Over 750 members and guests enjoyed the FWA Annual Dinner and 24th Annual Women of the Year Awards on Wednesday, April 30th.  They came to honor two highly regarded leaders:

Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of The Estée Lauder Companies and Founder & Chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and

Christine Poon, Vice Chairman, Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors and Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals Group.

The Annual Dinner is the FWA’s primary fundraiser.  This year it netted more than $275,000 for the FWA of New York Educational Fund, which supports the FWA’s scholarship, mentoring, and other education programs.

In addition to the two honorees, the dinner recognized two FWA mentees from the Murry Bergtraum High School and the Baruch College mentoring programs, Christy McLean and Elizabeth James, respectively.  All four speakers, honorees and mentees, spoke eloquently about life’s lessons and the family, friends, and mentors who helped them along the way.

The Annual Dinner is an opportunity for FWA members, the President’s Circle and other corporate table sponsors, their employees, and other FWA supporters to reconnect, meet fellow professionals and share experiences.

Our special thanks to the FWA staff -- Jennifer Durst, Nancy Sellar, Lisa Buddenhagen, Rosalind Lloyd and Janet Vetter -- the Annual Dinner Committee, and the many Board and other members who all contributed to the evening’s success. Special acknowledgements are due to The Estée Lauder Companies, Johnson & Johnson and Dara Lamb for the evening’s gift bag; Deloitte LLP for partially underwriting the new FWA video; the distinguished dais guests and all of the corporate table supporters.

Diane Drewery and Karen Rockey
Co-Chairs, 2008 FWA Annual Dinner

Highlights

FWA Honorees: Christine Poon and Everlyn Lauder	Student Speakers: Elizabeth James (Baruch) and Christy McLean (Murry Bergtraum HS)
Dominic Petito (BMO Capital Markets) flanked by FWA Executive Director Nancy Sellar (l) and Alice Mayo (r) and the BMO Scholarship Recipients	(l – r): Karen Rockey, Annual Dinner Co-chair, Christine Poon, Lily Klebanoff Blake, FWA President, Evelyn Lauder and Diane Drewery, Annual Dinner Co-chair
Members and Guest enjoy the exceptional reception	(l – r): Board members Marguerite “Daisy” Platt, Jenene Karamon, Shery Saeed, Stepahie Ackler and Toni Molodowitz enjoy a night of celebration

A Few Comments Received After the Annual Dinner

“... The honorees and the student speakers were fabulous.  The folks from [President’s Circle firm] were very impressed with the dinner and there was a lot of positive buzz generated...”

“…Spectacular dinner: great honorees who delivered impactful, short addresses; student speakers who moved the audience with their pentimento reflections; a vivacious emcee who kept the pace moving; a healthy representation of individual members, a new video, etc...”

“Congratulations on a wonderful job.  I had the President and VP Communications of Nontraditional Employment for Women at the Financial Literacy table and they were so excited to be a part of such an impressive evening.  I felt the same way.  Thanks.”

“Congratulations on putting together a terrific, interesting, fun Annual Dinner.  All of your efforts were very obvious, from the selection of the really special Honorees, to the numbers on the corporate sponsors and dais guests, to the speeches and preparation of the speakers, to the Emcee and her crackerjack timing.  Even the meal seemed better!”

“My husband was in the audience… and he couldn't say enough about how much he felt Trish added to the Dinner's success.”  “All was fabulous! [My company] attended with a valued client and her friend that is a potential client and it was a successful evening for us…please e-mail me a draft proposal regarding upgrading from a table to President’s Circle Gold that I can forward to our NJ/NY Site Leadership for consideration.”

“I was very impressed with the Emcee, the honorees and students, and the professional pace that kept everyone’s interest.  Trish’s comments on the economic climate were very interesting, and she added a lot of pizzazz and punch to the introductions.  It was a very enjoyable evening.” 


FWA Annual Dinner Corporate Sponsors

The FWA is very grateful to its many corporate supporters who attended the dinner and who were represented with ads in our dinner journal.