Esther Houston Vassar 2008 Honoree

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Esther Houston Vassar has never lived in a community in which she has not been an active participant. While a student at Howard University, she volunteered to teach youngsters in the District of Columbia’s Anacostia community. A few years later, while working as an assistant dean at Hollins College near Roanoke, Va., Vassar and her students built a recreation area for local African-American youth. And, while teaching at the University of North Carolina, Vassar volunteered to tutor student athletes with the belief that they needed black women role models from the university. Today, Vassar, a three-time gubernatorial appointee who served in the Wilder, Warner, and now the Kaine administrations, is currently commissioner/board member of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. She is the first African-American woman appointed chair of the Virginia ABC Board and the first woman to serve consecutive terms on the board.

Esther Houston Vassar

She and two other commissioners/board members manage more than 330 ABC stores in Virginia and regulate the sale of alcoholic beverage products and enforce ABC laws and regulations.

After leaving Wilder’s administration 1994, Vassar formed E.H. Vassar Enterprises, which specialized in political consulting, fund raising, event planning and corporate training. At the same time, she began coordinating speaking engagements and other activities for civil rights lawyer Oliver W. Hill. Her volunteer work has benefited numerous organizations, including United Way, the Urban League of Greater Richmond, Leadership Metro Richmond, Virginia NAACP, and the Oliver W. Hill Foundation.

Vassar says her "community servant" role is guided by these words: "Never underestimate the importance of your life, your potential, and your influence on others."

Her volunteer work has benefited United Way, the Urban League of Greater Richmond, Leadership Metro Richmond, Bon Air Correctional Center, the Virginia NAACP, the City of Richmond, Virginia Heroes, The Boys and Girls Club, Richmond Public Schools, the Oliver W. Hill Foundation, the Metropolitan Business League and the United Negro College Fund.

Her numerous awards include the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater Richmond Urban League, the 2002 NAACP Service Award, and the 2003 Community Service Award from the Tidewater Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Association. Other awards include the 2004 Community Service Award from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the 2004 Oliver W. Hill Freedom Fighter Award.

Vassar is a graduate of Howard University, Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives and the University of Virginia.

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