2026 Recipient: Louisa Greene

Louisa Greene has devoted her career and volunteer work to a broad variety of non- profits in the arts, health-care, social welfare and faith-based organizations. Since 2005 she has worked as the Director of Development for the Avon Theatre Film Center in Stamford, CT, an independent, member-supported nonprofit cinema.

Louisa is a Board member of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich, where she co-chairs the Membership and Development Committee. One of her favorite projects with the League has been organizing the annual New Members and Donors get- together. She also serves on the Boards of the Greenwich Council, Scouting America, Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich, and Greenwich Point Conservancy. For a number of years, she served on the Board of the Greenwich Arts Council. She was President of the Mount Holyoke College Club of Fairfield County and served on the vestry of Christ Church Greenwich. Louisa was a long-time member of the Junior League of Greenwich, having initially joined the St. Louis League in 1983. One of her most fun projects for the JLG was the creation of the Greenwich Youth Film Festival, where she first volunteered with LWV of Greenwich member, Elizabeth Cook Peyton.

Louisa loves to be known as an “Army Brat”! She was born in Heidelburg, Germany and grew up in such diverse locales as the parade grounds of West Point, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Camp Zama, Japan, Aspen, Colorado and the tropical island of Okinawa. She spent high school at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD and graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in art history and Columbia University with a Masters in Social Work.

Louisa lives in Old Greenwich. She is the proud mother and grandmother of an extended family that includes Andrew Carey, Charlotte Greene, and Warren Greene, Jr.

2026 Recipient: Kath Burgweger

Kath Burgweger has been a member of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich since 1989. She was a board member of her League from 1990-2008, serving as Assistant Treasurer, Treasurer and VP for Voter Service, member of the Budget Committee and most recently, Editor of the Voter’s Guide. She served as Budget Committee Chair for the LWVCT for many years before becoming LWVCT Treasurer in 2011. She has served as Co- VP of Communication and a member of the Budget Committee. She is currently the Chair of the Budget Committee, a position she has held for many many years. And she is the LWVCT Vote 411 Regional Administrator for lower Fairfield County.

In addition to her League service, she served on numerous community nonprofit boards. She has served as Vice Chair of Information and Referral Services for Greenwich United Way and Chair of Community Answers. She has served as President of the boards of Greenwich Adult Day Care, (now River House) and Community Answers, as Vice Chair Information and Referral Services for Greenwich United Way and as a member of their Allocations Committee, and as Treasurer of Greenwich Junior League. Her other board service included Greenwich Newcomers and the elementary, middle and high school PTAs. She also served on the Allocations Committee of Greenwich United Way.

She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of River House and Greenwich United Way. Since 2017 she volunteers for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England as the coordinator for Stamford Clinic’s Welcome Crew. She is also a member of the Holy Rollers of Christ Church. Kath was one of the recipients of the 2001 YWCA Spirit of Greenwich Awards. She has a BA in Fine Arts from UC Irvine. A native Californian, Kath and her husband, Kip, moved from Los Angeles to Cos Cob in 1985. They have 3 grown children and two grandchildren.

2026 Recipient: Julie DesChamps

Julie DesChamps is a dedicated environmental advocate and founder and chair of Waste Free Greenwich, a local non-profit that engages, educates and empowers the Greenwich community to waste less. Julie chairs the Greenwich Sustainability Committee's waste reduction sector, served on the First Selectman's Waste Management Committee and is a long standing member of the Greenwich Recycling Advisory Board. Her leadership was instrumental in launching the Town of Greenwich's municipal food scrap and textile recycling programs, which have diverted over one million pounds of waste since 2020.

Julie also champions zero waste initiatives in education, serving as co-chair of the PTA Council Green Schools Committee at Greenwich Public Schools and volunteering on the sustainability committees at Greenwich Academy and Greenwich Country Day School. At the state level, Julie advocates for waste reduction statewide as an active member of the CT Zero Waste Coalition.