The Scott Gordon Arkansas Home Visiting Professional of the Year Award
The Scott Gordon Arkansas Home Visiting Professional of the Year Award was established for the purpose of annually recognizing an individual that is making an outstanding contribution, through home visiting, to building stronger families and brighter futures for the children and communities of Arkansas. Those eligible for the award include all home visitors, home-based educators, parent educators, providers, supervisors, and coordinators who work in home visiting programs in Arkansas.
The top three nominees were recognized at the 2024 AHVN Annual Virtual Conference on November 14 and 15, 2024 at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs Arkansas.
We know that all of you are doing great work across the state and want to recognize your colleagues for their efforts to support families through home visiting. In order to recognize as many efforts as possible, previous award winners are ineligible to win again for five years. Previous nominees may be nominated again.
The window for submitting nominations for the 2024 year closed on September 30, 2024.
Thank you to our previous winners:
- 2014 Deena Dillard HFA
- 2015 Onika Gibson-Lovett NFP
- 2016 Laura Landrum HFA
- 2017 Laura Morgado PAT
- 2018 Karen Garner HIPPY
- 2019 Audrey Zavaleta HFA
- 2020 Wendy Forrest PAT
- 2021 Candie Corona HFA
- 2022 Mary Recendiz HIPPY
- 2023 Amy Lambright PAT
- 2024 Mariela Ramirez HFA
2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the Year Winner Mariela Ramirez HFA.
Mariela has a great balance of caring and firmness. She is vulnerable and real. She’s the mother of a team because she takes care of everyone. She loves to laugh and helps everyone use humor in their lives every day. She’s extremely reliable and always has the best interest of our families at heart. Mariela cares for our team just as well as she cares for her families. She intentionally inspires and encourages staff, remembers their birthdays, or sits out chocolate for them when they need a pick-me-up. She is not afraid to challenge her teammates to be better and everyone appreciates her honesty! She has amazed me since day one with the care she has for families. She truly sees each mom as a whole person with hopes, dreams, failures, and quirks. The thing that Mariela does so well is she doesn’t hide who she is as a person. She’s transparent with her families in a way that breaks down those walls of distrust so quickly. She lets them see that she’s human too, she lets them see that she has her own struggles, fears, and goals. That allows them to then be themselves, and vulnerable about their struggles, fears, and goals. When she goes on visits, the children in the home are always jumping up and down with excitement to see her. She’s very skilled at involving the whole family in the visits and giving everyone attention, care, and a job to do. I’m so proud to nominate Mariela, she deserves it!
Mariela Ramirez – Healthy Families America- winner 2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the year (left). Pictured with Lacye Vance HFA State Lead (right).
2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the Year 1st Runner-up Alex Bagley HFA.
Alex keeps us on our toes! Documentation, home visit completion, hitting benchmarks, and completing assessments are important to her. Her skill for getting things done is the reason that our program reaches the outcomes that it does. She always aims for 100% and, a majority of the time, she gets there. We can always depend on her to have her documentation promptly.
Alex is a budding leader in our program. She participated in the HOVRS home visiting coaching program this year and shared the many things she learned about ways to improve her home visits. She recently completed the HFA Supervisor training and is eager to learn more about that process so she can move toward taking on a supervisor role. She has been the lead worker and walked new staff through the home visiting process. She is open to them asking questions and reaching out to her when they need help.
She leads our family Christmas gift program and already has it planned out for this year. This program gathers sponsors to fulfill family wish lists. The parents are also included in the gift program, which has been why so many sponsors return year after year. Not only does she organize it, but she spends countless hours, sitting on the floor, wrapping gifts! She takes special pride in making the gifts look beautiful so that families feel special when they receive them.
She has also started taking new moms a drink from Sonic (that she buys herself) when she goes to the first visit after they’ve had their baby. Having something (not baby-related or postpartum-related) just for Mom – makes them feel special. Even in this simple way, she wants to ensure that moms don’t feel forgotten when it seems like everyone is there just to visit the new, sweet baby. She speaks up for families and reminds us all of who we are here to serve.
Alex Bagley-Healthy Families America- 1st runner-up -2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the year (left). Pictured with Lacye Vance HFA State Lead (right).
2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the Year 2nd Runner-up Paula Archer HIPPY.
Paula consistently goes above and beyond to support the home-based educators under her supervision, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to both her colleagues and the families they serve. Her leadership is characterized by compassion, professionalism, and a genuine desire to see everyone around her succeed.
As a coordinator, Paula has been instrumental in creating an environment where home-based educators feel supported and empowered. She is always available to offer guidance, share resources, and encourage. Her approachability and willingness to help ensure that her team can navigate any challenges they encounter. Paula is deeply invested in the success of the educators she works with, consistently seeking out ways to improve practices, increase efficiency, and foster collaboration.
What sets Paula apart is her ability to balance her role as a coordinator with her responsibilities as a home-based educator. She leads by example, not hesitating to roll up her sleeves and engage with families herself. This hands-on experience not only deepens her understanding of the educators’ day-to-day realities but also allows her to provide more meaningful, tailored support. Paula’s commitment to the families she serves is evident in the care and attention she gives, ensuring that each child receives the best possible education and support.
Paula Archer’s dedication to her role and the people she works with is truly remarkable. Her ability to balance the dual responsibilities of coordinator and educator, while maintaining a high standard of care and leadership, makes her an outstanding candidate for this award. She exemplifies what it means to be a leader, mentor, and educator, and her contributions are invaluable to the home visiting program.
Paula Archer-HIPPY- 2nd runner-up- 2024 Scott Gordon Home Visiting Professional of the year (left). Pictured with Simone Diggins-HIPPY AR State Lead (right).
Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners! You are truly being the difference: meeting families where they are!
Congratulations to all of our 2024 nominees:
• Paula Archer – HIPPY (2024 2nd Runner-up)
• Mariela Ramirez – HFA (2024 Winner)
• Brittney Henderson – HIPPY
• Lavonne Bailey – HIPPY
• Alex Bagley – HFA (2024 1st Runner-up)
• Ebony Martinez – SafeCare AR
• Makayla Johnson – Early Head Start
• Monique Lee – SafeCare AR
• Asia Burnett – HIPPY
• Jessica Evans – SafeCare AR
• Mely Mendoza – HIPPY
• Syretta Dodson – SafeCare AR
• Autra Dunn – HIPPY
• Renee Powell – SafeCare AR