By Kristin Boyd Staff Writer
Pinning down M. Katherine McGavern is like trying to catch a grasshopper that outwits you with each leap.
The Princeton resident is so efficient at tackling to-do items, solving problems and helping residents that by the time you track her down, she has already moved on to something else.
Such was the case when Judy Hutton, CEO of the YWCA Princeton, wanted to share some good news: Ms. McGavern had been selected to receive the organization’s prestigious Waxwood Award.
But, with a packed schedule, Ms. McGavern had no time to meet with Ms. Hutton, who, through her assistant, tried unsuccessfully to arrange several lunch dates.
“If you have a birthday that ends with a zero,” Ms. McGavern told Ms. Hutton’s assistant, “then we’ll talk.”
“OK. Then, can you come in for coffee,” the assistant asked.
Ms. McGavern agreed to a quick coffee meeting. But she knew “something was up” when she arrived at the YWCA and saw Ms. Hutton, Kristin Appelget, “Tribute to Women” event chair, and Jill Jachera, president of the YWCA’s board of directors, waiting for her.
The three women smiled.
“We’re going to give you the Waxwood Award,” Ms. Hutton said.
“Are you sure?” a stunned Ms. McGavern replied, half- jokingly. “I’ve mostly been a pain in the neck.”
In honor of her community work and continued dedication, Ms. McGavern will receive the award during the organization’s 25th annual “Tribute to Women” awards dinner on Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. The event will also recognize 10 other women who have contributed to the community through business, education and public service.
“For us, our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women is so important to the YWCA,” Ms. Hutton says. “But this has been an event where not only do we recognize women who live our mission, but they give us incentive to do more work in the area. It’s an empowering night.”
The Waxwood Award, the organization’s highest honor, is given to women who have made a distinguished contribution to the YWCA. Established in 1999, the award is named after Susie B. Waxwood, who served as executive director of the YWCA Princeton from 1958 to 1968 and, after World War II, was instrumental in integrating Princeton’s main YWCA with the YWCA for women of color.
“The truth is I was astonished. I’m very honored,” says Ms. McGavern, still sounding slightly shocked about the recognition. “This organization has had the most dedicated, energetic, committed, talented people, the most incredible women working for it. Everywhere you look it’s impressive women. They put me to shame. They’re phenomenal.”
Many say the same about Ms. McGavern, a spitfire with a pixie haircut and down-to-earth personality. As she sat in Panera Bread on Nassau Street last week, she talked about her life journey, in between waving to customers and employees she has known for years.
The youngest of three and a born leader, she was raised just outside Syracuse, N.Y. “I had an abnormally happy childhood,” she says, laughing. “I was in everything, Girl Scouts, music. I ran all the clubs in high school.”
Her mother was her secret weapon to self-confidence. “If I wanted to do it, she always said, you can do it,” says Ms. McGavern, whose father passed away unexpectedly when she was a child. “She gave so much love. She was so supportive and encouraging.”
Ms. McGavern’s do-it-all attitude spilled over into her adult life. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and French from St. Lawrence University in New York, she began working in educational marketing in the New York Times’ School and College Department; shortly after, she was promoted to the advertising department.
In 1973, she married Alan Dybvig, who worked for IBM. The couple later moved to Menlo Park, Calif., where they started their family, which now includes three boys: Ned, 30, Tim, 27, and James, 19.
Following a stint in advertising at San Francisco Magazine, Ms. McGavern, who has played the piano all her life, returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of California-San Jose. Her musical interest led to one never-to-be-broken house rule.
“All of the boys had to learn how to play an instrument, and they had to play until the left the house,” she says. “That was the deal.” As a result, Ms. McGavern can now start her own quartet; each of her sons learned to play a string instrument — violin, viola and cello.
“I’ve always said you can do anything if you do it a little bit every day,” she says, sharing the same nugget of wisdom she often told her sons. “That’s how you get big things accomplished.”
Ms. McGavern lived by that motto when the family moved from California to Rye, N.Y. There, she realized community service was the thing she could do a little bit of every day and impact her neighborhood.
“I got my first taste of making a difference,” she says, explaining how she worked with other residents to successfully save a elementary school on the brink of closure. “It felt good doing something different with my time and energy.”
The family moved to Princeton in 1989, and her community service continued here — first, in 1992, when she volunteered on a committee for the YWCA’s after-school program, and later as creator and organizer of Tiger Camp, a child-care program offered during Princeton University reunions.
She also participated in a homeless food program at her church, All Saints in Princeton, and volunteered as a “room mother” in the Princeton Regional School District, where her children were enrolled.
“I am enthusiastic about community work,” she says. “I feel so blessed and so lucky, and this is my way of giving back. It’s satisfying. In fact, it’s kind of fun for me.”
In 1997, Ms. McGavern and Margee Harper, also a Waxwood honoree, chaired a three-year, $3-million endowment campaign for the YWCA. It was the largest sum ever raised in one campaign, a goal that many considered unattainable.
Two years later, Ms. McGavern was appointed as president of the YWCA’s board of directors. To prove her dedication, she spent the summer before taking office reading up on nonprofit government.
“I like to learn and know what I’m doing,” she says. “There is so much energy here. I want the YWCA to be a lighthouse, a central place. All of the things we do (here) are empowering and also done in the spirit of diversity. I want us to live our mission and do more of it.”
Ms. McGavern is now president of the Princeton Public Library’s board of trustees – a position that has managed to keep her schedule booked. In addition, two of her sons have ADHD, so she has remained passionate about helping others diagnosed with the disorder. She participates in CHADD Mercer County and, as a trained ADHD coach, offers private counseling.
“I want women to know their potential and to know it’s important to care about something,” she says. “You do the thing you care about and what’s important to you. Community work makes me feel good. I feel privileged to do it.”
With a hair appointment looming, Ms. McGavern packs up her electronic Trio (similar to a BlackBerry) and handwritten to-do list (the only thing she keeps on paper anymore). She talks a few minutes more — about coping with an empty nest, skiing with her recently retired husband, missing her boys and having to buckle down and finish her “Tribute” speech — before heading for the door.
As she stands, a gold-and-diamond bumblebee pin shimmers on the lapel of her red blazer. Her husband gave her the trinket as a Valentine’s Day present, she gushes, smiling like a school girl.
It seems quite appropriate for a woman who, at any given moment, is busy buzzing from one place to another.
For tickets to YWCA’s “Tribute to Women” awards dinner, call Abby Sypeck at (609) 497-2100, ext. 333, or visit www.ywcaprincetontribute.org. Tickets are $125, with proceeds benefiting various YWCA programs.
For more information about the YWCA, visit www.ywcaprinceton.org.
