Merlin G. Pope Scholarship and Awards

Karen Bankston 2005 Nominee for the Merlin G. Pope, Jr. Award for Outstanding Leadership and Commitment to Promoting Diversity in the Corporate Community

On behalf of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC) and Pope & Associates, Inc. Karen Bankston has been nominated for the Merlin G. Pope, Jr. Award for Outstanding Leadership and Commitment to Promoting Diversity in the Corporate Community. Ms. Bankston currently serves as Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Health Alliance, Greater Cincinnati's largest health delivery system. In that capacity she is responsible for the management of local, state, and national legislative affairs, Public Relations, Marketing, Sales, the Center for Health Disparities, and the Department of Diversity. Prior to this role, Ms. Bankston served as Vice President of Operations at The University Hospital, also part of the Health Alliance.

While at The University Hospital, Ms. Bankston created and led the implementation of a culture change initiative designed to create service excellence by infusing a sense of excellence, respect and accountability into all associates and all efforts. Key to the initiative was understanding and addressing the needs and expectations of the city's most diverse patient and workforce populations.

Ms. Bankston is highly respected within professional and community circles, as evidenced by her many honors, including the 2005 Healthcare Hero Award for Manager, YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and the YMCA Black Achiever.
The award will be presented at the Annual Meeting of CHRC, April 21, 2005 at Cincinnati Music Hall.

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