Daisy Cubias has been honored as the 2002-2003 Mount Mary College Woman of the Year. Cubias is senior staff assistant to Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, a position she has held since 2000.
Before joining the mayor’s staff, Cubias served as higher education coordinator for Bruce-Guadalupe Community School, where she planned programs, coordinated activities and provided educational counseling for eighth- grade students preparing to enter private high schools. Prior to that she worked for the Greater Milwaukee Education Trust, where she designed, implemented and administered the Empowerment Program, a parent involvement and student achievement initiative for nine Milwaukee public schools.
For many years, Cubias has applied her bilingual communication skills as an advocate for the Latino community. A native of El Salvador, she earned her master’s degree in social work at the School of Social Work there, and has also attended the John Kennedy University Center for Parent Involvement at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
An accomplished author and poet, Cubias has received awards for artistic as well as civic achievement. Her previous honors include the 2001 "Women Who Put Their Stamp on Milwaukee Award" from the U.S. Postal Service; the "Women of Achievement Art Award" from the YWCA; and the Virginia Hart Award, given to the female employee of the year by the governor of Wisconsin.
Sister Linda Marie Bos, chair of the Woman of the Year selection committee at Mount Mary, said, "We chose Daisy to receive this honor because she is a person who can show the way. She works tirelessly for what she believes in. With humility and grace, she demonstrates through her own life what women can accomplish."
The Mount Mary College Woman of the Year Award is given to a southeastern Wisconsin resident from outside the college community who demonstrates an interest in education and volunteer service and a concern for the needs of the economically poor, especially women and children. The purpose of the award is to honor women from the wider community who serve as role models for Mount Mary students and others.
Oct. 11, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee