KBC Director Carol Swartz to be inducted into Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

Carol Swartz, Homer community collaborator and longtime director of UAA's Kachemak Bay Campus, has been named to the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame Class of 2017. Swartz's accomplishments include initiating the Kachemak Bay Writer's Conference as well as Haven House, the community women's shelter. She will be honored at the 2017 induction ceremony May 4, 6 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Anchorage.

Carol Swartz has served as director of the Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer, part of UAA's Kenai Peninsula College, for 31 years. With her energetic and collaborative leadership style, and together with dedicated faculty, staff and community partners, she created and expanded accessible and diverse cultural and educational opportunities on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

Swartz early recognized that education is the key to making a transformative difference in our world and to people's well-being. Accordingly, she championed adult and youth access to education, as well as promoted the role of the campus in Homer's economic development, fostered community discussions, and responded to the changing needs of the area. Carol enthusiastically spearheaded the advocacy, planning and design of the campus's facilities and programs.

Swartz is the founding director of KBC's annual Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference, a premier cultural event that has earned significant national recognition. Since 2002, this conference has hosted award-winning Alaska and national novelists, essayists and poets who have inspired many through their creative work and presentations.

After arriving in Homer in 1980 to serve as the first clinical social worker/co-director at the new Community Mental Health Center, Swartz founded South Peninsula Women's Services in cooperation with dedicated community members and agencies. As its director, she and others developed core services and collaborated with hospital, school, law enforcement and judicial system staffs to advocate for the state's developing legal, public safety, and social services and shelter networks to address domestic violence and sexual assault.

Dedicated to community service, Carol has served on many boards of directors and has been the recipient of various awards, including the Alaska Woman of Achievement, Governor's Award for the Humanities and the UAA Meritorious Service Award.

Swartz is one of eleven Alaska women from across the state who will be honored for their accomplishments within their communities and professions.

The Alaska Women's Hall of Fame will conduct its 2017 induction ceremony on Thursday, May 4, at First Baptist Church (1100 W. 10th Ave., along the Delaney Park Strip). The event is open to the public at no charge. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the program will start at 6 p.m.

Come hear the stories of artists, business leaders, lawmakers, educators, musicians and culture bearers. There are women from Crooked Creek to Sitka and from Atka to Fairbanks. They have been shaping the face of Alaska for decades and continue to inspire future generations.

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