So in 1987, two years after the birth of her first child, she wanted to ease back into the workaday world on a part-time basis.

Fat chance.

Today, 13 years (and another son) later, she’s the founder and president of the Best Friends Foundation, a nondenominational, apolitical organization that helps roughly 5,000 adolescent girls (grades 4-12) in 26 cities and 90 schools nationwide find “self-respect through self-restraint.”Ms.

Bennett is the 2000 recipient of this nation's prestigious American Institute of Public Service's "Jefferson Award."

The award was presented to Ms. Bennett for her work in mentoring and encouraging adolescent girls.

The award was established by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1972 in recognition of people who have forged new paths in service to the nation.

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