Wendy Wayne ’67

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Wendy Wayne '67 is a tireless leader who contributes to her community through a variety of projects ranging from nursing and early child care to polio immunization in India, planting trees, feeding the hungry, building homes for the homeless and teaching in Kenya, Honduras and Israel.

Wayne worked for many years as a women's health care practitioner. In 1978 when she was unable to find accessible, quality care for her own children, she left the medical field to work on a solution to childcare issues. Using community-organizing skills she honed as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya in the late 1960s, Wayne has been involved in the early childcare and education systems in Kern County and California. Today she is an active advocate for voluntary preschool for all children in California.

Wayne was one of the founding members of Options Unlimited, a community organization that encourages the professional and personal development of women. Through ROSE (Realizing Options for Student Excellence) she continues to offer guidance and friendship to high school juniors and seniors and gives her time to activities that introduce young women to the educational and professional opportunities that await them as adults.

Wayne is a founding member and passionate advocate for the Kern County Network for Children, which has created neighborhood collaboratives to enhance access to services, move families to self-sufficiency and improve the lives of children. She is an active member of numerous boards that meet regularly to determine the future of childcare in California.

The energy and time that she invests daily makes her a role model to others, who then find themselves unable to say "no" when she invites them also to volunteer. Wayne has created an old-fashioned sense of community in her neighborhood. Whether she is the catalyst for the founding of a new organization or working in established programs such as the development of a neighborhood garden, community clean up, or block party potluck meals, she is one person who never says no.

Wayne is an incredibly gifted and generous woman who has dedicated herself to making her community a positive and healthy place.