During its recent Virtual Spring Expo, the YMCA at Virginia Tech recognized three international women leaders in the New River Valley: Gunin Kiran, Dr. Agida Manizade, and Pie Chareonsombut-Amorn.
The recognition was part of the YMCA’s international program and was part of a webinar titled “Meet Three International Women Leaders. The honorees represented three different sectors of the community: public, non-profit, and private.
Ryan Martin, the executive director and CEO of the YMCA, virtually presented the three women with certificates of recognition. “We are proud to introduce this new annual celebration of leadership recognition for the international women who make such a positive impact in our community,” Martin said.
Kiran is an elected member of the Montgomery County Public School Board. She is a chemical engineer by training who grew up in Turkey and moved to the United States to pursue postgraduate studies. She became involved with public education early on as a parent and served as president of the parent teacher organizations for elementary, middle, and high schools in Blacksburg and also as a substitute teacher and administrative assistant.
Her dedication and commitment to public education serving as a chair for the MCPS board have been recognized for several consecutive years with honor and distinction from the Virginia School Board Association. She has also received the NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award for her work as executive committee member of the Montgomery County Radford City-Floyd County branch of the NAACP and for her role as an active member of the community Education Issues Group of Dialogue on Race.
Dr. Manizade is the founder and president of the board of the non-profit Radford Child Development, Inc. She is a distinguished professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Radford University (RU) and the founding director of the Secondary Mathematics Professional Development Center at RU. She is also the editor-In-chief of the Virginia Mathematics Teacher Journal.
Dr. Manizade grew up in Azerbaijan and moved to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. When she was confronted with the difficulty common to many working mothers of finding full-time child care for their young children. she decided to work with a small group to start a child care center in Radford. She pursued that project for four years until finally the center was established even though her own children did not get the chance to use it.
An entrepreneur in the food industry for almost 12 years, Chareonsombut-Amorn, is the co-owner of Cafe De Bangkok and the Next Door Bakery in Blacksburg. She grew up in Thailand and moved to Blacksburg where she earned her bachelor’s degree in business information technology. Ms. Chareonsombut-Amorn decided not to pursue a career in BIT but to settle in the area and realize a childhood dream of owning her own bakery. Chareonsombut-Amorn served on the PTA at Gilbert Linkous Elementary and has been very supportive of the YMCA’s Meals On Main program from the very start, providing treat bags for the children for various holidays over the past year. She has also donated food to the Christmas Store and cupcakes for the annual Pretty In Pink Breast Cancer fundraiser for many years and has taken a leading role in sustainability initiatives for her restaurants.
