YWCA Tribute to Women Honors Local Execs

Jenny Haruyama, Los Gatos assistant budget finance director, and Dr. Carolyn M. DeLeon, Good Samaritan Hospital vice president of human resources, were honored this week with YWCA Tribute to Women awards.

The YWCA Silicon Valley recognized them along with more than 40 other women executives during the agency's 27th annual Tribute to Women Awards ceremony in San Jose Tuesday.

"I am honored to receive such an exceptional award," said Haruyama, who has worked for the town of Los Gatos for 10 years.

"It has been and continues to be a privilege to serve the residents and businesses of the town of Los Gatos," she said. "There is truly no other place in the world like it."

Haruyama has served as the budget manager and assistant director of finance for the past two years, successfully guiding the town's response to challenging economic and fiscal conditions.

She also manages the organization's Web-based services and has championed several highly visible financial and human resources information system upgrades.

DeLeon has demonstrated dedication, leadership and excellence in strategic organizational management, including human resource management, strategic workforce planning and development, management and leadership development, executive and professional coaching, according to Women in Business.

Dr. Paul Beaupré, CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital, praised DeLeon for bringing best practices from other industries to the complex regulatory environment of hospital management. 

"[She] shows us how to incorporate those into our departments," Beaupré said. "She makes the development of each worker as important as the development of the organization."

DeLeon began her health care career as a hospital speech pathologist and now is a respected member of the hospital’s most senior management team, Beaupré added.

The YWCA Tribute to Women Award Program honors women who occupy executive-level positions at local companies. They are chosen based on outstanding achievements and critical contributions to their organizations.

More than 600 people attended the event, which honored 46 women.

“Each year, there is such a new variety of women that come in from a number of different industries in the [Silicon] Valley, and each year, we sit here as staff absolutely amazed with the women that are honored,” said Kelly Ramirez, chief development officer for the YWCA Silicon Valley.