BARNSTABLE – The Mercy Otis Warren Woman of the Year Award Selection Committee and the Barnstable County Commission announced that Marion “Mimi” McConnell of Cotuit is the 19th annual recipient of the Woman of the Year Award.
The honor recognizes woman who exemplify traits of leadership in their community.
Before moving to Cape, McConnell helped create the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and worked with Save the Bay projects in San Francisco and Rhode Island.
Once on Cape she quickly got involved, serving as a board member of the Cotuit-Santuit Civic Association.
McConnell co-founded the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, serving as its first executive director from 1988-1995.
During this time she was a also a Cotuit water commissioner, a Barnstable town meeting member, elected to the first Barnstable Town Council, and served as its first woman president.
In 1997, then Governor Jane Switch created a Community Working Group to address concerns arising out of hazardous waste materials plumes emanating from the Massachusetts Military Reservation, and appointed McConnell chair of the group.
She was tasked with creating the Master Plan codified in Chapter 47 of the Massachusetts Acts of 2002. Today she serves as the chair of its offshoot, the Environmental Management Commission Community Advisory Council.
McConnell has also served on the Board of the Cape Cod Foundation, created the Jane Eshbaugh Community Service Award, and was an active Board member of the Barnstable Land Trust.
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