Avenidas, a Palo Alto community center dedicated to older adults, announced the recipients of its 2025 Lifetimes of Achievement Award at a reception on Tuesday, honoring locals who have committed themselves to making positive change, whether it be through real estate, education or philanthropy, among many other avenues.
This year’s award winners include Mike Couch, Sister Trinitas Hernandez, Joan MacDonald and two couples – Helen and Dan Quinn and Sheila and Mark Wolfson.
For the first time since the award’s inception in 1988, Avenidas also honored a group, the Association for Senior Day Health, which received the Lifetimes of Service Award.
“These older adults have not only shaped industries but also made an indelible mark on our community for future generations, as they inspire positive change,” said President and CEO of Avenidas Kristina Lugo in a statement.
Over 50 people attended the Avenidas event, who gasped and smiled in admiration as they listened to the accomplishments of their peers.
Couch, who has served as CEO of companies including Sutter Hill Ltd., Bren Properties and Couch Investments, has spent decades devoted to the public through real estate and beyond.
From youth services to senior care,to the arts, Couch has used his career and personal expertise to contribute to the growth of many local organizations like Palo Alto Rotary, Channing House, YMCA of Silicon Valley, the Community School of Music and Arts and many others, according to an Avenidas statement.
With a background in social work, Trinitas Hernandez, affectionately referred to as “Sister T,” set out to make a difference in the lives of East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park residents in any way possible, according to the statement.
In an effort to empower local immigrants, she launched a free English Spanish Learning program, and went on to help the Center at Pulgas Avenue thrive into a vibrant community hub, which now includes classrooms, a garden and a place where students can practice English while creating friendships.
MacDonald’s volunteer work and advocacy spans across multiple arenas, from mentoring the others in civic engagement, to campaigning for affordable housing, to advocating for inclusive, bilingual education.
Driven by “compassion and integrity,” MacDonald has spent decades working in education as a teacher and counselor in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, and as a school board member with the Mountain View Whisman and Mountain View Los Altos High School districts – promoting equitable education policies, according to Avenidas.
She continues to volunteer in the community to this day, in her 90s.
Helen and Dan use their respective interests to tackle a common goal – conservation.
Helen has made groundbreaking contributions to theoretical particle physics and science education, according to the Avenidas statement, she was an integral architect in the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which has offered solutions to major physics questions.
An Australian-born physicist and teacher, Helen has worked with Harvard and Stanford. In her retirement, she chaired the committee that developed the new K-12 public science curriculum, the Next Generation Science Standards, which the Palo Alto Unified School District is currently adopting.
She has also won numerous awards like the Dirac Medal, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics and appointment as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.
Dan’s career spans across particle physics research to financial engineering, in roles at the Bank of America, a startup he co-founded and more.
A passionate photographer, scientist and sustainability advocate, he has used his interests to support his community, serving on nonprofit boards Proyecto Itzaes, Acterra and Portola Valley’s Conservation Committee and guiding students on nature field trips.
In his retirement, Dan has focused on his photography, documenting wildlife in Portola Valley and Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve to support environmental organizations.
He and Helen met at Stanford University and have been married for 58 years.
With a dedication to philanthropy and volunteerism, Sheila and Mark have spent decades providing assistance to children, hospital patients, students in special education and toward racial justice.
Sheila volunteered at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford for nearly 40 years, organizing arts and crafts in the playroom, visiting patients at their bedside and planning holiday events for patients. To this day, she continues to provide new ideas and program funding to the hospital. She has also served on the boards of local non profits ReSurge International and Samaritan House, where she is still an Advisory Council member.
Aside from her volunteer work, Shiela worked as a special education teacher at the Children’s Health Council and in marketing and public relations at Klutz Press.
Her husband, Mark, has been a faculty member at Stanford Graduate School of Business since 1977 across various positions like senior associate dean and Dean Witter professor – also teaching at MIT, Harvard and the University of Chicago. Outside of teaching, he played a key role in creating many student assistance programs like the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, the Knight Brain Resilience Program and the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
Mark co-founded investment firm Jasper Ridge Partners, established its philanthropic advisory program and went on to further advance economic mobility through his family foundation, Arrow Impact, which invests in education and criminal and racial justice among many other things.
For the first time ever, Avenidas also honored an organization – the Association for Senior Day Health, which is composed of 73 people who have supported Avenidas and senior care through decades of hands-on volunteerism, according to Avenidas’ statement.
The association, founded by Judy Lange and Liz Kniss, has provided over $800,000 in senior care from providing the first van for the initial Senior Day Health Program at East Meadow Church to hosting their 17-year Stanford football tailgate tradition.
While they prefer to “stay behind the scenes, their generosity continues to shine through joyful events” and unwavering community support, according to Avenidas.
Avenidas will host a garden party for the Palo Alto award winners and members of the public on May 18 from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from Development Associate Emily Boltz at 650-289-5454 or eboltz@avenidas.org.
In Japan some elders are designated as “Living National Treasures.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_National_Treasure_(Japan)
Joan MacDonald is a Living Mountain View Treasure! I’m happy to learn that Avenidas has recognized her!