The Awards

The Sixth Annual

Mahogany Dime™ Awards

Saturday April 18, 2009

Carolina Theatre of Durham

309 West Morgan Street

Tickets on Sale now at the box office

919-560-3030

What is the Mahogany Dime Awards?

Review the video to share in the experience

Mahogany Dime Awards Reel

The

Hosted by Gayle Hurd of Triangle Profiles

Enjoy an evening of honors and entertainment with performances by:

The Miles Sisters

Durham Senior Diva Cheerleaders

Collage Dance Company

The International Award Winning Bouncing Bulldogs

Jazz by William McLaughlin

Mahogany Dime™ Award Recipients 2008 (from left to right)
The Honorable Eva Clayton, The Honorable Cora Cole McFadden, Angela Ray, Carol Boston Weatherford, Dr. Lorine C. McLeod, and Geneva Dillard

Mahogany Dime™ Award Recipients 2007 (from left to right)
The Honorable Patricia Timmons Goodson, Gloria Sawyer, Andrea Harris, Angela Ray, Michele Andrea Bowen, Stephanie Tyson,
Vivian Joiner

Mahogany Dime™ Award Recipients 2006 (from left to right)
Dr. Linda Norflett, Dr. Jeannette Council, Angela Ray, Jane Johnson Chavis Dr. Alma Adams and Constancia Ross

Mahogany Dime™ Award Recipients 2005 (from left to right)
Dr. Annie McCullough Chavis, Lori Gibbs, Angela Ray, Dr. Eunice Dudley, and Gloria Sawyer
not pictured (April Turner)

Meet the 2009 Mahogany Dime™ Award Recipients

Dr. Marye Jeffries of Fayetteville
The Mahogany Dime™ Award for Leadership

Dr. Marye J. Jeffries is the former Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Director of Summer School at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC. In 1998 when Dr. Jeffries retired, she also held the rank of Associate Professor of Education. During her 25-year tenure at FSU, in addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Education, she served the University in numerous capacities. Dr. Jeffries has held the positions of Director of Continuing Education, Director the Weekend and Evening College, and Director of the Early Childhood Learning Center. Dr. Jeffries received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Samuel Houston College in Austin, Texas, her Masters of Education and Doctor of Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Dr. Jeffries is a life member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which she served as Mid-Atlantic Regional Director from 1986-1990. As the Sorority approached its 100th anniversary in July 1908, Dr. Jeffries served as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Celebration Chair. As a member of the Fayetteville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, she is the immediate Past President, having served from 1994 to 1998. In the Links, she held the positions of Southern Area Protocol Chairperson as well as the National Protocol Chairperson. She is a past President of the Fayetteville Chapters of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and the Holidays, Inc. Dr. Jeffries is a subscribing Life Member of the NAACP.

Dr. Jeffries is a member of College Heights Presbyterian Church where she has served as a Deacon and now serves as an active Elder. She is Past Moderator of the Presbyterian Women and former member of the Church Kindergarten Board of Directors. Dr. Jeffries now serves on the Strategic Planning and Organizational Review Committee of the Coastal Carolina Presbytery and on the Search Committee for the new Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery.

Dr. Jeffries was married to the late Captain (retired) Onde H. Jeffries. She is the proud mother to Herbert, Clarence, Manuela, Kimberly, and Kenneth, and mother-in-law to their spouses. She is a super-proud grandmother. She is the daughter of Mrs. Lorraine Tillmon of Spring Lake, N.C., who is her inspiration and role model.

Dana Williams a.k.a YahZarah of Durham
Mahogany Dime™ Award for the Arts

Neo soul sensation Dana Williams of Durham, better known as YahZarah, will receive the Mahogany Dime Award for the Arts. Williams, also known as Purple St. James, is a gifted singer who originally hails from Washington, D.C.

A singer, songwriter and producer, Williams was greatly influenced as a child by soul greats like Tina Turner, Prince, Chaka Khan, George Clinton, and Minnie Riperton, as well as the music of the church. She went on to study music at both the Duke Ellington School of Music and North Carolina Central University. With the education and preparation she got her break into the industry alongside Erykah Badu, who featured Williams on the Mama's Gun album and tour.

Following this experience, Williams later began a solo career, releasing a pair of underground albums: Hear Me (released by Keo Music) and Blackstar (Three Keys). S he has graced the stage with artists like Floetry , Musiq Soul Child, Kem, Donnie, Amel Larrieux, Goapele, Talib Kweli, Rahsaan Paterson, Raheem Davoughn , Chaka Kahn, Bilal Oliver, The Roots, and the list goes on and on. Purple St. James has created a unique mold that cannot be replicated.

Her current project, The Prelude, is one that she was in charge of and it is one that she is most proud. The EP is actually an intro for her next project, which will be The Ballad of Purple St. James.

Nicole Balaam of Charlotte
Mahogany Dime™ Award for entrepreneurship

Nicole Balaam of Charlotte will receive the Mahogany Dime Award for entrepreneurship. Balaam is an Award-winning entrepreneur author of The Fortitude Factor, Stop Dreaming and Start Succeeding. She is also the founder of B-Risqué Fitness, one of the fastest growing alternative fitness studios in the south.

