|
(NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The Women’s Forum of New York
presented the 8th Annual Elly Awards
Luncheon benefiting The Education Fund of the
Women’s Forum on Monday, June 18th at
The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The awards, named
for the Women’s Forum founder Elinor Guggenheimer,
will honor outstanding women leaders. This year
marks the 31th anniversary of the
Education Fund of the Women's Forum, which has
helped over 220 women age 35 and over, whose lives
have been disrupted by extreme adversity, complete
their college degrees.
The 2018 Elly Award Recipients will be:
· Secretary
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Former First
Lady, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and
presidential candidate.
· Sheila
C. Johnson, Founder
and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts.
· Deirdre
Quinn, CEO
and Co-Founder of Lafayette 148 New York.
Paula Zahn,
nine-time Emmy Award winning host and executive
producer of
“On the Case with Paula Zahn,” will
moderate a conversation on leadership with honorees Sheila
C. Johnson and Deirdre Quinn following the
presentation of the awards.
“The Women’s Forum of New York is comprised of the
most accomplished and successful women in the city
from every professional sector. We know from our own
success how critical education is, so our Education
Fund is one way we 'give back' – helping women age
35 and over whose lives have been disrupted by
extreme adversity complete their education and get
their lives back on track. We hope we inspire them,
because their dreams, drive, and determination
certainly inspire us.” –
Linda A. Willett, President
of the Women’s Forum of New York.
“Thirty-one years ago, the Education Fund embarked
on a mission to help women who had overcome
devastating hardships in their lives realize their
dream of a college education. Since
then, we are proud to have given
over $1.43 million in financial
awards to
over 220 women to help them return to school, earn
their degree, and take their place in the
professional work world. Our financial awards have
transformed their lives, influenced their families,
and improved communities.” -
Ilene Wachs,
President, The Education Fund of the Women’s Forum.
Marcy Syms,
Former Chairman and CEO of Syms Corporation, was
Chair of the 2018 Elly Awards.
Donna Shalala,
former Secretary of Health and Human Services, presented the Elly Award to Secretary Hillary
Rodham Clinton. Kay
Unger,
President of Kay Unger Design, & CEO of the Kay
Unger Family Foundation will present the Elly Award
to Sheila C. Johnson. Joyce Brown, President
of the Fashion Institute of Technology, will present
the Elly Award to Deirdre Quinn.
About The 2018 Elly Honorees:
Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, has
spent four decades in public service as an advocate,
attorney, First Lady, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary
of State, and presidential candidate.
Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago, Illinois on
October 26, 1947. After graduating from Wellesley
College and Yale Law School, she began her life-long
work on behalf of children and families by joining
the Children’s Defense Fund. In 1974, she moved to
Arkansas, where she married Bill Clinton and became
a successful attorney while also raising their
daughter, Chelsea.
As First Lady of the United States, from 1993 to
2001, Hillary Clinton championed health care for all
Americans and led successful bipartisan efforts to
improve the adoption and foster care systems, reduce
teen pregnancy, and create the Children's Health
Insurance Program.
In 2000, Clinton made history as the first First
Lady elected to the United States Senate, and the
first woman elected to statewide office in New York.
As Senator, she worked across party lines to expand
economic opportunity and access to quality,
affordable health care. After September 11, 2001,
she helped to rebuild New York and provide health
care for first responders.
In 2007, she began her historic campaign for
president, winning 18 million votes and becoming the
first woman to ever win a presidential primary or
caucus state.
In her four years as America's chief diplomat and
the President's principal foreign policy adviser,
Clinton led the effort to restore America’s
leadership in the world. She negotiated a cease-fire
in Gaza that defended Israel’s security and headed
off another war in the Middle East, mobilized an
international coalition to impose crippling
sanctions against Iran, and championed human rights
around the world, as she has her entire career.
In 2016, Clinton made history again by becoming the
first woman nominated for president by a major U.S.
political party. As the Democratic candidate for
president, she campaigned on a vision of America
that is “stronger together” and an agenda to make
our economy work for everyone, not just those at the
top, earning the support of nearly 66 million
Americans.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the author of seven
best-selling books. What Happened – released
in September of 2017 – spent 16 weeks on the New
York Times Bestseller List.
She and President Clinton reside in New York, have
one daughter, Chelsea, and are the proud
grandparents of Charlotte and Aidan.
Sheila C. Johnson, Founder
and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, a growing
collection of luxury properties including the
equestrian-inspired Salamander Resort & Spa in
Middleburg, Virginia, and three of Florida’s top
golf resorts—Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, Reunion in
Orlando and Innisbrook in Tampa Bay, as well as the
new Henderson Beach Resort in Destin.
As Vice
Chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Ms.
Johnson is the only African-American woman to have
ownership in three professional sports teams: the
NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington
Capitals, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, for
which she serves as President and Managing Partner.
She also served five years on the Executive
Committee of the United States Golf Association.
