California first lady Maria Shriver on Monday released the names of four women who will be honored for their humanitarian efforts at the annual Women's Conference in Long Beach.
The Minerva Awards will be given by Shriver and corporate sponsor Target Oct. 27 at a separate event within the larger conference.
The recipients are:
- Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist, conservationist and author.
- Kathy Hull, founder of the George Mark Children's House in San Leandro, a residential center that seeks to relieve the symptoms of children with terminal illnesses.
- Agnes Stevens, founder of School on Wheels, which tutors Southern California homeless children ages 6 to 18.
- Helen Devore Waukazoo, co-founder of the Bay Area-based Friendship House, which provides residential substance-abuse treatment for Native Americans.
Shriver introduced the awards named for the Roman goddess on the California state seal in 2004 to honor women "who serve on the front-lines of humanity."
Past recipients include former first lady Betty Ford, feminist Gloria Steinem, tennis ace Billie Jean King, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, astronaut Sally Ride, and Maria Shriver's mother, the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Singer Alicia Keyes and author and attorney Caroline Kennedy will make remarks at the awards ceremony. Shriver will hand out the awards.
The larger Women's Conference at the Long Beach Convention Center and Arena is sold out, but tickets to the Minerva Awards and the Night at the Village are still available at www.WomensConference.org. Tickets are $40.
