Centre Foundation marked Women’s History Month by celebrating the community’s women leaders and selecting Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia as the 2022 recipient for the Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership Award.
The award recognizes women in the community who have made a significant impact through their leadership. Wadhia is the associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Penn State Law.
In addition to her role as associate dean, Wadhia is the Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor of Law at Penn State Law and the founder and director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (CIRC). Through the CIRC, she works with students in the community and supervises them in three areas: community outreach, legal support in individual immigration cases and policy work for institutional clients.
“I feel honored and humbled to receive this award,” Wadhia said. “I admire and collaborate with so many leaders in the community and what is equally important is the courage and resilience I see in the community members and clients I have had the honor of serving and helping a small way. This award also feels special upon a realization that so much of the work is both hard and challenging, but also is ultimately local. The visibility and meaning of this award is special and one that belongs to so many.”
The Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership Fund was created in 2017 by Barbara Palmer to honor her longtime friend and the fund’s namesake when she received the foundation’s Oak Tree Award for service and commitment to philanthropic efforts and the local community.
In honor of the fund’s awardee each year, a $2,500 grant is given to a local nonprofit of her choice. Wadhia selected Centre Volunteers in Medicine, which provides free medical and dental services for uninsured people who live or work in Centre County.
“Shoba walked the walk and talked the talk from the moment she arrived in Happy Valley,” Barash Coppersmith said. “A woman with great education and training in terms of service to the underserved. She has made a measurable impact in the community with a sensitive subject.”
For more information or to get involved with Centre Foundation, contact Molly Kunkel at [email protected] or 814-237-6229.