Ms.
Johnson has long been a powerful influence in the
entertainment industry, starting with her work as
founding partner of Black Entertainment Television
and serving as executive producer of four
documentary films. In 2016, she co-founded WE
Capital, a venture capital consortium to support
female-led enterprises that can advance
transformational social change. She also serves on
the board of the Greater Washington Partnership,
which seeks to strengthen
the region’s global position as a center for
commerce and innovation.
Ms.
Johnson is a
member of the Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy
School’s Center for Public Leadership, and founder
of the Sheila C. Johnson Leadership Fellowship,
which supports emerging
leaders who share a commitment to reducing
disparities in African-American communities. A
lifelong supporter of the arts, she
also founded and chairs the Middleburg Film
Festival, an annual celebration of independent film
that opened to sell-out crowds in 2013.
Deirdre Quinn is
the CEO and Co-Founder of Lafayette 148 New York, a
New York-based women’s fashion brand named after the
address in Soho where it was founded. Created in
1996, Lafayette 148 is known for sophisticated,
minimalist designs that fuse luxurious fabrics,
outstanding craftsmanship, and a modern sensibility
inspired by the dynamism of New York City. With its
own workshop and production facility in Shantou
China, Lafayette 148 New York is one of the rare
vertically-integrated fashion brands.
Deirdre’s early love of craft led her to a degree in
fashion design. Before founding Lafayette 148, her
passion for fashion production and merchandizing led
her to executive positions with Donna Karan, Escada,
and Liz Claiborne, where her work took her to over
seventy countries.
Deirdre
is a strong believer in giving back and enriching
the world through education. Among her many
charitable endeavors, she serves on the board of the
School of Dreams, an elementary school funded by
Lafayette 148 New York that provides a completely
free private education to the children of Shantou.
Appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Fashion
Institute of Technology in 2010, Deirdre also serves
as an Associate Partner with the Partnership for NYC
and is a member of C200. She has been the recipient
of numerous honors and awards, including the Ernst
and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which
recognized her leadership of Lafayette 148,
mentorship and contributions to the global community
and is a proud member of the Women’s Forum of New
York.
About The Moderator:
Paula Zahn is
the nine-time Emmy Award winning host and executive
producer of “On the Case with Paula Zahn,” Discovery
ID’s investigative crime series. First known
nationally for anchoring the news segments on “Good
Morning America,” Zahn has also anchored "CBS This
Morning” and CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now,” and has
contributed to ABC’s “World News This Morning” and
“The CBS Evening News," among many others.
During her three
decades on the air, Zahn has interviewed many of the
most influential figures of our time, including
Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Hosni Mubarak,
Pervez Musharraf, and Fidel Castro, as well as every
US President from Nixon to Obama.
Zahn’s honors
include six Gracie Awards, two National Headliner
Awards, and a recognition of her career reportage
from the Museum of Television and Radio. For her
indefatigable work in raising awareness of breast
cancer, Zahn has been recognized by institutions
including The Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Beth Israel Medical Center, and the Congressional
Families Action for Cancer Awareness. She also
currently serves on the boards of WNET-TV and the
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF).
In addition, Zahn is
an accomplished cellist – she attended college on a
cello scholarship - who has performed all over the
world, including playing Carnegie Hall with the New
York Pops, as well as in venues in Russia and South
Korea. Zahn is currently also the host of
“NYC-ARTS,” WNET's weekly look at New York’s vibrant
cultural scene.
About The Women’s Forum of New York:
The Women’s Forum of New York is the city’s premier
organization of women leaders. The invitation only
membership of more than 500 women represents the
highest levels of achievement across all
professional sectors from finance to fine arts.
Started in 1974, the Women’s Forum of New York is
the founding flagship of the International Women’s
Forum, a global organization of 6,500 dynamic women
leaders in 33 countries and 74 Forums around the
world.
The Women’s Forum of New York is dedicated to the
advancement of women’s leadership through programs
which enrich members lives personally and
professionally, through the Education Fund which
enables talented women whose potential has been
derailed by extreme adversity to resume their
education, and through the Corporate Board
Initiative which extends and expands the
contribution of women leaders through board
participation.
About The Education Fund:
The Education Fund is the educational and charitable
arm of The Women’s Forum of New York, established
under a separate corporate governance as a 501(c)3
tax deductible organization. Since 1987, the Fund
has provided financial awards to women 35 and over
who have demonstrated high potential and faced
extreme adversity which has disrupted their
education and derailed their futures. These women
fall outside the scope of most traditional
scholarship programs and these awards help them
complete their education and get their careers and
lives back on track. Funding is provided by member
donation and an annual fundraising event, The Elly
Awards Luncheon, which honors outstanding women
leaders. Over the past 31 years, awards totaling
over $1.43 million have helped over 220 women
overcome adversity and lift themselves and their
children up the economic ladder
:
www.womensforumny.org
|