Five Leaders, One Honor: San Mateo County Names 2026 Women’s Hall of Fame Class

Redwood City -Raised by her immigrant mother, Alyson Suzuki learned early how difficult it can be for families to navigate schools and social services when information is not available in their own language or cultural context.

Through years of supporting her family and later working in education and social services, she saw firsthand how those barriers can hold families back and limit opportunity. That experience shaped her commitment to changing how systems serve communities.

Today, she leads efforts across San Mateo County to strengthen language access and build durable support systems for Asian families and other underserved communities.

Suzuki's efforts will be celebrated on March 6, when she is honored alongside four other inductees in the 2026 class of the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame.

The other honorees include leaders whose work has unfolded in city halls, community organizations and classrooms, as well as two high school students whose initiatives reflect the next generation of civic leadership.

They are Andrea Jones, whose career centers on advancing the well-being of children and families; Terry Nagel, a community leader, former mayor and tireless volunteer in Burlingame; and two high school seniors, Danika Gonzalez Johnston of Half Moon Bay High and Amani Shroff of Carlmont High.

"We are very excited to honor three extraordinary women and two youth at our Women's Hall of Fame," said Ann Girard, president of the Commission on the Status of Women. "This iconic event provides an opportunity to recognize the talents, contributions and vision of these women who improve and strengthen the community for all of us."

The Women's Hall of Fame and Young Women of Excellence ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. on March 6 in the Farallon Room of Skyline College in San Bruno. Tickets may be purchased on Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/WHOF2026.

About the Inductees:

Andrea Jones

Andrea Jones is a Bay Area-born leader whose career has focused on advancing the well-being of children and families. She has worked across community arts, nonprofit leadership and local philanthropy, including eight years at foundations serving San Mateo County. Jones currently serves as consulting director for the Children's Collective and the countywide San Mateo County's Child Care Blueprint, coordinating parents, providers, employers, advocates, funders and public agencies to advance equitable, sustainable child care solutions. She is known for translating community input into actionable strategies and for aligning diverse stakeholders to move policy from planning to implementation.

Terry Nagel

Terry Nagel has been a community leader since 1985, organizing residents, volunteering in local schools and serving 12 years on the Burlingame City Council, including three terms as mayor. Her work has emphasized civic engagement, government transparency, emergency preparedness, equity and sustainability. Nagel organized residents to address chronic power outages through Burlingamers Unwilling to Live with Blackouts (BULB), prompting $5 million in infrastructure investments and significantly reducing outages. Since 2019, she has served as chair of Sustainable San Mateo County, where she helped develop the county's first Sustainability Dashboard and Ideas Bank and expanded the organization's capacity and partnerships.

Alyson Suzuki

Alyson Suzuki is a first-generation Chinese American nonprofit leader whose work has advanced language access, early childhood education and family support systems across San Mateo County and the Bay Area. With more than 30 years of experience in education, social services and nonprofit leadership, she is the founder and chief executive of Unitedly. Under her leadership, Unitedly created San Mateo County's first Child Development Associate credential pathway for Chinese-speaking educators and launched the Game Changers Youth Leadership Program for Asian American, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander student athletes. Suzuki also serves as co-chair of the Chinese Health Initiative of San Mateo County.

Danika Gonzalez Johnston

Danika Gonzalez Johnston is a senior at Half Moon Bay High School from Pescadero. Following recovery from severe anorexia, she became an advocate for eating disorder awareness, health and wellness and rural youth. She volunteers with the Eating Recovery Center and has helped plan San Mateo County's Eating Disorder Awareness Week. As the 2024-25 San Mateo County Youth Arts Fellow for District 3, Gonzalez Johnston created a bilingual theater curriculum and guided elementary students in writing and performing a multilingual original play.

Amani Shroff

Amani Shroff is a senior at Carlmont High School and chair of the San Mateo County Youth Commission, where she has represented more than 90,000 youth for the past three years. Her work has focused on civic engagement, youth leadership and voter education. Shroff serves as a youth liaison to the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women and has led school-based initiatives promoting empathy and mental health awareness. She is a published poet focused on social justice and plans to attend Stanford University.

For more information about the Women's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, please visit the Commission on the Status of Women. Honorees and their biographies are at Explore the Women who Made History.

About the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame

In 1984, the Commission on the Status of Women established a permanent Women's Hall of Fame to recognize outstanding women for their contributions to the well-being of San Mateo County. Impartial judges selected from outside the county read the numerous nominations with names redacted to ensure a fair and unbiased process, before selecting the finalists. The women are honored for their outstanding contributions to their profession, their generous work as volunteers or both.

In 1993, a second category, "Young Women of Excellence," was added to the Women's Hall of Fame. Nominees must be high school juniors or seniors or the equivalent. The award aims to give visibility to young women's accomplishments in community service, academic achievement and acts of courage in their daily lives.

About the Commission on the Status of Women

The Commission on the Status of Women is a non-partisan advisory body to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors that seeks to improve the quality of life for women of all ages in San Mateo County. Through strategic partnerships and collaboration, the commission identifies women's needs, advises the board of supervisors, and educates the community on matters concerning women. More information is available at https://smcgov.org/csw

Tanya Beat (she/her)
Commission on the Status of Women
LGBTQIA+ Commission
[email protected]| 650.363.4467