Lifetime achievement: Mary Ann Murphy worked with teen runaways and addicted adults, but she avoided working with abused children. Too painful. But the runaways and the addicts had all experienced abuse in their childhoods, so Murphy found the courage to embrace what she feared. As executive director of Spokane’s Partners with Families and Children and chair of the Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, she is one of Spokane’s most visible advocates for children.

In 2007, she coordinated April’s “Our Kids: Our Business” effort in which child advocacy groups and the media educated the community about child abuse.

Murphy exemplifies what happens when adults find the courage to help. “They’ve done studies on children growing up with violence and neglect,” she said. “What did (they) hold onto? It was a teacher, neighbor or someone who believed in them.”