SEATTLE – The Jefferson Awards, sponsored annually by the American Institute for Public Service, honors ordinary people who do extraordinary things for others. It is sponsored locally by CityClub. In 1972, the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Senator Robert Taft Jr. founded the Jefferson Awards. They envisioned it as a Nobel Prize for public service. Since then, the Jefferson Awards program has become a unique nationwide effort that recognizes the highest ideals and achievements of individuals in public service in the United States. The American Institute for Public Service oversees the national effort and each spring award programs are held in hundreds of American cities. One local winner goes on to become a nominee for the National Jefferson Awards presented at the U.S. Supreme Court in June. It is exciting to note that more national Jefferson Award winners have come from Washington than from any other state!

This year’s Washington State Jefferson Award winners are: Dallas Jessup of Vancouver, WA; Janie Plath of Yakima, WA; and Mariana Quamstorm of Seattle, WA. Dallas Jessup has been chosen by a board of judges to advance to Washington, D.C. as the Washington State representative at the National Jefferson Awards Ceremony in June. CityClub will feature the winners in a program this fall. Stay tuned for details!

Individual Winners:

Dallas Jessup is a CNN Hero and a black belt martial artist. Her community service project grew into a non-profit and has become a revolution throughout 45 countries. At age 13, after learning the startling statistics about sexual assault and abduction, she gathered resources to make a film to teach girls how to fight back against predators, date rape, and sexual assault. She did this with a professional crew of 30 and 100 volunteer extras, including Evangeline Lilly and Josh Holloway from the television series LOST. The result was the film, Just Yell Fire, which she put online as a free download. It has become one of the 10 most downloaded production-length films worldwide of the past three years – with 1 million downloads and counting.

Dallas travels an average of 10,000 miles a month speaking at schools, colleges, women’s events and law enforcement conferences – while still being a 17-year-old high school honor student. She also spent two weeks during the summer in rural India speaking at a dozen colleges on how to avoid slave traders in sex trafficking. She was the first teen keynote ever at a national Mensa conference; she keynoted twice at the FBI National Academy, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans this last year—among countless other awards and media appearances. Dallas’s new book, Young Revolutionaries Who Rock, An Insider’s Guide to Saving the World One Revolution at a Time, was released only months ago and has been called a groundbreaking call to teen activism. She lectured at MIT in February and her program was adopted as a for-credit course there. www.youngrevolutionarieswhorock.com

Janie Plath had a vision in 2002, while riding her horse with friends. She saw how much the horses were giving back to riders and contributing to their physical and mental well being. The Pegasus Project Therapeutic Riding Program was launched in the spring of 2003, with eight riders, one dedicated instructor, a director, and an advisory board for an initial eight week session at Snow Mountain Ranch. Her energy and dedication to this work brought many supporters. Janie set out to learn from the best in the industry and Pegasus Project is now a fully accredited Therapeutic Riding Center—just one of three in the State of Washington. The Pegasus Project has grown to serve over 60 riders. They now have two instructors, a Hippotherapy program and five eight week sessions yearly. They have a new home at Tumbleweed Ranch and a beautiful new indoor arena that enables them to have a year round program.

Janie demonstrates leadership skills internally and externally by participating in several other community organizations. Her vision has led the program to the establishment of capable staff, volunteers, Board of Directors and community awareness.

Mariana Quamstorm is a citizen who has worked diligently for over 15 years to make her community a cleaner, safer, better place. She has given thousands of volunteer hours to youth groups, juvenile offenders, local schools, the Southeast Seattle Senior Center, the Police Department and the South Precinct, Kubota Gardens, The Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Southeast Seattle Crime Prevention Council, and the Rainier Beach Merchants’ Association. Quamstorm has brought groups together that had never partnered with one another before: the community, local businesses, and the police department with the schools and vice versa.

Mariana is a strong supporter of young people through outreach and empowerment. She believes that youth need to be given alternative activities, diverted from getting into trouble; they need to have guidance, encouragement, and success – in and out of school. Mariana’s current project is called YESS – Youth Empowerment in South Seattle; students come together to share their concerns and perspectives with adults and our local police officers. Mariana Quamstorm is proof that one person can make a difference.

CityClub informs, connects and engages citizens to evaluate complex issues, make sound judgments and contribute to solutions that address issues vital to our region. Our programs affect statewide news, social networks, civic action and policymaking. The regional community tests new ideas, airs controversy and finds common ground through CityClub’s power and reach as a trusted convener. Over the past 26 years, CityClub has presented more than 1000 public affairs forums, candidate debates and civic dialogue on topics ranging from politics to economics, social justice to health care, environment to arts and culture. Programming is passionately non-partisan. CityClub is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization.

For more information about CityClub visit our website: www.seattlecityclub.org or call 206-682-7395.