BETH FIORENZA TO RECEIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD

Beth Fiorenza, a member of Kiwanis Club of Tempe since 1998, has been selected to be recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Community Leadership Award, given annually by Tempe Leadership. She will be honored at the Tempe Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Breakfast of Champions” Tuesday Feb. 21 at the Fiesta Inn Conference Center. Curt Ritland, who serves on the Tempe Leadership Board, announced Beth’s award at Thursday’s Kiwanis meeting and said the Leadership Board selected her unanimously.

Executive director of Tempe Community Action Agency since 2004, Beth was chosen for her spectrum of work in the community and her decades of devotion to the social needs of Tempe’s citizens, starting with her work in 1998 for Tempe Community Council.

Beth earned her bachelor’s degree in political science in 1993 and a master’s degree in public administration in 1997, both from Arizona State University. A native of Marlton, N.J., she had monitored the A-to-Z agencies that Tempe Community Council has worked with during her time there. They included TCAA. She served on the KCOT Board of Directors in 2000-2002; was club treasurer, 2002-2003; was vice president, 2005-2006; and president-elect 2006-2007, but family and professional demands precluded her from moving into the presidency of KCOT.

Beth was Kiwanian of the Year in 2001. She was a member of Class XVI of Tempe Leadership and later was president of the board. She served on City of Tempe Transportation Commission. In addition, she served on the board of the Arizona Community Action Association to strategize ways to alleviate poverty throughout Arizona.

Over the years, Beth has worked hard to ensure TCAA remains the premier safety net for low-income, at-risk families with a variety of outreach help like food boxes, senior meals, the I-HELP program with the faith community to ensure meals and housing for the homeless, immunization clinics, health fairs, back-to- school eorts, the Toy Shoppe at Christmas and so much more.

Beth and her husband for nearly 12 years, Ivan Araktingi, have a son, Luke, 4.

Beth becomes the sixth member of KCOT to receive the Outstanding Community Leadership Award since it was started in 1990 to cite those who have individually demonstrated leadership to better Tempe. The previous Kiwanian winners are Lawn Griths, 1992; Linda Spears, 1999; Bill Regner, 2002; Neil Giuliano, 2005; and Sharon Doyle, 2008.

Tickets for the breakfast, 7-9 a.m., are $50 for members and $60 for non- members and available at tempeaz.usachamber.com.