Women of Achievement honorees at the 2024 “Grateful for Great Women” WomenTalk included panelists (seated) Rev. Roz Nichols, Jocie Wurzburg, Ines Negrette and Joyce Cobb and attendees Audrey May, Judy Card, Deborah Clubb and Bettye Boone.
In this season of intentional gratitude, in a time of national angst and challenge, the Women’s Council hosted a gathering to celebrate and hear stories from four remarkable women from varied backgrounds and professions.
“Grateful for Great Women,” the November WomenTalk, featured four history-makers. Reezon Eke, University of Memphis senior and upcoming intern for the Women’s Council, shares these impressions from the panel:
Joyce Cobb, 2002 Woman of Achievement for Initiative, turns 80 next year, has overcome serious health challenges and is “still living strong,” she told WomenTalk. A venture years ago into the Los Angeles-based music industry and a near-rape shifted her focus to legacy-building through song writing and owning her craft. “You can be anything that you want to be. Just be your best,” Joyce said, quoting her parents.
Joyce was named Memphis Flyers’ 2024 Best Local Singer. She is grateful for her gift of music and that she could make it her livelihood.
Ines Negrette, 2017 WA for Determination, emigrated with her law degree from Venezuela in 1989 and moved to Memphis in 2000. She is passionate about the power of voice. Even when she lost her nonprofit position due to strong advocacy challenging police authority and abusive conduct toward Hispanic or Latinx victims of domestic violence, she turned that challenge into opportunity to create CasaLuz, a nonprofit devoted to aiding her community. She leads cultural sensitivity training for police.
She is proud of the cultural saying: “They thought they buried you --- but they planted you.” Ines sees strength in transforming adversity into new opportunities and growth. She embodies leadership and tenacity in creating systemic change for marginalized communities in Memphis.
Rev. Roz Nichols, 2005 WA for Determination, is dedicated to faith-based collective action. She is pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church which she founded; a founding leader of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope) and currently an inter-faith officer for MIFA (Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association).
Roz advocates for justice and equity and was dismayed by the recent national election. “I cannot do the work I need to do without hope, but I can acknowledge right now it is sagging.” Still, she said, the work goes on as MICAH began gatherings this month to determine next goals.
Jocie Wurzburg, 1990 WA for Courage, attorney, mediator and human rights warrior, has spent nearly seven decades advancing civil rights, feminism and civic engagement in a long fight for racial and gender equality. She said she sees everything in terms of race and fears future racism and anti-semitism.
Jocie embodies courage in confronting old institutions and ideologies perpetuating systematic injustices. She feels a moral conviction to prepare the next generation to keep on the fight.
“We’ve got to do it all over again,” she said. “We’re going to have to fight for a woman’s right to take charge of her own body.”
“Grateful for Great Women” takeaways:
Legacy: build and leave something that will endure after your death.
Resiliency: Use misogyny, racism, systemic injustices and political setbacks as motivators to take action and grow.
Leadership: Champion equity, take others by the hand and inspire those around you to step into roles. It takes a collective to make change.
Intergenerational influence: Change takes time and sustained effort. The work never truly stops and is more important now than ever.
Women of Achievement celebrates and documents the work of changemakers of all generations, communities, faiths and backgrounds. We all know women whose stories should be captured and celebrated. Share them!
Nominations for the 2025 Women of Achievement awards are due Jan. 10. Go to www.womenofachievement.org/nominate. The 2205 awards event will be March 30. Don’t miss it!
Watch for information on the 2025 WomenTalk series in the weeks ahead.