Zonta names Young Women Leadership award

Zonta Club of Kankakee recently announced that Casey Cromwell, of Momence, is the recipient of the 2025 Young Women in Leadership Award for $1,000.

Sponsored by Zonta International, the Young Women in Leadership Award recognizes young women, ages 16-19, for demonstrating leadership skills and civic causes.

Casey Cromwell is the daughter of Shelley and Steve Cromwell Jr. She is a Momence High School senior. Casey embodies the definition of a well-rounded student-athlete and community leader. She is a member of the National Honor Society and has consistently made the honor roll all four years of high school.

Outside the classroom, Cromwell is involved in various activities. She is a multi-sport athlete, participating in volleyball, basketball and track. She also played six years of travel volleyball through Elevate Volleyball Club.

She was named to the All-Conference second team for two consecutive years, as well as the Offensive Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player award two years in a row.

Furthermore, Cromwell’s community leadership extends to FFA, where she has served as president her senior year and vice president her junior year. Her passion for youth development allowed her to help organize an FFA Kids Camp for local children, ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade.

She is also a volunteer coach through a local organization called Jr. Redskins (Building Young Athletes’ Basketball and Listening Skills) and through the volleyball camp Elevate travel volleyball.

Additionally, she also took part in fundraising for the local VFW for the past four years, serving as a member of the Momence Honor Guard (which provides services to fallen veterans) as well as participating in two Red Cross Blood Drive events.

Cromwell has worked with children as a teaching assistant for the Momence preschool program under the direction of a speech and language pathologist. She will continue her education at a university, where she will pursue a communication degree in speech and language pathology.

For information, visit www.zonta.org.