Stephanie Lyles Receives Metzger Award at UMW’s Women’s Leadership Colloquium

Stephanie Lyles of Topside Federal Credit Union received the Patricia Lacey Metzger Distinguished Achievement Award at the Women’s Leadership Colloquium on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. The recognition goes each year to a woman who’s established herself as a leader in her chosen field, and shown personal and professional integrity along the way.
The 28th annual daylong colloquium, held each November, unfolded in a room filled with energy – and some of the Fredericksburg region’s most inspiring and motivated women – at the University of Mary Washington’s Stafford Campus. Nationally recognized best-selling author Fran Hauser, a startup investor and women’s empowerment speaker, delivered the keynote. The colloquium also included collaborative break-out sessions led by regional business leaders, networking and a “wine-down” hour with door prizes.
“After a two-year delay, to be back in-person for this event and to have the interest and attendance reminds us of the importance of empowering our career-minded women,” said UMW Associate Provost of Career & Workforce and colloquium co-chair Kimberly Young.
The 23rd Metzger award winner since 1999, Lyles is director of marketing outreach at Topside Federal Credit Union, where she also has worked in community relations and business development. Before that, she started The Real Estate Book of Fredericksburg, a color, digest-sized magazine of homes for sale that she ran for 17 years.
Lyles has been an ambassador for the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce for more than a decade, serving on its Network of Enterprising Women and Workforce Now committees. She has been a board member for the North Stafford Rotary Club, Friends of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Rappahannock Goodwill Industries and UMW’s Women’s Leadership Colloquium.
A graduate of the Leadership Fredericksburg program, she has received the Laurie A. Wideman Enterprising Woman’s Award and been recognized as the National Youth Involvement Board’s Outstanding Delegate of the of the Year. She volunteers at the Stafford County SPCA and Stafford Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts (SERVE).
The Metzger award “showcases how vital women’s leadership is to our community,” said UMW Executive Director of Human Resources Beth Williams, who co-chairs the colloquium with Young.
This year’s event featured a book-signing for Hauser’s two publications, The Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate and Embrace the Work, Love Your Career. Contributing partners included Visionary Sponsor Central Rappahannock Regional Library; Innovator Sponsors Mary Washington Healthcare and Topside Credit Union; and Partner Sponsors C Parker Consulting, Critical Thinking Group, GEICO, Matern Staffing and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative.
August 15 – Nominations open
October 9 – Deadline for nominations
October 23 – Deadline for Committee
To nominate: send and email to Committee Chair, Amanda Talbert at atalbert@umw.edu by 5 pm on October 9, 2023. In the email, indicate the compelling reasons why you are nominating this deserving woman. Make sure you also include the nominee’s name and contact information. In additional, if she has a LinkedIn profile, please share that link.
Past Metzger Award Winners:
Year Awarded:
1999 Margaret Blackmon, Superintendent, Prince Edward City Public Schools
2000 Natalie Davis, Director of Volunteer Services, Stafford County Government
2001 Nancy Pierce, Regional Vice President, GEICO Direct
2002 Mary Zarcone, Assistant Vice President Underwriting, GEICO Direct
2003 Gail Johnson, Founder, Rainbow Station
2004 Kay Dunkley, Lord Fairfax Community College
2005 Mary Louise Holmes, VP Human Resources, The National Bank of Fredericksburg
2006 Theresa Livelsberger, GEICO
2007 Alda White, Retired Stafford County Attorney
2008 Maria Snellings Franklin, Union Bank
2009 Linda Worrell, Worrell Management Group
2010 Dana Herlong, Herlong Associates, Inc.
2011 Meta R. Braymer, University of Mary Washington
2012 Martha O’Keefe, Germanna Community College
2013 Kara Ward, Your Launch Group
2014 Amanda Talbert, GEICO
2015 Janel Donohue, Rappahannock United Way
2016 Susan Spears, Greater Regional Chamber of Commerce
2017 Dr. Marci Catlett, Fredericksburg City Public Schools
2018 Martha Hutzel, Central Rappahannock Regional Library
2019 Lynne Richardson, University of Mary Washington
2020 Susan Worrell, University of Mary Washington
2022 Stephanie Lyles, Topside Federal Credit Union