SAG-AFTRA Names Recipients Of George Heller Memorial Award Gold Cards

SAG-AFTRA has named the recipients of the George Heller Memorial Award gold cards, which recognize contributions to the guild and its members.

Sheila Ivy Traister, Michele Proude, Janice Pendarvis, and Stacey Travis are set to receive the honor presented every two years at SAG-AFTRA’s national convention. The National Honors and Tributes Committee members from around the country select the honorees.

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Traister, a SAG-AFTRA Former National Board Member, is a union advocate who has dedicated more than 44 years of cumulative service to the labor movement, having served on the SAG-AFTRA National Board, as president of the Colorado Local and as a current member of five national committees. The honoree has focused on committees that help promote inclusiveness of her industry and the labor movement and expand equal opportunity in the industry, including for performers who are Asian American and Pacific Islander, and performers with disabilities.

Proude, the SAG-AFTRA National Vice President, Mid-Sized Locals, has served on local and national committees and as New England Local president. She was first elected by her fellow SAG-AFTRA convention delegates as the national vice president of the mid-sized locals in 2019, and was elected to her third term in 2023.

Pendarvis, the SAG-AFTRA National Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers, is a singer and voice actor who has spent years fighting for singers legislatively and within the union. Her priority has been to create more union work for SAG-AFTRA members — especially those working in the recording industry. Pendarvis is currently serving her second term as SAG-AFTRA’s national vice president, recording artists/singers.

Travis, a Former SAG-AFTRA National Board Member, who for over three decades has been dedicated to union service. She was first elected to the SAG Board in 2008 and fought for over a decade to remove ages and birthdates from IMDb. She also devotes her time and energy to ensuring that members are educated about contract changes and opportunities and helps to drive SAG-AFTRA’s legislative agenda in California and Washington, D.C.

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