2020 Order of William Pynchon winners announced

Nov. 12, 2020 | Miasha Lee


Educator Janine Fondon.
Photo Ciredit: Ed Cohen Photography

SPRINGFIELD – On Oct. 19, the Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts’ Trustees of the Order of William Pynchon announced their 2020 Pynchon Award Medalists at a virtual press conference at the Springfield Museums.

Director of Springfield Food Policy Council Elizabeth Wills-O’Gilvie and President/CEO of UnityFirst.com Janine Fondon were chosen for their distinguished service during a year of pandemic and unrest.

"I was shocked and humbled,” Fondon replied. “It was an honor to think that someone that you met and worked with would think of nominating me. It was so amazing. I stand in gratitude.”

O’Gilvie responded,“I was grateful to be recognized, but I couldn’t without thinking a list of people who are as deserving. Whatever I’ve been able to be a part of accomplishing is due to the many people who introduced me to this work, grew my understanding of the deep public health impacts at the lack of healthy food fosters and then helped me along the way including the staff and youth at Gardening at Community, Jessica Collins from the Public Health Institute and Synthia Mitchell, a Springfield resident and co-founder of the Food Policy Council before I was even around. If those people and others hadn’t done the work before I came along, I wouldn’t have had a base to start from.”

The Order of William Pynchon was established in 1915. The idea came during World War I when the British adopted a model of honoring living military and civilian heroes. Edward H. Marsh, one of the founders of the Publicity Club, liked that model and suggested a proposal to the directors for a program honoring deserving citizens while they’re alive rather then when they pass away.

“This year’s recipients are magnificent women who I find absolutely inspiring and each have such unique stories and passions,” said Trustee Jillian Gould for the William Pynchon Awards. “Janine lifts people up, especially other women and women of color. She seeks out incredible stories of achievement and resilience that have helped shape our past and bring those hidden stories to the forefront.”

Gould added, “I am in absolute awe of Liz. She saw a need in this community, her community for better access to fresh healthy food and has approached this issue 360-degrees. She is just relentless in the pursuit of change.”

Pynchon Trustees are made up of the current and five past presidents of the Advertising Club. They are tasked with thoroughly researching every nomination submitted to them by the public and it’s only by unanimous vote by the trustees that the winners are selected.

“We look for those who’ve championed causes with deep purpose, made positive impacts that go deep and wide and whose stories can serve as inspiration and motivation,” Gould explained.

For three years, Fondon has been chair of the undergraduate communications department at Bay Path University, and spent four years as an adjunct. She is considered one of the longest serving African American full-time professors at Bay Path.    

There are two sources to Fondon’s drive and tenacity. As she stated, “I love to use that phrase, standing on the shoulders of the people who came before. Because I get my drive knowing the sacrifices people made to allow us to live the life we lead and I feel that we all should further the journey for those who are not with us.”

Fondon continued, “The other drive is I’m very much inspired by my 25 year-old daughter and a lot of my students who are at the beginning stages of their journey and we should be supporting them as much as we can, so for me that drive is to impart whatever I can to help them lay the foundation for the best journey they will have.”

Fondon grew up in New York, moved to Washington D.C and then to Springfield for a job. She saw the opportunities it would bring and said she wanted to set roots down.

Fondon went into consulting. Through that her and her husband created Unity First.com, which was a local newspaper that covered news across the state of Massachusetts. It has now become a communications network focused on inclusion and diversity-related news.

In coming to Springfield, Fondon met with the late LuJuana Hood, president and CEO of the Pan African Historical Museum. They developed a friendship and professional relationship. They later collaborated on an exhibit called the Intersection focused on women of African heritage. They continued to do programming, speaking and many other ventures to propel the untold stories, one of them being On the Move – a conference in honor of gender equality and civic engagement.

Fondon is a guest curator of an exhibit at the Springfield Museums called “Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move,” an inclusive history of women of all backgrounds. It includes the first African-American manager at Springfield’s Steiger’s Department Store, Carrie Roberson, as well as Fondon’s Jamaican-American grandmother, Miriam Kirkaldy who came to Ellis Island in 1917 and became a seamstress and homeowner in New York.

“There are so many untold stories we just haven’t heard of,” said Fondon. “I wanted to honor that history and the people who have come to Springfield in the ways that they have and I want to honor them for doing great things.”

Fondon continued, “All of my work is focused around not only looking forward, but looking behind us and all of that takes everybody together to make a difference. Yet, you can’t make a difference unless we acknowledge for example the women in this exhibit. You have to have the knowledge and wisdom to look in the past and look through the future.”

O’Gilvie advocates for good nutrition and healthy eating. She lobbied for food equality and justice from the Massachusetts State House to Washington, D.C., and developed gardens and greenhouses throughout the city. This year, O’Gilvie led the Springfield Food Policy Council in installing 56 raised-bed gardens in the backyards of Springfield residents to grow their own food.

“I think it’s interesting that I got to come here at this place and time of my life. It’s almost like this work was just waiting for me and I got to jump in,” O’Gilvie said. “The difference between me and somebody else my age who has always been in Springfield is that they didn’t have other kinds of opportunities and maybe never found their own voice. That’s just good fortune or grace or luck.”

O’Gilvie was born in Springfield. She has a background in economic development, policy and systems. O’Gilvie worked as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago, where she developed pathways to affordable housing and education.

When O’Gilvie and her family moved back to Springfield, she noticed the inequity; the lack of a grocery store with fresh healthy foods. But it was a group of young people door knocking in her neighborhood, an organization called Gardening the Community, training youth to grow fruits and vegetables on vacant and abandoned lots that highlighted the issue. They asked her where she bought her produce and did she think they should access to fresh produce in the area.

“Organizing has been an element in all of my work which was social justice driven,” O’Gilvie mentioned. “I didn’t know a lot about food equity or food access. I was really drawn to the conversation because I thought they were asking pretty profound questions. It spoke to me from a community organizing perspective and as a mom who wanted to buy broccoli and carrots to make my own baby food.”

O’Gilvie got involved with Gardening the Community by volunteering and buying produce from them. She learned more about the local, statewide and national food systems and saw the inequity and systemic racism in the food government. O’Gilvie became a founding board member and later chair of the board of directors.

O’Gilvie joined the Springfield Food Policy Council through the encouragement of Jessica Collins, who runs the Public Health Institute. As director, O’Gilvie has partnered with FoodCorps for the development of the Springfield Public Schools’ new $21 million dollar Springfield Culinary and Nutrition Center, to prepare healthy meals from scratch for students.

She is also the manager and founder of the City Soul Farmers Market.

“I feel incredibly blessed. I know a lot of kids eat more and healthier because of my work,” O’Gilvie emotionally expressed. “In the beginning, I got on the school districts’ nerves because I wanted so much, but now they want as much for children as I do.”

She concluded, “I’m really glad that the award makes people and entities like The Reminder want to learn more about food inequities and lack of access. I want folks to know that these problems exist and I guess getting an award gives you a platform to talk about that.

“Anything that I’ve been able to accomplish has been because people have literally held me up. It’s these experiences that I’ve had that make me feel strong, appreciated, loved and Springfield made,” O’Gilvie concluded.

The official presentation of the Pynchon Medal will take place next fall with the 2021 recipients. When confirmed, event details and ticket information will be available on the club’s website at adclubwm.org or by calling 342-0533.

Share this: