The YWCA Jamestown has announced the recipients of the 2026 Women of Achievement Awards.
This annual event recognizes and honors women in Chautauqua County whose career, volunteer, and advocacy achievements enhance diversity and inclusion and promote women’s empowerment in the community. The five women being recognized are as follows:
Rising Star Award: Leishya Rios Pérez – Leishya Rios Pérez is a 15-year-old entrepreneur who attends Jamestown High School and will be entering her sophomore year. She started her business, Chachy’s Lemonades, when she was just 7 years old with a pop-up tent, one table, and two flavors of lemonade. Now, Leishya runs the business out of a food trailer offering more than 20 different lemonade flavors. She travels throughout Chautauqua County and beyond, serving as a vendor at festivals, community events, and special occasions. She helped her sister purchase a hot dog truck to launch “Tita’s Dogs” and enjoys mentoring her as Leishya’s mother mentored her.
Power The Future award: Makayla Santiago-Froebel – Makayla Santiago-Froebel is a lifelong storyteller and advocate for underrepresented voices. She serves as Interim Associate Director of Belonging and Community Relations at Chautauqua Institution, where she leads Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) initiatives and builds strong partnerships with community leaders and stakeholders. This summer, Makayla is looking forward to organizing the institution’s first-ever Naturalization Ceremony. She brings more than a decade of experience across arts and cultural organizations, such as the Mark Morris Dance Group and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. Her work at Chautauqua has included contributions to the Chautauqua Opera Company & Conservatory and Chautauqua Theater Company, alongside broader Institution-wide efforts focused on change management, communications, and community building. Makayla holds dual bachelor’s degrees from SUNY Fredonia, a master’s degree from Canisius College, and a Diversity & Inclusion certificate from Cornell University. She serves as the Board President of Infinity Performing and Visual Arts and as a board member of Arts Services Inc. in Buffalo.
Catalyst For Change award: Briana Postle – Briana J. Postle, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker with over 17 years of experience supporting individuals, families, and communities through trauma-informed, strengths-based care. She is the owner of Postle Counseling Services, where she provides psychotherapy to children, adolescents, and adults with a focus on trauma, anxiety, depression, and life transitions.
In addition to her clinical work, Briana has served as a college instructor in social work, teaching courses in Trauma-Informed Care while mentoring and supervising social work students through their field placements. Her passion for field education centers on helping future social workers bridge classroom learning with real-world practice, fostering professional identity, ethical decision-making, and trauma-informed approaches to care.
Briana is also the founder and Executive Director of Together We Bloom, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening protective factors for positive mental health through community-based programming. Under her leadership, the organization has developed innovative initiatives that promote family connection, resilience, nature engagement, and mental wellness across the lifespan.
Shattered Ceiling Award: Crystal Surdyk – Crystal Surdyk serves as the Director of Development for the City of Jamestown, where she leads efforts to strengthen neighborhoods, expand opportunity, and foster community revitalization through strategic planning, housing initiatives, economic development, and public-private partnerships. With more than 30 years of management, 15 of which have been specific experience in community development, urban planning, and placemaking, she is dedicated to creating vibrant, inclusive, and resilient communities.
Crystal’s passion for community building is rooted in her own life experiences. Having overcome significant childhood adversity, including time spent in foster care, she understands firsthand the importance of stability, support, and opportunity. Those experiences shaped her commitment to helping others and continue to guide her work in public service. A lifelong advocate for collaboration and civic engagement, Crystal strives to bring people together around a shared vision for the future. Through her leadership, she has helped secure transformative investments that strengthen Jamestown’s neighborhoods, improve quality of life, and create opportunities for residents to thrive.
Dorothy Height Legacy Award: Diana Scott – Diana Scott is a retired business owner, community volunteer, and longtime resident of Chautauqua County. Throughout her career and into retirement, her passion has always been simple: feeding people and bringing communities together.
During her years with Home Depot and Lowe’s, Diana organized employee events, taught hands-on classes for women, and successfully wrote community grants supporting the Joint Neighborhood Project and the 2XL Program.
In 2015, Diana founded Studio D Catering with a simple mission: to make beautiful weddings and special events affordable for everyone. Through Studio D, she also remained committed to giving back by donating her time and talents to numerous nonprofit organizations, helping them host memorable events within their financial means. She proudly provided Thanksgiving dinners for the Jamestown Police Department, the Jamestown Fire Department, and UCAN Mission for many years.
In retirement, Diana has continued that commitment through initiatives such as the 18th Street Pantry and by helping prepare and coordinate meals for the Jamestown Warming Center, helping ensure that guests received a hot meal every day throughout the shelter’s operating season. Through the generosity of volunteers and community donations, the 18th Street Pantry now provides approximately $900 worth of supplemental food each week to families experiencing food insecurity. She believes food is more than nourishment—it is a way to show compassion, build relationships, and create hope.
All five women will be recognized as Women of Achievement with recipients representing the Chautauqua County community and boasting a plethora of accomplishments on Friday, July 31 at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel in Celoron. The public is invited to join in celebrating the nominees and award recipients at 5:30 P.M. for hors’ d’oeuvres followed by a buffet dinner, a presentation, and basket raffle. Tickets can be purchased for $75 in advance of the event at www.ywcajamestown.com/woa. For more information about the Women of Achievement recipients, visit www.ywcajamestown.com/woa or call 716-488-2237.
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