2010 Norm Maleng Advocate for Youth Award Honoree

Ann Ramsay-Jenkins

The Center for Children & Youth Justice has presented Ann Ramsay-Jenkins, co-founder and vice chair of the College Success Foundation, with the 3rd annual Norm Maleng Advocate for Youth Award.

Named in honor of the late King County Prosecuting Attorney, the award recognizes those who show exemplary leadership, dedication and commitment to the youth and families of Washington State.

"Ann is an extraordinary champion of children and youth and has dedicated her professional life to making a difference for them," Justice Bobbe J. Bridge (ret.), CCYJ Founding President and CEO, said at the March 3 breakfast event presentation. "We are proud to have her share the legacy of Norm Maleng as our 2010 award recipient."

Through her leadership of the College Success Foundation, which is headquartered in Issaquah, Ms. Ramsay-Jenkins has spearheaded efforts to help ensure that foster youth have the support they need to make higher education a reality. She helped create the Foster Care to College program, a partnership of private and public agencies that increases college opportunities for foster youth. She also developed Make It Happen, a four-day on-campus experience that prepares foster youth for the college application process and introduces them to different universities, scholarship opportunities and more.

Ms. Ramsay-Jenkins' past professional experience includes service as Director of the Office of Budgets at Harvard University and in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Drug Abuse Prevention, where she received the Distinguished Service Award.She has chaired the UW Medicine Board, served two terms as a member of Washington's Higher Education Coordinating Board and chaired the United Way of King County Board.

She is a graduate of Skidmore College and has served as a board member of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and as a member of President Carter's Advisory Committee for Women.

Also at the award event, Justice Bridge honored two Seattle police detectives - Kim Bogucki and Al Lebar - with The President's Award for their work on innovative initiatives aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children and youth. Detective Lebar guides at-risk young women and men through an outreach program that teaches love, relationships and the law. Detective Bogucki is co-founder and producer of The If Project, an essay and video program involving incarcerated women who inspire others to avoid their mistakes.