LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Sept. 13, 2016) – The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas will host its 18th annual Power of the Purse luncheon Friday, Sept. 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marriott Downtown Ballroom in Little Rock. Jessica and Warwick Sabin are co-chairing this year’s event.
“We are excited and honored to serve as co-chairs for this year’s Power of the Purse luncheon,” said Jessica and Warwick Sabin. “We have been longtime supporters of the Women’s Foundation, and this event helps sustain its critical work to empower women and girls in Arkansas through education, research and advocacy. Our goal is to make this the most dynamic and successful Power of the Purse luncheon to date!”
The luncheon will feature an impressive lineup of women, honoring Elise Mitchell as the 2016 Woman in Business and Angela Moody as the 2016 Woman in Philanthropy. New to this year’s event is the First Lady’s Woman in Public Service Award, which will be presented to Colette D. Honorable by Arkansas first lady Susan Hutchinson. Carol Coletta, senior fellow with the American Cities Practice at The Kresge Foundation, will be the keynote speaker.
Elise Mitchell is an accomplished strategic communications professional whose entrepreneurial spirit led her to found her own firm, Mitchell Communications, and grow it into one of the 10 fastest-growing PR firms globally and a two-time Agency of the Year winner. Elise has received numerous national awards. including Agency Professional of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and a Top 50 PR Power Player. In 2012, Elise sold the agency to Dentsu Aegis Network. In addition to her continuing role as CEO of Mitchell Communications, Elise is also CEO of Dentsu Aegis Public Relations Network, where she leads efforts to build a global PR brand for the network. She is a wife, mom, motorcyclist, passionate advocate for women entrepreneurs, and author. Her first book, about business and leadership, is being published by McGraw-Hill and scheduled for release in January 2017.
Angela Moody has played an integral role in the central Arkansas philanthropic community for the past 15 years. She was included in Soirée Magazine’s 2010 Class of Women to Watch, and in 2011 she co-chaired former Governor Mike Beebe’s inauguration. Some standouts in her community vitae include Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and its Designing Women initiative, 20th Century Club, Women & Children First, UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute and Our House, to name a few. In 2016 she is not only being honored by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas, but she also served as honorary chair for the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind “Bingo for Bags” event. In addition to her community work, Angela is most proud of her role as mother and of her homeroom mom work for her daughter’s class.
First lady Susan Hutchinson will present the inaugural First Lady’s Woman in Public Service Award to Colette D. Honorable. Honorable was appointed and confirmed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission after eight years on the Arkansas Public Service Commission, serving as chairman from January 2011 through January 2015.
Keynote speaker Carol Coletta is a senior fellow with The Kresge Foundation’s American Cities Practice. She is leading a proposed $40 million collaboration of foundations, nonprofits and governments to demonstrate the ways in which a connected set of civic assets – a civic commons – can yield increased and more widely shared prosperity for cities and neighborhoods.
About the Power of the Purse
In 1998, the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas grant-making fund was launched at a luncheon honoring Arkansas Business Publishing Group’s Top 100 Women. WFA held its first Power of the Purse luncheon in 1999 to announce the grants made possible with the generous gifts of its founders. WFA now holds this signature fundraising event each fall to honor accomplished women, announce the year’s grant recipients and highlight WFA programs.
About the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas
The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas is the only statewide foundation focusing solely on women and girls in Arkansas. The organization’s mission is to engage the community to promote women and girls in Arkansas so they are able to achieve their fullest potential. WFA envisions a state in which Arkansas women have the voices, choices and opportunities to participate in their community.
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