Honors

In 2003, Kathy was selected for a fellowship to Harvard University for the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program, for which she was funded in part by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. This program is an intensive series of classes posing real-world problems utilizing the Harvard case-study method. Kathy benefited from the fellowship and utilizes the collaborative problem-solving and leadership skills she learned there in her political life.

In April 2005, Kathy was awarded Cornell University’s prestigious Alice H. Cook and Constance E. Cook Recognition Award presented by the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (.pdf file) and Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development. This award is given for “efforts on behalf of women at Cornell and beyond.” Kathy was recognized for her consistent and passionate advocacy for working-class women, women of color, and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, and Transgender individuals throughout her sixteen years at Cornell. This award places her within an elite group of some seventy recipients, selected from all levels of Cornell University employees, who have been so honored since the award’s inception in 1993.

In January 2006, the Ithaca Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC) presented its eighth annual Peacemaker Award to Kathy Luz Herrera as an individual whose work embodies the nonviolent change strategies exemplified by Dr. King. A former CDRC mediator, Kathy was thrilled to join in the celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center community breakfast, and humbled to have been selected from among so many worthy members of the community.

Kathy is as comfortable in a boardroom as she is on the shop floor. She is often invited to speak to classes and community groups.

Cornell United Religious Work invited Kathy to speak in January 2009 as part of “Soup and Hope,” a series of inspirational talks at Sage Chapel featuring members of the Ithaca community working for social change. Organizers of the series invited members of the Cornell community to Sage Chapel, where soup and bread was served before the talks.

The Syracuse University Latin American Law Student Association invited Kathy to speak in February 2009 at a screening of A Class Apart. The documentary about Mexican American attorneys successfully arguing a landmark civil rights case before the Supreme Court detailed the legal victory of a team including her father, John J. Herrera. Kathy also spoke at the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival screening of A Class Apart, where she answered questions about the case and told stories about her father, and growing up in the civil rights movement.

In March of 2009, Kathy visited with former welder Jackie Merwin on WVBR’s radio show Nonesuch for Women’s History Month, chatting about experiences as women in nontraditional jobs as Jackie introduced music by female musicians ranging from Alison Kraus to Tish Hinojosa.

Kathy also participated in a panel, “Successful Women,” as part of GIAC’s March 2009 celebration of Women’s History Month. Along with five other local women, she discussed and provided encouragement to young women and men about strategies for success.

Kathy was the keynote speaker for the 2002 and 2004 Transitions Conference at TC3, sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), assisting women returning to school. In addition, Kathy was a presenter at the Cornell College of Industrial and Labor Relations’ Alice Cook Conference in 2003. Currently a senior at Cornell, Kathy believes that returning to school is one of the best decisions she has ever made.