Press Release

Evergreen Award of Marquette County Honors the Work of Karlyn Rapport

March 23rd, 2007

MARQUETTE COUNTY – If there’s one thing that Karlyn Rapport has proven over the course of her work and volunteer life in Marquette County, it’s that one person can make a difference.

Rapport was named the recipient of the 2007 Evergreen Award of Marquette County at the Lake Superior Community Partnership Annual Dinner on Friday, March 23. Characterized as a “local and regional catalyst for change,” Rapport was nominated by Kathleen L. Davis and Mary Jane Schmidt.

“Karlyn Rapport is an outstanding volunteer and a true community treasure deserving of the honor of the Evergreen Award,” Davis and Smith wrote in their nomination of Rapport.

The Evergreen Award is organized by the Zonta Club of Marquette Area. The award is open to men and women of Marquette County who are inspirational in their roles as mentors of women and girls. The selection committee evaluated the nominees based on how they demonstrated excellence, creativity and initiative in their professions or as volunteers.

“I’m humbled,” Rapport told dinner attendees when she received the award. Rapport commented that it was wonderful to live and work in a community so committed to working toward better futures for everyone.

Rapport is a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) whose mission “promotes equality for all women and girls, lifelong education, and positive societal change.” She is the Marquette AAUW Public Policy Chair and serves on the AAUW Program Committee. She heads up the “Get Out The Vote” effort, which focuses on the importance of voting, especially for women. She has also served as the group’s president.

Her work with AAUW helped found the Harbor House, which is the domestic violence shelter in Marquette County. “In AAUW she led a task-force on this issue and took it to the national organization in 1979. This was before domestic violence was a recognized problem,” Davis and Smith noted.

AAUW has honored Rapport twice in its “Agents of Change” designation, which is awarded to three Michigan women each year. Through the designation, money in her name was sent to a fund supporting graduate education and community grants for women and girls.

Rapport co-founded the Marquette Co-operative Nursery at a time when finding adequate daycare was very difficult for working women. She was a Girl Scout leader when her daughters were young, and she has mentored women seeking political office.

Professionally, Rapport worked as a speech pathologist. She worked for 10 years in Marquette Area Schools, and 28 years at Marquette General Hospital. She is married to Jim Rapport. The couple has three grown children: Adele, an attorney, Lisa, a neuro-psychologist, and Joel, a rabbi.

The Evergreen Award program also includes a scholarship to a local life-long learner pursuing an educational program. This award is made in the spring. Scholarship applications are available by contacting the Marquette Community Foundation.

Evergreen Award and Scholarship sponsors include Zonta Club of Marquette Area, Interiors by Design, The Landmark Inn, Hetrick & Associates Insurance Agency, Peninsula Medical Center, Range Bank, Public Service Garage and Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center and the Marquette Monthly. For more information on Evergreen Award and Scholarship program, please visit www.zontamqt.org or contact Pam Stewart at 228-7500 - pcs@hetrickins.com.

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