The Zonta Club of the Joliet Area recently hosted “Women Empower Women,” an event honoring women making an impact in leadership and service in our area.

The club honored its 2026 Woman of Distinction, Ines Kutlesa, MA, LCPC, LPHA, CCTP and CEO of
Guardian Angel Community Services.

The club has awarded its Woman of Distinction to local women who are not club members, who have been pioneers in their field, community leaders, and/or women who have mentored others in the community.

Nominees are sought through club members, via recommendation. Awardees have been chosen from the business world, social services, medical services, and many other professions.

Guardian Angel was started by the Joliet Franciscans, a pioneering religious order which came to Joliet in the late 1800s. Guardian Angel has been a part of our community since 1897, first as an orphanage, and then evolving to meet the needs of the community over the decades with programs which include foster care, the Sexual Assault Services Center, and Suzy’s Caring Place among others.

Kutlesa was chosen by our club members for her work in the organization and how it’s been transformed — as well as how GACS has been instrumental in helping women and children through the years. Ines
was, herself, a Zontian.

“To stand here on the receiving end of (the Club’s) recognition is incredible,” Kutlesa said. She thanked her family and her staff.

For more information on GACS, go to https://www.gacsprograms.org/ and if you or someone you
know are in immediate need of their services, the 24-hour domestic violence hotline number is 815-
729-1228 and the sexual assault hotline number is 815-730-8984.

The Zonta Club of the Joliet Area is a part of Zonta International, a UN NGO (non-governmental agency). The Club is dedicated to making a better world for women and girls. We are non-partisan
and non-sectarian.

If you are interested in membership, please visit www.jolietzonta.org or find us at
https://www.facebook.com/JolietZontaClub and leave us a message.