Donor Spotlight: Judy Stansbury

Judy Stansbury has dedicated her life to serving others. Her decades-long career as a social worker gave her the opportunity to work with vulnerable populations including children, new mothers, survivors of domestic violence and senior citizens in a variety of settings ranging from the juvenile court system to hospitals to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

In 2004, she decided to take her knowledge and experiences to the classroom as the manager of COTC’s human services program. Not only did she oversee all administrative responsibilities for the program, but she also taught at all four of the college’s campuses.

One of her proudest achievements while working at the college was developing the case management for the healthcare and gerontology professional certificate that is still embedded in the program. Her interest in gerontology was inspired by her work spearheading a pilot program through the Attorney General’s Office called the Senior Protection Initiative which focused on helping senior citizens and other vulnerable populations who had been the victim of a crime. Developing a credential to help others better advocate for and protect this at-risk demographic was a meaningful endeavor.

In 2009, after retiring from the college, Judy decided to serve students in a different way. She established an endowed scholarship to benefit graduates of COTC’s social work assistant program who are pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree through The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work. The Judy Ratliff Stansbury Scholarship has now been awarded to more than a dozen students.

“Hearing from the scholarship recipients is so rewarding and inspiring. I love when they share their plans for the future, especially when their plans include continuing their education. COTC is a great stepping stone, but I don’t want them to stop there. Social work has been a great career for me because I’ve always wanted to help people,” she said. “Continuing my education opened up a lot of different opportunities, and I want others to have those same opportunities.”

Judy has also involved her four grown children in her passion for social work, philanthropy and helping others. Instead of buying her a gift for her birthday or Mother’s Day, they make a donation to her scholarship fund.

Make an online gift to the Judy Ratliff Stansbury Scholarship