Lena Wilson Named Inaugural Cher Ofstedahl Legacy Award Recipient

At this year’s Stronger Together conference in Anaheim, the CA Alliance presented Lena Wilson, President and CEO of Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services, with the inaugural Cher Ofstedahl Legacy Award: Warrior for Children and Families.

The award honors the legacy of Cheryllynne “Cher” Ofstedahl, former CEO of Trinity Youth Services and the Children’s Foundation of America. For more than two decades, Cher championed vulnerable children, youth, and families while helping shape child and family services policy at the state and national levels. She was known for her courage, integrity, creativity, and willingness to speak up when children needed an advocate.

“This award was created because Cher’s spirit lives on,” said Pete Weldy, CEO of the CA Alliance. “Lena Wilson has spent her career proving what happens when someone refuses to accept a system as it is and instead insists on building something better. There is no one more deserving of being the first person to carry Cher’s name forward.”

Wilson was selected from a pool of nominations for a career defined by challenging systems that fail children and families. Her commitment to advocacy began at age 19, when her relationship with a young boy impacted by abuse and neglect set her on a lifelong path of advocating for children.

That commitment has shaped her career ever since. While working in Michigan with pregnant and parenting teens, Wilson challenged a policy that automatically separated minor mothers from their babies and placed infants in foster care. She helped develop and implement a new model that allowed young mothers to remain with their babies while receiving supervision and parenting support—demonstrating how systems can change when we center the needs of children and families.

Wilson has also dedicated herself to developing the next generation of leaders, mentoring women throughout the field and facilitating a Leaders of Color group focused on building community and opportunity for emerging leaders.

“Words can’t express how humbled I am to receive this recognition, because I am so mindful of whose name it carries,” said Wilson. “Cher’s legacy is a call to action for all of us, to never grow comfortable with systems that fall short of what children and families deserve and never stop making good trouble to change them.”

The Cher Ofstedahl Legacy Award will be presented annually at Stronger Together to honor an advocate who embodies Cher’s warrior spirit, integrity, mentorship, systemic impact, and humanity.