Longtime community leader Susan Meyers, who has been an active volunteer with the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond for decades, will be honored by the Richmond Chapter of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities on Oct. 24.
The VCIC Humanitarian Award is presented to those individuals who have demonstrated a personal commitment to the promotion of respect and understanding among people of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
Meyers is a co-founder of Impact 100, a women’s volunteer collective giving circle that has donated over $2,000,000 in grants since 2009. As an executive vice president of VAPARK for 25 years, Susan became very involved in the Richmond community, serving on boards of organizations like Ride Finders, Richmond First Club, YWCA, Visual Art Center, CHIP of Virginia, Family Lifeline, and Families Forward.
She has also been an active and passionate volunteer in the Jewish community and serves on the board of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond.
She was previously the president of Jewish Family Services and has served on the boards of Beth Sholom Life Care Community and Richmond Jewish Foundation.
Susan has been a mentor and leader with the Richmond Jewish Coalition for Literacy for over 23 years – since its inception. Her family recently honored her by creating the Susan J. Meyers Scholarship Fund for underserved youth at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.
In addition to serving on the Federation board multiple times, she has been an Annual Campaign worker for many seasons, serving as the Women’s Division Chair from 2001-2002.
Meyers has been recognized for her career of service and dedication to improving our community with various awards.
In 1999, she and her husband Stephen (obm), received the Chesed Award from Rudlin Torah Academy and the following year she received the Schwarzschild Award from the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond.
In 2012, Susan and Stephen (obm) were honored with the Distinguished Community Service Award from the JCFR. In 2016, she was awarded a YWCA Outstanding Woman’s Award in recognition of her passion for volunteerism and later that year received the Federation’s L’Dor V’Dor, Woman of Valor Award.
VCIC also will honor Victor K. Branch, Angela H. Chiang and Robert A. Winn with Humanitarian Awards on Oct. 24. A Distinguished Merit Award will be presented to the Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Foundation that evening.
The 61st Annual Richmond Chapter VCIC event is set for the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa, 12042 West Broad St. A reception begins at 5:45 p.m. with the dinner and program beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The event is sponsored by several organizations and individuals. Bon Secours and Bank of America are Humanitarian sponsors of the event.
For more information about the organization or to make reservations for the Awards Dinner on Oct. 24, go to www.inclusiveVA.org.
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Sixty-one years ago, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities – then called the National Conference of Christians and Jews – began a tradition in Richmond “to honor the work of our friends, neighbors, and family members who gave to others the same rights, respect, and dignity that they sought for themselves.”
Today, VCIC works with schools, businesses, and communities to achieve success through inclusion. The 88-year-old organization delivers programs to educators and students in the region through the Connections Institute, Prejudice Awareness Summit, Diversity Dialogue Day, and the Educational Equity Initiative.
VCIC also provides professional development for many local businesses and nonprofit organizations, leveraging diversity and inclusion to achieve success.
In the last year, VCIC delivered over 650 programs and trained more than 20,000 people across Virginia.
