1998 Outstanding Kansas Woman of the Year.

WICHITA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1998--Penney Schwab, Copeland, has been named the 1998 Outstanding Kansas Woman of the Year.

Schwab is Executive Director of United Methodist Western Kansas Mexican-American Ministries (MAM).

This is the fourth year for the award program, created and sponsored by Bill Koch. Previous recipients include Governor Joan Finney, Marian Washington, University of Kansas Woman's Basketball Coach, and Dr. Dee Ann DeRoin, a physician actively involved in the Native-American community.

Selection criteria includes consideration of how through persistence she has overcome personal difficulties, hardship, even failure to achieve success; how her neighborhood, community, hometown, or the State of Kansas has enjoyed tangible benefits from her activities, success, and/or gifts, and how she has achieved new paradigms in an ethical, logical, and rational manner.

"Penney Schwab is an excellent choice to receive this award. The growth she has achieved in the MAM organization, and its resulting positive impact on the lives of so many, is truly inspiring. It represents a level of commitment and dedication that can stand as a benchmark for anyone who endeavors to perform a public service," said Bill Koch.

Since assuming the post in 1986, Schwab has guided MAM's growth from a small, single-focus program into a multi-faceted agency serving a range of social, spiritual, educational and medical needs of people of all races, colors and faiths in Southwest Kansas.

In 1997, through its network of six Community Centers, MAM administered nearly 23,000 medical visits and 18,000 units of social service, and reimbursed more than 171,000 meal units through its Child/Adult Care Food Program. MAM's educational programs ranged from art for children for citizenship preparation; from nutrition for teen parents to home ownership.

Schwab has been instrumental in establishing strategic alliances between her organization and other service agencies. Through partnerships with the Kansas Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative and the Diabetes Control Project, MAM provides on-going health education throughout the region. In December 1998, MAM will become part of a unique coalition combining the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, consultants from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, and the Institute of Public Health in Mexico to launch an innovative HIV Prevention program.

Under Schwab's guidance, MAM participates in a wide range of outreach and educational programs in partnership with other area organizations including the Pioneer Health Network, Garden City Community College, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, the Kansas Children's Service League, The Children's Mercy Hospital, Mercy Health Systems of Kansas, and others. MAM is the only site in Kansas chosen for a pediatric research project sponsored by the nationally-renowned group, The Commonwealth Fund.

Born in Oklahoma, Schwab is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Following receipt of her B.S. in Human Resource Management from Friends University, Schwab completed a Certificate Program in Non-Profit Management from the W. Frank Barton School of Business at WSU in 1990. She went on to complete her Masters in Business Management (emphasis on Health Services) at Friends in 1994.

Before joining MAM, Schwab spent more than seven years as Regional Media Scout for Guideposts Magazine. Her literary credentials are evidenced by the more than 300 articles and stories published in teen, religious and farm magazines, and by her book, "Thirteen Going on Twenty." She remains a contributing writer to Daily Guideposts Devotional Books, and is co-author of "Abundant Technology: Limited Access Health Care in the Land of Plenty" published by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.

Schwab's long list of honors and achievements include Charter Membership and Past President of the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved; three-time honoree of the Leadership Institute, Kansas Health Foundation (1994-1996); 1988 recipient of the Janet Sevier Gilbreath Special Project Recognition Award; and serving and frequent panelist and presenter at conferences and seminars hosted by many of the region's leading medical, agricultural and public service associations.

An active member of the United Methodist Church, Schwab is a certified Lay Speaker at her church in Copeland, Kansas, a Director of the General Board of Global Ministries and member of its Community Developer National Policy Committee.

Schwab will be honored during an invitation-only program and dinner to be held Dec. 1, 1998, Washburn University, 6 p.m. Members of the media are encouraged and welcome. Please call 316-263-4694 if interested in attending.