Two named Junior Women of Achievement

March 9, 2023

Two Upper St. Clair students were honorees at the 2023 Women of Achievement Awards, sponsored by the nonprofit Cribs for Kids. Priyasha Itani, an Upper St. Clair High School junior, and Audrey Wetterau, a Fort Couch Middle School seventh grader, were among four Junior Women of Achievement recognized at the 16th annual event on Thursday, March 2, 2023, in the Grand Ballroom of the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.

The Women of Achievement Awards is an annual ceremony dedicated to highlighting the incredible feats and accomplishments of women in the Pittsburgh region. The event serves as an annual declaration, attributing the contributions of women to remarkable successes in the city’s history.

Priyasha is completing a research internship at the Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. Last fall, she presented her research, titled “The Cellular and Tissue Level Analysis of Endometriosis Angiogenesis,” at the Biomedical Engineering Society National Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Audrey founded Socks With A Mission (SWAM) four years ago, as a fourth grader. After learning that socks are among the items most needed by unsheltered people who are homeless and the number one item requested at homeless shelters, Audrey immediately began working on her first sock collection drive and SWAM was established. To date, the organization has delivered more than 60,000 socks to men, women and children.

Held for the first time since 2020, the Women of Achievement Awards recognized 22 Women of Achievement and four Junior Women of Achievement. Nominations were accepted from Nov. 1, 2022, through Jan. 1, 2023. View the full list of 2023 honorees.

Proceeds from the event benefit Cribs for Kids, a National Infant Safe Sleep Initiative founded in Pittsburgh in 1998.