YWCA Bethlehem celebrated the volunteer achievements of local women and teens at the 43rd annual Women & Teens of the Year award ceremony April 12 at the Event Center at Blue.

A silent auction was held with proceeds benefiting the YWCA Bethlehem’s Adult Day Services Center and the YWCA’s Women and Girls’ Empowerment programs.

The YWCA presented special awards: the Golden Laurel Award, the Women of the Year Award, the Mission Award and the Teens of the Year Award.

YWCA Bethlehem and Title Sponsor Capital BlueCross are proud to announce this year’s award recipients:

Golden Laurel Award: Kassie Hilgert, of Salisbury, is president and CEO of ArtsQuest. Hilgert is currently the chair of Discover Lehigh Valley’s Board of Trustees. She also serves on the Boy Scouts of America’s Minsi Trails Council’s Executive Board of Trustees, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Trustees and the PNC Regional Advisory Board of Trustees. She previously served on the boards of Good Shepherd and the Children’s Home of Easton, the Girl Scouts Take the Lead Nominating Committee and the City of Bethlehem’s 275th Anniversary Committee.

Outstanding Public Servant: Olga Negrón currently serves as a councilwoman for the City of Bethlehem and works as a community liaison for HGSK Law Firm.

Mission Award Recipient: Dr. Megan Eyvazzadeh, DPT, is the owner of The Restoration Space in Bethlehem, an integrative health practice she opened in February.

Woman of the Year: Gail Evans is the associate vice president of development at St. Luke’s University Health Network, a position she has held since 2007.

Woman of the Year: Jody King is a vice president with CBRE Inc. based in the Lehigh Valley.

Woman of the Year: Chrissy Hixson is a senior community relations consultant at Capital BlueCross.

Teen of the Year: Nessa Cartegena is a senior at Liberty High School.

Teen of the Year: Vivi Hoang is a senior at Bethlehem Catholic High School.

Teen of the Year: Adrianna Johnson is a senior at Liberty High School.

Teen of the Year: Hailey Miller is a senior at Freedom High School.

The annual Women and Teens of the Year awards ceremony was made possible by generous support from community sponsors: Capital BlueCross, Northstar Team Development, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Bank of America, BB&T Insurance Services, CREW, Highmark, PPL Corporation, Sands Bethlehem, ASR Media LLC, B. Braun Medical, Inc., Crayola, King Spry Herman Freund & Faul, LLC, Moravian Village, Pendurthi Surgical Association and Victualic. Generous donors to the teen scholarship program include: Anne Baum, Sandra Dale, Beall Fowler for Decade of Scholarships in memory of Marlene “Linny” Fowler, Virginia Oskin and the Northampton County Medical Society Alliance.

For more information about the Women & Teens of the Year Awards or YWCA Bethlehem programs, contact Diane Groeller at 610-867-4669, ext. 101.