Keeshia Jones will receive the Susan B. Anthony — Women of Influence Lifetime Achievement Award at an event set for Friday, March 28, 2025, at UW-Parkside’s De Simone Arena, 4130 Petrifying Springs Road, Kenosha.
Jones, director of Healthcare & Community Partnerships at ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Milwaukee, is committed to serving her community and is an advocate for children’s literacy, improving access to higher education, and promoting breast cancer awareness. She currently serves on cancer advisory boards with the UW Carbone Cancer Center, the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, and is a volunteer for the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network of Wisconsin.
Jones’s professional career spans over 27 years in higher education at Marquette University and Gateway Technical Colleges, where she helped students navigate the financial aid process. As a volunteer for College Goal Wisconsin, she was a site coordinator in Kenosha and helped organize programs to assist parents and high school students with financial aid applications and resources for college.
Jones previously served on the Kenosha Public Library Board for seven years and recently completed her term as president of the Kenosha Public Library Foundation Board, where she helped lead the successful fundraising efforts that led to opening the new Kenosha Children’s Library in 2024. Jones has volunteered as a lead advisor and mentor with the Sisters Involved Strategically Towards Academic Success (SISTAS), a program that provided academic, social, and life skills for African American students in the Kenosha Unified School District in grades 6-12.
Following her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2018, Jones has been a dedicated advocate for early detection and awareness. She works to foster community support and hope for those impacted by the disease. She founded and serves as president of a local chapter of the Sisters Network of Southeast Wisconsin, which brings together breast cancer survivors, local medical professionals, and community partners. The organization provides resources, support, and financial assistance to breast cancer survivors and caretakers. Special events include monthly support meetings, breast cancer awareness walks, a free community health and resource fair called SHE Day (Sisters Health Empowered), and a celebration for survivors and community partners called the Pink Chair Affair.
“Keeshia cares about her community and works to make Kenosha better and healthier. She’s a tireless advocate for improving women’s and children’s health, and providing youth greater access to higher education. She’s an inspiration, and we are so thrilled to honor her,” said Amanda Blommel, chair of the Susan B. Anthony-Women of Influence Awards Committee.
In addition to Jones, Women of Influence Awards will be presented to:
• Arts/Education Award: Frances Kavenik, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Parkside,
who is an active volunteer and board member of many organizations, including the American Association of University Women-Kenosha Branch, Adventures in Lifelong Learning, Kenosha Women’s Network, the Education Foundation of Kenosha, Friends of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and Friends of the Kenosha Public Library.
• Business/Government/Non-Profit: Karla Krehbiel, regional president-southeast of Johnson Financial Group. She is a Kenosha County Food Bank board member, served on the University of Wisconsin Parkside Foundation Board for 9 years, and currently serves on the Nominating Committee, the Leadership Table of Building Our Future, and the Carthage College Business Coalition Committee, among others.
• Woman to Watch (Under 40): Shelby Nesmith, executive director of Lemon Street Gallery & ArtSpace, whose leadership created a supportive environment for local artists, produced engaging community art showcases, and crafted partnerships with fellow businesses/schools to bring art projects to the community—also co-operator ofthe Kenosha Art Market and part of the Regional Leader Network with Create Wisconsin.
The money raised at the event will be awarded to local nonprofit organizations serving girls and/or women and their families in Kenosha County as well as scholarships for nontraditional-aged female students.
Selected to receive the 2025 Scholarships are: Imani Walker, a student at Gateway Technical College, and Stephanie Musha, a student at UW-Eau Claire.
The nonprofit organizations selected to receive funds in 2025 are:
• Boys & Girls Club for its SMART Girls WNBA Experience;
• Building Our Future for the Youth Voice Project;
• Hope Council for its Moments that Matter program;
• Kenosha Achievement Center for its Early Intervention program;
• Kenosha County Food Bank for its 2025 Holiday Food Boxes;
• Kenosha Literacy Council for its Women Who Read program;
• Shalom Center for its Shelter Bus Tokens program;
• Sharing Center for its Hygiene Supplies program;
• Society’s Assets for its Home Safety for Women program, and
• United Way of Kenosha County for its VITA Tax Program.
Previous Susan B. Anthony – Women of Influence Lifetime Achievement Award winners include: Saundra Yelton-Stanley; Camille Thibaudeau-Meyers; Anne Bergo; the Honorable Barbara Kluka, JD; Frieda Schurch; Jennifer Fostel, PhD; Rosanna Ranieri, MD; Eunice Boyer, PhD; Katherine Marks; Terry Potente; Kay Wikel; Beverly Jambois, JD; Joan Wilk, PhD; Joyce Erickson; Natalie Troha; Adelene Greene; Florence Hammelev; Kathy Barth; Jane Harrington-Heide; Patricia Johnson; Debra Hertzberg; Roseann Shales; Guida Brown; Earlene Jornt Girman; Michelle Serpe; Connie Ferwerda; Joanne Rattan; the Honorable Mary Wagner; Ellen Brookhouse; Betsy Brown; Gina Madrigrano Friebus; Mary Lou Mahone (posthumous); Terry Wruck; Ardis Mahone-Mosley; and Rebecca Matoska-Mentink.
The Kenosha Women’s Network, AAUW-Kenosha (WI) Branch, and Tempo Kenosha are three women’s organizations in Kenosha that collaborate to make the Susan B. Anthony – Women of Influence Awards possible.
Event sponsorship packages are: Elizabeth Cady Stanton Level, $2,500; Alice Paul Level, $1,750; Ida B. Wells Level, $1,000; and Olympia Brown Level, $500.
Reservations to attend the event, which often sells out, are now available at Eventbrite.com by searching “Susan B. Anthony Awards Dinner.” The reservation deadline is March 14, 2025. Early bird pricing, received no later than February 22, 2025, is $60 each, or a table of 8 for $455. After February 23, tickets will be $65 each, or a table of 8 for $505. For more information about tickets or sponsorships, contact Wendy Gauss at susanbdinner@gmail.com.
People and businesses are also encouraged to support the event by advertising in the Dinner Program. Advertising prices are: a full page, $400; half page, $250; a quarter page, $175; and an eighth page, $100. For more information about advertising, please also contact Gauss, at susanbdinner@gmail.com.
