The Junior League of Summit (JLS) proudly presented this year’s Jean Hudson Gano Community Service Award to Annette Dwyer at their Annual Dinner at The Chatham Fish and Game Club last week. This award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the community by either an individual or a non-profit organization. Through this award, the JLS honors Jean Hudson Gano, a JLS member and outstanding community volunteer who died of breast cancer in May of 1997 at 41 years of age.

Annette Dwyer’s unwavering commitment to the Summit area is astonishing. She is a natural collaborator and a strong and invaluable partner and advocate for all area non profit groups. Annette Dwyer is the Board Chair of Shaping Summit Together, a not-for-profit organization which facilitates the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, the One Book One Community program and the Red Ribbon Celebration. She serves on the National Advisory Council of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), the nation’s oldest and largest not-for-profit children’s literacy organization based in Washington, D.C., was a Board Member from 1997-2002 and chaired the Policy and Programs Committee from 1998-2002.

In addition, Annette Dwyer coordinates an intergenerational read aloud program, currently in its seventh year. The program was a collaborative effort among The Learning Circle, YMCA, Senior Connections, Inc., Reading Is Fundamental, Inc and The Junior League of Summit, which funded the program pilot and the early stages of the program, along with the inter-classroom library of books, still in use today. Ms. Dwyer is also a Cub Scout Den Leader for her two sons’ Liam and Adam.

In her professional career, Annette Dwyer was a financial services management consultant for KPMG Peat Marwick and Mercer Management Consulting. In addition to performing and managing client engagements, Ms. Dwyer assisted her colleagues in publishing articles and papers on topics of interest to her clients.

After her children were born, Ms. Dwyer operated her own consulting practice specializing in strategy and implementation management. But since 2004, Annette has devoted all of her time to her volunteer and community service efforts. Ms. Dwyer has helped and/or served on many not-for-profit boards in various capacities, and has undertaken community service as a vocation over the last twenty-three years for local organizations such as BRIDGES Outreach, Inc., Senior Connections, Inc. and The Colonial Crossroads Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Ms. Dwyer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics at Harvard University and a Masters of Business Administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Ms. Dwyer has studied abroad in Rome, Italy and Stockholm, Sweden.

Ms. Dwyer currently lives in Summit, NJ with her husband, Terry, and sons, Liam and Adam.

The Junior League of Summit is a nonprofit, charitable and educational organization of women who are committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. For more information or to find out how you can get involved, call the League office at   908-273-7349 or visit www.jlsummit.org