Here are your "Wild Women" of Newport County

These are the women who have been making a huge difference in Newport and Bristol County, day in, day out.

From promoting bicycling as an alternative to driving, to screening important and culturally progressive films, to running school districts and teaching, coaching, lawyering, and working with victims of domestic violence — these women make the community better, safer, stronger.

They do it by working hard, which leaves them little time to seek recognition. That’s why the Women’s Resource Center serving Newport and Bristol Counties took time to thank them with a ceremony earlier this month at the Atlantic Beach Club.

The luncheon highlighted the contributions of the following women who have done—and continue to do—so much for the community.

• Terri Conners – Executive Director of NewportFILM
• Bari Freeman - Executive Director of Bike Newport
• Cecilia Heredia – Musician and Educator at St. Philomena School in Portsmouth
• Nan Heroux – Board Member for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence
• Veronica Hobbs – Director of the Domestic Violence Training & Monitoring Unit for the RI Supreme Court
• Colleen Burns Jermain – Superintendent of Newport Schools
• Victoria Johnson – Teacher, Coach, and Educational Administrator
• Amy Rice – Principal Attorney for the Law Office of Amy G. Rice, LLC
• Carol Ryan – Northwestern Mutual and Women’s Resource Center Committee Member
• Emily Sack – Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law
• M. Christie Smith – Executive Director of Potter League
• Lynne Tungett – Editor and Publisher of Newport This Week

Emcee Ashley Bendiksen was a domestic violence Survivor who is now an accomplished public speaker and speaks regularly on domestic violence and overcoming adversity. She graduated as the class Valedictorian of Salve Regina University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Administration of Justice, and is now Executive Assistant to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn

The Keynote speaker was a Survivor of domestic violence from SOAR (Sisters Overcoming Abusive Relationships). She spoke passionately about her own struggle to escape from domestic violence and become a free and healthy woman and mother.

All proceeds from this luncheon benefit the Women’s Resource Center, a member of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. More information can be found online at www.facebook/wrcnbc or www.wrcnbc.org.