Women’s eNews Annual US-based Fundraiser Honored Leaders for their Innovation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Women’s eNews honored 11 of its ’21 Leaders for the 21st Century’ at its 24th annual Gala in New York City. The 2024 honorees were selected due to the Innovative Programs and Practices they provide to help ensure full equality regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, or abilities.
“Women’s eNews is honored to salute these courageous individuals and organizations that are rising up to the challenge of supporting marginalized communities. When we are all included, we all win!” says Lori Sokol, PhD, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Women’s eNews.
The 2024 U.S. Honorees include:
Penny Abeywardena – Global advocate of women’s rights; Former Commissioner for International Affairs City of New York
Liz Elting – WSJ Bestselling Author of Dream Big and Win, CEO, Philanthropist, Elizabeth Elting Foundation
Dawn Smalls – Attorney, Strategic Advisor and Member of the NYC Campaign Finance Board. Recipient of the Dorothy Height Champion for Racial Equality Award, 2024.
Michelle Ballan, PhD – Professor & Associate Dean for Research, School of Social Welfare; Center and Program Director, Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND), Stony Brook University. Recipient of the Loreen Arbus Champion for Disabilities Award, 2024.
Victoria Yampolsky – Founder of The Startup Station, a strategic CFO advisory firm and financial education platform for startups and small businesses, and CEO and Co-Founder of PowerUp, a non-profit groundbreaking global program for seed-level female-led ventures, which aims to bridge the gender funding gap worldwide, Poet.
WomenStrong International – A non-profit organization that advances progress toward gender equity by partnering with grassroots women-led organizations in urban and peri-urban areas that are dedicated to improving the lives of the girls and women they serve.
Eleanor’s Legacy – Eleanor’s Legacy recruits, trains, and supports pro-choice Democratic women to run for state and local office throughout New York.
Carolyn Maloney – former Congresswoman, New York’s 12th Congressional District at U.S. House of Representatives, current Board Chair of the Fund for Women’s Equality.
Dr. Chanel Jasmin Clark, aka the Spiritual Whistle Blower, is a women’s empowerment coach and best-selling author of, My Family Can Kiss My Ass: How to Deal with Toxic, Messy, Narcissistic Family Members (Volume 1)
New York Women In Film & Television (NYWIFT) connects, educates, and advocates for women to accelerate diversity in media.
Previous honorees have included: Anita Hill (American Lawyer, Educator and Author); Edie Windsor (LGBTQIA Rights Activist); Mary Robinson (former Prime Minister of Ireland); Karine Jean-Pierre (White House Press Secretary); Ruchira Gupta (founder of anti-sex trafficking organization Apne App); Kathy Hochul (first female Governor of New York State); Alfreda Robinson (Assoc. Dean/George Washington University Law School); Patrisse Cullours (co-founder of Black Lives Matter); Rebecca Cokley (Disability Rights Program Officer for the Ford Foundation) ….among many other women of distinction
Loreen Arbus, President of the Loreen Arbus Foundation and Loreen Arbus Productions and pioneering activist for people with disabilities, served as Honorary Gala Chair for the eighth consecutive year.
Deborah Santana, author and activist for peace and social justice, as Honorary Gala Co-Chair for the fifth consecutive year.
The Awards Gala was held at Club 101’s luxurious ballroom (@101 Park Avenue, NYC).
As Women’s eNews will also be building upon its global presence this year, the organization will also host its first international Gala this fall, honoring an additional 10 honorees, in Toronto, Canada in September, 2024. This new tradition will continue next year, with a US-based Gala in the Spring, 2025 in New York City, and an internationally-based Gala planned for London, England in Fall, 2025.
To view the 2024 Awards Gala program, click here.
