FXBG Advance Publisher Wins Laurie A. Wideman Enterprising Woman's Award
For the first time in the award's history, two women - Leigh Anne Van Doren and Dr. Denise Willis - were honored.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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What started off as a problem for Leigh Anne Van Doren turned into a career spent helping women and families find their way in a community driven by people who leave their hometowns and home states to make their lives in the Greater Washington, D.C., area.
On Tuesday afternoon at Stevenson Ridge in Spotsylvania, The Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber’s Network of Enterprising Women (CNEW) recognized Van Doren’s accomplishments, as well as those of Dr. Denise L. Willis, by naming each a winner of the Laurie A. Wideman Award. The first time in the distinguished award’s 15-year history it has gone to two individuals.
Strengthening Women and Families
When Van Doren and her husband started their family, they didn’t have extended family to turn to for babysitting, advice, or just a must-needed break from childcare. “That experience,” according to her nomination letter, “deepened her empathy for others in the same position, and provided insights into the challenges and resources they required to be successful parents.”
There are few families in this region who have not been touched by her efforts — directly or indirectly.
The Chamber’s President and CEO Susan Spears described Van Doren this way:
She is down-to-earth.
She is honest.
She is compassionate.
And she is one of the engines powering the quality of life in our region.
The extent of her energy is revealed by the work that she does beyond Fred Parent.
Van Doren has watched with the rest of the community as journalism has changed radically over the past two decades, and not to the benefit of local communities.
In response, she helped launch FXBG Advance in 2023, which, said Spears, “has already become a vital voice in the Fredericksburg area.”
Van Doren also is president of Fredericksburg Parent Gives, the nonprofit arm of Fredericksburg Parent, and home to the region’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the FXBG Advance.
In 2024, Van Doren faced cancer. Through treatments and follow-ups, however, she has, Spears said, “continued to show up, build, lead, and support the people around her. Her strength, resilience, and heart shine through everything she touches.”
Dr. Denise L. Willis
After nearly four decades in federal service, Dr. Denise Willis began a new venture — addressing the community’s pressing mental health needs.
With a master’s degree in mental health counseling and a doctorate in Christian counseling, Willis founded and runs The Healing Station. Her practice focuses on connecting with local health providers and community organizations to support women, teens, and underserved individuals throughout the region.
Spears said of Willis: “Her motto is simple and powerful: equip, educate, and empower.”
Willis is active in her faith community as First Lady of her church.
Said Spears:
She leads with integrity.
She moves with purpose.
And she serves with an open heart.
The Wideman Award
Laurie Wideman, for who, the award is named, ran her own travel business, before selling it in 2007. Active in the Chamber of Commerce, Wideman “served on the Chamber’s Board of Directors, the Leadership Advisory Committee, and as Chair of the Chamber’s monthly Stafford Roundtable,” Spears told the gather of more than 100 people gathered to celebrate this year’s award winners.
Wideman passed away in 2010. The award named for her has the following criteria:
The recipient must be a woman and an active member of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The recipient must be a woman and an active member of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
She must be marked by an independent, energetic spirit and a readiness to act in both business and the community.
She must demonstrate a strong passion for improving the quality of life in our region.
She must lead with the utmost integrity and honesty.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
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The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
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And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
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This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”