BOSTON — They perched on the risers and in the balcony of the Gardner Auditorium in the Massachusetts State House: the families, friends and supporters of 125 local women who had been nominated to the Class of 2025 Commonwealth Heroines.
The women are those who work quietly behind the scenes, ensuring the smooth flow of government, supporting families in transition, advocating for abused and neglected children, abandoned animals, filling the shelves of food banks and advocating for climate resilience.
These are the women who are “moving the world, making it better each day without fanfare,” said Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester. The legislator nominated Tasia Cerezo, an animal welfare advocate and founder of Meryl’s Safe Haven in Worcester, who also works to educate the public about responsible pet ownership.
Each of the state’s 200 legislators is asked by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women to nominate a woman in their district who makes a difference in the quality of life for local residents. Some legislators nominate in tandem.
In her remarks on Thursday, June 26, Mary-dith Tuitt, chairperson of the commission, called on the state to “pause and celebrate the women of local communities who perform unheralded acts on a daily basis” to make their homes, work places, organizations, towns and cities, their communities better.
“Commonwealth Heroines may not always make the news (reports), but they always make the difference,” Tuitt said.
The organization serves as a voice for women and celebrates those who make outstanding contributions to their communities and the commonwealth, Tuitt said.
Speaking directly to the nominees in attendance, Tuitt said, “You have been nominated. You use your time, your talents, your spirit, your enthusiasm enriches and enhances the lives of those around you.” She praised the women for their work that makes a lasting difference in the lives of those they serve as volunteers, mentors and innovators.
“You are the glue that holds the commonwealth together,” Tuitt said. Each of the honorees received a yellow rose during the ceremony where each name was read aloud. The flowers symbolize the suffrage movement and represent the women who struggled to be included in the American democracy and the right to vote for more than seven decades. The movement was launched at the Seneca Falls, New York, Convention in 1848; the 19th Amendment was not ratified until 1920.
High in the balcony of the auditorium, Josh Zicherman sat with his daughter, Tatyianna, 28, watching with pride as his wife, Yianna, mingled with the other women attending the ceremony. Yianna Zicherman, nominated by Rep. Brian Murray, D-Milford, works as the warehouse manager for the Franklin Food Pantry and is there “morning, noon and night.”
According to the nomination information, Yianna Zicherman supervises the volunteers, working behind the scenes to ensure the 1,800 local food-insecure families who rely on the pantry to supplement their grocery budgets are well served.
In his nomination, Murray called her “an extraordinary woman,” who placed the needs of the less fortunate above her own.
An assessment echoed by her husband and daughter.
“Am I proud? Extremely! Am I surprised? Not at all,” said her husband, a bartender at Pepperoncini’s in Milford.
Their daughter described Yianna Zicherman as a woman who is “very open-hearted; she would take the clothes off her back to give to you. She’s the first to volunteer when people need help.”
Other Worcester County nominees, listed in alphabetical order, are:
- Jolene Constant, LeominsterNominated by Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster
- Lauren Crossman-Nanof, LancasterNominated by Rep. Megan Kilcoyne, D-Clinton
- Mary Ellen Duggan, Northborough Nominated by Rep. Kate Donaghue, D-Westborough
- Karen Farrington, North BrookfieldNominated by Rep. Donald Berthiaume, R-Spencer
- Holly Gallerani, UxbridgeNominated by Rep. Michael Soter, R-Bellingham, and Rep. Joseph D. McKenna, R-Sutton
- Dot Green, WestboroughNominated by Rep. Hannah Kane, R-Shrewsbury, and Rep. Donaghue
- Johanna Hampton-Dance, WorcesterNominated by Rep. Daniel Donahue, D-Worcester
- Kristin Mayotte, DudleyNominated by Rep. John Marsi, R-Dudley
- Julie McDonald, PaxtonNominated by Rep. Kimberly Ferguson, R-Holden
- Cathy McWilliams, HubbardstonNominated by Rep. Jonathon Zlotnik, D-Gardner
- Sallie Poirier, LeominsterNominated by Sen. John Cronin, D-Fitchburg
- Leslie Reichert, NorthbridgeNominated by Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton
- Molyna Richards, FitchburgNominated by Rep. Mike Kushmerek, D-Fitchburg, and Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham
- Josefina Velez, WorcesterNominated by Rep. David LeBoeuf, D-Worcester