Community & Global Health’s Maggie Hawkins honored by YWCA San Gabriel Valley
Hawkins was one of nine women to receive the YWCA’s 2014 Women of Achievement in the Field of Health Care Award during a ceremony on June 12. Students from CGU’s School of Community and Global Health nominated her for the honor.
The YWCA applauded Hawkins “for her dedication to eliminating prejudice and providing essential public health education, with particular emphasis on health and wellness for women, youth, and the LGBT communities.”
Hawkins is a passionate advocate of social justice for women, youth, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities. She is an organizer with vulnerable populations affected by poverty and discrimination who often have little or no access to community resources.
She has dedicated herself to this work for more than 30 years, starting in the late 1980s with her support of abused women and children in Riverside County, California. She went on to become an advocate of comprehensive sexuality education for youths, rally for women’s rights to reproductive and sexual health, and contribute to curriculum for medical providers working with HIV-positive people.
She was part of a team of pioneers who started CGU’s School of Community and Global Health in 2008. As the project manager for the Master of Public Health Program, she continues to inspire students to engage in community-based field work and public health initiatives.
“What I see as success isn’t necessarily the bright lights or having my name positively in the paper, but making the difference in people’s lives,” she said. “I think that’s really what I want to be known for. I know I do that now when I work with students because they tell me. And I value that.”