The Kathy Duggan award honors the individual who best typifies the dedication and ideals of the late Kathy Duggan, who served as NCSEA Executive Director from 1987 to 1993. Like most of you, I did not have the chance to meet Ms. Duggan, but former NCSEA President Wayne Doss was kind enough to share why the award was created in her honor.
For much of the 6 years she served as NCSEA Executive Director, Ms. Duggan made up the entirety of NCSEA’s staff. She handled the necessary day-to-day office business of the Association. She also coordinated, edited, and managed publication and distribution of NCSEA’s Child Support Quarterly (predecessor to the Child Support CommuniQue), and eventually handled all of this, the board of directors, and our Annual Meetings.
In addition to all those duties, for many private and public stakeholders outside of the organization, Ms. Duggan was the go-to person on many things child support related. She may not have known a specific piece of data or an answer to a question about policy, for example, but she never failed to know or find someone on the Board, among the membership, or the child support community at large who did.
The NCSEA newsletter in December 1993 described Ms. Duggan in this way:
Kathy’s commitment represented a philosophical devotion to the importance of child support, to be sure, but it went beyond that. Kathy was dedicated to the people who work in the program at every level. Providing the best possible service to NCSEA’s members was Kathy’s guiding principle. She displayed an energy and optimism that imbued every task she undertook. Kathy’s leadership helped to foster NCSEA’s reputation as an important resource for legislators, policy makers, and everyone working within the child support program.
As Ms. Duggan continued to work tirelessly for NCSEA, no one knew that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Kathy was unable to attend the 1993 Annual Conference which she had worked so hard to plan and passed away before the 1994 Annual Conference could take place.
The Kathy Duggan Memorial Award was created in recognition of her dedication, passion, and commitment to NCSEA as an organization and particularly to its members. It has been five years since NCSEA last presented this award, and I can’t think of a more deserving recipient than the person we honor today.
