Sandra Orozco-Stapleton
Sandra's vision has always been one of hope and healing for the entire family. From the founding of WEAVE in the mid-seventies, she recognized the complexities of partner/family relational issues and advocated for a Gender-Inclusive approach to provision of services and resources.
In 2003, Sandra was recognized as "the founder" at WEAVE's 25th Anniversary Black & White Gala celebration of "La Vision de Las Hermanas" (The Sisters' Vision). In 2004, she appeared as a guest speaker for WEAVE's "Hats Off" fundraiser.
While the Minerva Awards honor Sandra's accomplishment of the 1970s, her original vision has not wavered, it has come full-circle. In 2006 she continues her work as a "bold architect of change" and remians dedicated to working with couples and families to create "a stronger, more hopeful California."

Joseph Ganaway, Former Executive Director of SBAC
For the past thirty years, Joe Ganaway has served Sacramento as a chemical dependency counselor, agency executive director and consultant for community development.
As a founding member of SBAC, in 1979 Mr. Ganaway recognized a need to expand the scope of chemical dependency programs to address the concurrent problem of Intimate Partner Abuse. Increase in the need for domestic violence treatment led to development of a separate program in 1982, based on the Domestic Conflict Containment Program (DCCP). Using the couple oriented DCC model, Mr. Ganaway approached the problem from a compassionate, strengths-focused perspective which valued the clients' perceptions and needs regarding their own relationships, as formulated through dialogue. Although this approach met with considerable success, by 1988 the "perception of how [couples treatment] worked was changing" and in the early 1990s the pendulum was "in full swing" towards increasingly adversarial and blame-focused orientations and methods.