Greta Constantine dress, $995, at Glasscock/Glasscock Too.
Julie J. Torzewski: Executive Director, Down Syndrome of Louisville
Written by Dawn Anderson, Rocko Jerome and Taylor Riley | Photographed on location at the Frazier History Museum by Kylene White | Styled by Christine Fellingham and Melissa Gagliardi | Hair and makeup by Sarah Allen, Kassandra Cazares Aldana, Kayla Greenwell, Breanna Peters and Michaela Reeves
The field narrowed from over 400 nominations to 89 nominees and finally to the 16 award winners you will meet on the following pages. Representing each of their categories with distinction, your 2023 Most Admired Women bring humility, grace and a great capacity for change to their roles as leaders in our community. We asked each of them to reflect on how they got to this moment, what your votes and this award means to them and where their journeys might take them from here.
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When it comes to community and sisterhood, Julie Torzewski is the epitome of both. The Down Syndrome of Louisville (DSL) Executive Director is a born-and-raised Louisvillian who is the wife of 17 years to Stan and a mother to three children. Her journey with these special members of the community began when she babysat for a DSL member in high school, and after a “crazy turn of events,” she eventually became a volunteer and then landed her “dream job” as executive director of the nonprofit. “It’s humbling to just be nominated,” Julie says about the Most Admired Woman award. “To win is even more humbling. It’s an honor to be seen in a way that is serving the community and making a difference.”
Down Syndrome is a genetic condition in which a person is born with three rather than two copies of chromosome 21, also known as Trisomy 21. It occurs once in every 792 live births, according to dsoflou.org. The condition does not discriminate– it occurs equally in people of all ethnic, racial, religious, and socio-economic groups, and it is estimated that 250,000 people nationwide have Down Syndrome with about 4 million people worldwide. The members of DSL have an “innate joy and magic,” says Julie.
“I’ve always been brought up to leave the world better than you’ve found it, which is what I try to do.”
Julie says her family always comes first, but the organization is as close to family as possible. “If my family is happy and content, that’s all I can ask for,” she says. ‘Our organization is (also) a big family…. There are always challenges in leadership and in always choosing to do the next right thing, but I also have to be a boss and make decisions.”
Julie loves that the rewarding position allows her to use her whole skillset and she enjoys the unpredictability of a different schedule every day.
Julie strives to live like her DSL friends by making people smile and being optimistic: “I’ve always been brought up to leave the world better than you’ve found it, which is what I try to do.” The Kindness Warrior Training tries to emulate this mantra by teaching the community how to interact with members of DSL. “People are afraid to not do or say the right thing …” she says. “It’s okay to interact and get over the fear to receive the magic.”
The members, Julie says, can teach the community with their positive outlook on life and lack of inhibitions and by showing the “power of friendship.”
Julie says she is not going anywhere outside DSL anytime soon. “I love where I’m at,” she says. The members keep her going: “They take on the world as they are and they’re not worried about what people think. It’s a super power.” — Taylor Riley-Geiser
