The Evergreen Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated women’s contributions to the community as it inducted two people into the Mountain Area Women in Business Hall of Fame.

Barbara Sternberg, known for her book “Evergreen, Our Mountain Community,” was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Maren Schreiber, who runs the Evergreen Park & Recreation District’s INSPIRE program for special populations.

Sternberg and Schreiber join a distinguished group of inductees. In 2018, the inaugural year of the Hall of Fame, Peggy Eggers, Gail Riley and Kristin Witt were inducted, and in 2019, Gail Sharp, Rita Felde and Kay D’Evelyn La Montagne were inducted. In 2022, Linda Kirkpatrick, Betsy Hays, Linda Lovin and Susanne Robert were inducted.

Barbara Sternberg, an Evergreen icon who distinguished herself through her dedication to family, community, service and big ideas, also was a founding member of PFLAG – Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Among her many activities and accomplishments, she helped start Arts for the Mountain Community, now known as Sculpture Evergreen.

Sternberg’s daughters, Francesca Starr and Jennifer Boone, accepted the award on her behalf. Starr said their mother would be thrilled by the induction, noting that Sternberg “loved Evergreen totally. She devoted her energies to make Evergreen a better place.”

Schreiber has been running the INSPIRE program since its inception 25 years ago when it started with five participants. Now the program, which provides activities and offerings for people with special needs, serves 114 people ranging in age from 5 to 50.

Schreiber, who had lost her voice, had her sister, Lara Galante, thank the group for the honor.

Galante said of her sister: “She inspires me every day of her life.”

Also nominated this year were Ginny Ades, who is known for her conservation work through the Evergreen Sustainability Alliance, Jackie, Bell, president of the Evergreen Animal Protective League for more than 40 years, and Holly Kinney, owner of The Fort and the Tesoro Cultural Center.

In a new category this year, Lisa Nierenberg, executive director of Center for the Arts Evergreen, and Megan Mitchell, co-owner of Cactus Jack’s Saloon and Grill, were named to Women on the Rise.

Nierenberg thanked Peggy Eggers, who was president of the CAE board when Nierenberg was hired, her husband and Sara Miller, CAE’s senior director of exhibitions, for their help and support.

Mitchell told the group that she appreciated the honor.

Nancy Judge, president of the Evergreen Area Chamber of Commerce, told the group at the luncheon that the Women on the Rise category honors women who are definitely beginning to make their mark on the community.