Newman Award Goes To...

Arlington, VA (October 2, 2009) - Former delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates and longtime Arlington resident, L. Karen Darner, will be honored as the 2009 recipient of the Arlington Community Foundation's annual William T. Newman, Jr. Spirit of Community Award.

Raised in Illinois and a graduate of the University of Illinois, Darner served in the U.S. Peace Corps from 1988-1990. In 1991 Karen Darner was elected to represent Arlington in the Virginia House of Delegates, and she concluded her General Assembly service in January 2004. In the legislature, Karen was a member of three standing House committees - Education, Transportation, and Health, Welfare & Institutions, and she was a twelve year member of the Virginia Commission on Youth.  In July 2003, Governor Mark Warner appointed her to a two-year term as chair of Virginia's Council on the Status of Women.

Over the past 30 years, Karen has been an active member of numerous community organizations.  Karen served on the Arlington's Commission on the Status of Women and Planning Commission when Federal Title IX came into existence. She helped conduct gender awareness training in the public schools throughout the state through the Virginia Education Association. She served as the first co-coordinator of Arlington's  Rape Victim Companion Program. She held leadership positions with the League of Women Voters, Arlington Civic Federation, Mental Health Association of Northern Virginia, The Arlington Community Temporary Shelter (now Doorways), The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Personal Support Network of The ARC, the Marjorie Hughes Fund for Children, and the American Association of University Women.