Do you know a woman who shines? I nominated my inspiring friend Andrea Vitale for a Yahoo! Shine award.Let me tell you the story of the extraordinary things Andrea and her family have done.

Andrea's grace and intelligence shines through everything she touches. Most notably, this incredible mother turned her personal loss into an amazing opportunity to help kids in need. Andrea and her husband Michael lost their lovely daughter Alex in a tragic accident. The couple decided to honor Alex's memory by founding a non-profit group that celebrates play. Alexandra'??s Playground was founded to bring safe, active play to children in need and to share the spirit of their beloved daughter. Over the years, Alexandra's Playground has build playgrounds in areas of need and done programmatic work around safe play. Sites incude Afghanistan, inner city San Francisco, San Diego, and New Orleans. And they've got a big project coming up in East New York. Andrea works on each installation and this charity is her passion. Her wisdom and strength are a shining example for moms and families everywhere.

Yahoo! is helping inspiring women like Andrea get the recognition they deserve by nominating them for Women Who Shine. The woman who receives the most votes by the end of the program will win a $10,000 cash prize* (see terms and conditions) (http://shine.yahoo.com/women-who-shine/rules)!

I bet you have an Andrea in your life. Join the movement and nominate someone you admire. Head to the Yahoo! Shine Women Who Shine home page (http://bit.ly/women-who-shine).
Submissions close on October 22, 2012 and voting ends on November 12th.

Follow along with the voting and nominating process here on facebook:

Women Who Shine is Yahoo! Shine'??s inaugural women'??s recognition program. Nominate your peers, mentors, family and any other women in your community who inspire you and others with their extraordinary achievements. This program stands apart because the honorees are not the high-profile women or celebs you see in most other '??Woman of the Year'? or '??Most Powerful Women'? programs. It'??s women nominating the local heroes in their communities and it is Shine'??s readers, not an editorial staff, who decide who wins. For more info check out: women-who-shine.

Follow Yahoo! Shine on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yahooshine

Follow Yahoo! Shine on Twitter: @YahooShine

Follow Yahoo! Shine on Pinterest: pinterest.com/yahooshine

Disclosure: I was compensated for this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.