areas of the country.
Heather Davenport
Young Hero Award (Ages 14-17)
Heather Davenport is a senior at Mountain View High School and a remarkable young lady who has demonstrated leadership in our community throughout her youth. She is passionate about helping others and promoting philanthropic efforts. She has helped address unmet needs in our community through her personal efforts, service projects, and innovative ideas for tackling real life issues. She has touched many lives through numerous causes.
Heather is a leader in her high school community. She is a member of the Linc Crew who mentor and support freshman students throughout their first year in high school. She is a varsity tennis player. Her coach named her Most Inspirational Player. She is President of the Rotary Interact Club. This club works in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Bend. The club supported the Daddy Daughter Dance whose proceeds raised funds for a local homeless shelter. The clubs current project is Pennies for Patients. Heather is hopeful to surpass last year’s campaign that raised $400. She is also currently a participant in the Mountain View Cougar Pageant to help raise funds for the Sparrow Club child and the Mountain View Student Assistance Fund. The pageant is predicted to raise $12,000 this year. Heather is independently raising a $1,000 toward this cause.
Isabelle Rice
Young Hero Award (Ages 18-21)
As a senior at Mountain View High School, Izzy is a member of the Interact Club, Speech and Debate Team, Leadership (Student Body President), Battle of the Books (President), Link Crew, Red Cross (Vice-President) Cougar Pageant, Dance and National Honors Society.
Challenging herself academically, Izzy has and continues to take multiple Advanced Placement, Honors and Dual Credit courses, all while maintaining a GPA of 4.237 and rank of 11 of 281 senior students at Mountain View. Currently, Izzy is one of six girls in the senior class chosen to participate in the Cougar Pageant this year. The goal of the Pageant is to raise money for community need and this year each participant is raising $1,000 each through their own fundraising endeavors. The $14,000 raised will be split between our FAN program and the 2018 Mountain View Sparrow, Maverick.
Outside of school, Izzy’s 13 years as a tap dancer has led her to teach dance to younger perspective dancers for the last three years. Dancing for her is joy, dancing for her is a form of self-care and dancing allows her to incorporate passion and creativity in her everyday habits. Passion and creativity are not limited to dance or leadership positions at school, but her passion to learning has brought her to volunteering at the High Desert Museum for the last five years, and in 2015 she was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award by the museum.
