Meet our Zing Judges!
Penny Axelrad
American Aerospace Engineer•University of Colorado Distinguished Professor• Joseph T. Negler Professor
Penina Axelrad is an American Aerospace Engineer known for her research on satellite orbital dynamics and the Global Positioning System. She is Joseph T. Negler Professor in the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research and the Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences department at the University of Colorado.
Penny moved to the University of Colorado in 1992 as
an assistant professor. She was promoted to full professor in 2005 and chaired the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences from 2012 to 2017. She is a member of the GPS Advisory Board and of the NASA Advisory Council. She served as president of the Institute of Navigation for 2004–2005.
Since first coming to the University of Colorado Boulder, Penny has been a strong advocate of our Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship which awards $10,000 annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. Through her inspiration and encouragement, we have had more than 20 CU women receive this prestigious award and we are honored to have her as a Zonta partner.
Debbie Pope
CEO, YWCA Boulder County
Debbie Pope has 24+ years of non-profit management experience leading efforts to create greater equity for women, people of color and individuals with physical challenges. Pope is currently the CEO, YWCA Boulder County serving more than 7,000 community members by providing affordable, quality childcare, racial justice programming, and advocacy to advance equity, health, safety, and belonging for all women in Colorado.
The YWCA Boulder has been a leader in creating comprehensive racial justice training, programming and issue awareness in the school district and Boulder County engaging 3,000+ children, teachers, and community members. Aligned in the work of economic advancement and health and safety for women and girls, Pope is the Chair of the Women’s Collaborative and has championed more than 15 bills+ directly impacting women and girls.
As a broadcast journalist for all three major network affiliates for nearly a decade, Pope was recognized for tackling challenging community issues and bringing awareness to the rising number of homeless women and children, broken systems impacting impoverished families and unjust laws and policies.
Jeffrey Kash
AVP Community Relations, Premier Members Credit Union
Jeffrey A. Kash is the AVP Community Relations at Premier Members Credit Union, overseeing sponsorships, business development, education, sustainability, and events. He has the privilege of serving on the Advisory Board for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, is a perennial leader on his HOA board, started and runs Boulder County’s first and only LGBTQ and Allies sports league (a bowling league on Sunday nights at Coal Creek Bowling Center), curates and hosts the monthly “Cinema Classics with Jeffrey Kash” at The Dairy Arts Center.
Jeffrey is involved in many regional and national nonprofits, but also enjoys classic American cars (he owns several) and throwing elaborate dinner parties in his Boulder home with his husband, composer and professor Jeff Nytch. For the past 25 years, he has performed on stage across the country as Mrs. Eda Bagel and has raised over $2.5 million for charities with his one-“woman” shows.
