Dawn Hyde

HYDE, DAWN STAUFFER, the founder of Berkshire Associates, one of the country's leading affirmative action/human resources consulting firms, died on May 11, 2012 at Gilchrest Hospice in Towson, Maryland. She had battled a form of early onset dementia for a number of years. She had homes in Ellicott City and on Gibson Island.

Ms. Hyde was born in Baltimore in 1954. Her father, a Princeton graduate, worked at Bethlehem Steel as an engineer; her mother was a homemaker. She grew up on Berkshire Road in the Lauraville neighborhood of Baltimore.

Ms. Hyde obtained her undergraduate degree from Goucher College and earned her master's degree in administrative science at the Johns Hopkins University.

She worked her way up in human resources positions of several area hospitals and banks, culminating at the Mercantile Safe Deposit & Trust Co., where she advanced to be the bank's Affirmative Action Officer. After leaving Mercantile in 1980, she started Berkshire, initially with the help of her father, Donald Ross Stauffer.

Berkshire, headquartered in Columbia, MD, quickly gained a reputation for product excellence and innovation and exemplary relations with government regulatory officials. The company, which provides human resources services, software and audit support for employment law compliance, has clients across the country. Berkshire is recognized as a pioneer in devising software to create affirmative action programs as well as to evaluate salary equity issues.

Reflecting her interest in diversity and equality of opportunity, Ms. Hyde helped found and was the long-time President of the Maryland Association of Affirmative Action Officers. Ms. Hyde lectured frequently on employment compliance issues.

In 1989, she married Jonathan Hynson Hyde of Gibson Island. After graduating from UMBC in 1977, he earned an MBA from Duke University and later did a post-graduate fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University business school.

The Hydes have three children. Nora, a BFA candidate in acting at Emerson College in Boston; Caroline, a fashion major at Parsons/The New School in New York, and Henry, a junior at Glenelg Country School.

Ms. Hyde had long been actively involved in a broad variety of civic pursuits. She was instrumental in leading the board of the Information Processing Training Center, a program which successfully prepared women to move off of public assistance to clerical jobs. Thereafter, she served on the Board of the Baltimore Urban League. She also was on the board of the Pickersgill Retirement Community.

Her true civic passion, though, was helping young girls and women realize their potential. She was strongly committed to insuring that other women pursue education and careers. Ms. Hyde was the chair of the board of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland from May 2006 to October 2008. Ms. Hyde was active in Network 2000 and served a term as its president. Network 2000, which includes public and business leaders, seeks to increase the representation of women on corporate boards. She worked with business and civic leaders to promote opportunities for women at all levels.

Ms. Hyde had been widely recognized for her professional and civic contributions. She was among the first named by the Daily Record as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women. After three such recognitions, she was awarded permanent status in the group's Circle of Excellence. She was also accorded lifetime status as a Senior Professional in Human Resources by the Human Resource Certification Institute.

Ms. Hyde belonged to the Center Club, the Gibson Island Club and the Johns Hopkins University Club. Even as her disease progressed, she greatly enjoyed the activities of the Gibson Island Garden Club.

Ms. Hyde was also a prolific entertainer and frequently brought family, friends and colleagues together for wonderful food and wine. Her friends were numerous and diverse, and welcomed her elegant and graceful hospitality, and her quick sense of humor.

In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by a brother, Brian Stauffer of Jarrettsville, MD, and four sisters, The Rev. Dr. Pat Medley of Freehold, NJ, Robin Stauffer and Betsy Alt of Baltimore, and Nancy Stauffer of York, PA, as well as her mother, Dorothy Jane Portera of Blue Bell, Pa.

A public memorial service is planned for June 19th at 11:00 am at The Gathering Place, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD. A second community memorial service will be held June 20th at 11:00 am at St. Christopher by the Sea, Gibson Island, MD. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Dawn Hyde Memorial Fund, 4806 Seton Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215.