Born in Baltimore, Balaam started her dreams of being an entrepreneur at a young age. She always knew that she would one day run her own company. Balaam has been the achieved many firsts, including being the first person in her family to graduate from a university. She went on to receive her Masters degree and to matriculate in a Ph. D program. After accomplishing her goals academically it was time to go after her real passion entrepreneurship. She worked as an Engineering Manager for Verizon as well as Lucent Technology for many years before deciding to branch out on her own. After researching a fitness business opportunity she discovered that no one had tapped into the group fitness market as B Risqué Fitness would. Balaam knew that B Risqué Fitness would set a precedent in the Charlotte area and that is exactly what happened.

The mission of B-Risqué Fitness is to encourage women of all shapes and sizes to stay active and to embrace their body image by utilizing an alternative fitness solution.

Dr. Kristal Moore of Durham
Mahogany Dime™ Award for Service

Dr. Kristal T. Moore believes “you can’t serve the people if you don’t love the people.” While still referencing Chicago as home, she has planted seeds throughout the country. Dr. Moore received her B.A. from DePaul University and completed her M.A. at Washington State University having researched the political activisms of Black women in the Chicago tenement housing projects. Her academic work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, called her to the Deep South gathering the stories of Black women who taught in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools, thus earning a Doctorate of Philosophy in Education and a certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University. She is a Hip-Hop kid, a Black Feminist Intellectual, Ella’s daughter: “believing in freedom and will not rest until it comes.” Committed to community, she utilized her experiences as a Servant-Leader Intern with the Children’s Defense Fund and co-founded the Durham Freedom School at North Carolina Central University in 2007. Affectionately called “Ms. Kristal” by many, she is an activist scholar committed to bridging the gap between theory and practice inside and outside the classroom. She has taught several courses at UNC Chapel Hill and Meredith College, co-coordinated a community-writing center, Write On!, for teens at the Durham Public Library and currently serves as Program Specialist for Partners For Youth, a non-profit organization in southwest Durham.

The Durham Freedom School (DFS) at NCCU provided an opportunity for young people in grades 3 through 9 to experience relevant reading, community action, and learning in a supportive and culturally stimulating environment. Our five-week summer program assisted the local schools by giving the students a thirst for learning for the following academic school year. The integrated reading curriculum was exciting and promoted self-esteem within Black and Latino students academically and culturally.

Denise Bennett of Raleigh
The Dr. Johnnetta Cole Living Legend Award

The Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole Living Legend Award will be presented to Denise Bennett of Raleigh. With a financial career spanning 30 years, Denise Bennett brings an unmatched perspective to her clients—combining business strategy, market savvy and commercial lending expertise. As a strategist, lending specialist and professional speaker, Bennett’s passion is helping business owners and individuals to build and sustain long-term prosperity.

Bennett’s career has been further distinguished by positions on Wachovia Bank Board of Directors, First Citizens Bank Board of Directors, The Cardinal Club Board of Governors, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and membership in Triangle Commercial Real Estate Executive Women , Raleigh Professional Women's Forum and North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry.

Bennett was a contributing author to the anthology, Fantastic Customer Service: Inside and Out, and is a featured columnist in Women’s Edge magazine. She is also a certified member of The National Speakers Association and of the Carolinas Speakers Association.

Bennett is the recipient of numerous awards, including Business Leader Women Extraordinaire, YWCA’s Academy of Women, Triangle Business Journal Women in Business, NC Distinguished Women (nominee), and The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Top Honors in Total Resource Campaign. She and her companies will be honored in May 2009 at The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Awards, their 25th annual celebration honoring companies that have exhibited staying power, innovation and community involvement.

For the past eight years, Bennett has spearheaded two companies: DS Bennett Business Strategies, focused on commercial lending strategy and execution, and Focus Visions Mortgage Group, LLC, focused on residential and investment lending. At the heart of both companies is Bennett’s commitment to acting as a trusted advisor for her clients, helping them to develop and realize their individual financial vision.

Prior to starting her businesses, Bennett had a notable career with top national banks. Until 2000, she was Senior Vice President & Wake Area Business Banking Sales Manager at First Citizens Bank where she was instrumental in developing a new business banking initiative that increased the portfolio from $18MM to $93MM. During her tenure, she also led the sales team to win The Starmaker Award—the highest award given for profitability and sales lending volume in the corporation—for four consecutive years.

Mozella Lambert McLaughlin of Durham
Unsung Hero Award

A long time educator who spent 40 years in the public schools of North Carolina, Mozella Lambert McLaughlin retired in 1984. After her retirement, she continued to work for 15 years as a support specialist at a group home in her neighborhood for mentally challenged adults. In addition, she raised three successful college graduates, all of whom still reside in North Carolina.

A true philanthropist, she established the Mozella Lambert McLaughlin Family Foundation through which she donates funds to the needy. Through the foundation she has adopted a North Carolina Highway which she and her family clean four times a year.

McLaughlin is a member of St. Titus’s Episcopal Church. She is also an avid supporter of the Fayetteville State University Alumni Association, the North Carolina Central University Alumni Association, the Alphabettes (a civic and social club), her bridge club, the Sister Cities organization on the Arusha Committee, and the Fayetteville Street Planning Group. She is a retired member of the boards of Lincoln Health Center and Friends of West Point in Durham; and of the vestry, the governing body of my church. She was chosen by the city of Durham as one of the Mothers of the Year in 1982. Still an entrepreneur at 92 years young and a dedicated member of the community, she still has a home in the neighborhood near North Carolina Central University, where she has lived for over 55 years, as well as several rental properties in that area.

To learn about our past recipients, visit the links below:

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