Women In Leadership

Snyder among the 25 leaders

Award Earned
By Karen Danner of the Chillicothe Times/Bulletin

Sticking your neck out can be risky. So can the role of leader in whatever field you choose.
The Chillicothe woman was honored recently as one of 2002’s 25 Women in Leadership.
Joan Blessington Snyder, a Parkinson’s disease advocate was chosen for the award, a conjunction of WEEK-TV 25 and The Marketeer Magazine.
Awards were presented by Channel 25 Nightside co-anchor, Denise Heilman.
Gina Morss of the Channel 25 Morning Show and Sue Schupp nominated Snyder for the award.
According to the tape made of the award ceremonies, Snyder, a community volunteer, activist, and homemaker has managed to ”…fight a serious illness while being a great role model for her peers,” making her an inspiration to others.
“I was humbled and also gratified,” said Snyder of receiving the award: ”humbled to be in the company of so many professional women who lead by their actions, and gratified that all my work has not gone unnoticed. Not that I live for the “atta-boys,” but they sure make the trip a lot sweeter.”
Now 50, Snyder learned that she had Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 38.
She continues to push for a cure for the neurological disease, if not for herself, for future generations.
Since her diagnosis, Snyder has co-written “Voices from the Parking Lot-parkinson’s insights and perspectives” plus she operates the People With Parkinson’s chat room, is the creative communications director of the Parkinson Alliance and serves on the Board of Directors of People Living With Parkinson’s.
One of the top honors she has received was the Sidney Dorros Award because of her drive to increase awareness of Parkinson’s and raise funds for Parkinson’s disease research ultimately to find a cure.
“Everything I’ve done in my life prior to my diagnosis has been preparing me to be the activist that I am now,” said Snyder. I believe that I’m where I should be and need to be.”
Snyder, along with her husband, Stan, and two children-Mitch and Allison-live in Rome, IL.