For those emerging from Samoa and Thin Mints rehab and in need of a Girl Scout fix, there’s great news. The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas have just announced plans for their annual Women of Distinction Luncheon. It’s already been announced that Dr. Mae Jemison will be the keynote speaker, thanks to Luncheon Co-Chairs Laura Downing and Susan Glassmoyer.
But now comes word that the fundraiser on Friday, November 3, at the Omni will honor Sara Martineau and Nina Vaca on stage receiving the Woman of Distinction Award.
According to Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas CEO Jennifer Bartkowski, “It is an honor to recognize Nina, Sara and Todd for their exemplary leadership and lifelong commitment to serving our Dallas community. Empowering and supporting girls is the key to our future, because they are the innovators, leaders and change-makers of tomorrow. It comes down to a simple truth – when we invest in the advancement of girls, we are not only helping them reach their fullest potential, we are also investing in the future success of our businesses and communities. We are incredibly thankful that each honoree recognizes the importance and value of empowering girls.”
As for the second male to be recognized by the Girl Scouts for his understanding and support of the Girl Scouts’ mission, Todd Williams will be presented with the Man Enough to be a Girl Scout Award.
Regarding the Young Woman of Distinction, stay tuned. It will be announced “late summer.”
BTW, last year’s luncheon impressed vet munchers with the fact that it ran right on schedule.
Tickets are available here, but no, there will be no cookies as incentives.
For the full-blown release, follow the jump:
* Photo provided by Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Announce 2017 Women of Distinction Honorees
DALLAS – (GSNETX) announced today the three local community leaders to be recognized at the annual Women of Distinction Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, November 3, 2017 at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
In honor of their outstanding commitment to community leadership and service to others, both Nina Vaca and Sara Martineau will receive the Woman of Distinction Award. For his extraordinary efforts in mentoring and empowering girls in Northeast Texas, Todd Williams will receive the Man Enough to be a Girl Scout Award. This year’s keynote speaker will be NASA astronaut and the first African American woman space, Dr. Mae C. Jemison. Former board member and longtime Girl Scout advocate, Clarice Tinsley, will return for her third year as the luncheon emcee. The Women of Distinction luncheon is co-chaired by Susan Glassmoyer and Laura Downing.
“It is an honor to recognize Nina, Sara and Todd for their exemplary leadership and lifelong commitment to serving our Dallas community,” said Jennifer Bartkowski, chief executive officer for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. “Empowering and supporting girls is the key to our future, because they are the innovators, leaders and change-makers of tomorrow. It comes down to a simple truth – when we invest in the advancement of girls, we are not only helping them reach their fullest potential, we are also investing in the future success of our businesses and communities. We are incredibly thankful that each honoree recognizes the importance and value of empowering girls.”
The Women of Distinction Luncheon honors extraordinary women and one man who have made significant contributions toward advancing opportunities for girls and women. Awards are issued annually in the categories of Woman of Distinction, Man Enough to be a Girl Scout, and Young Woman of Distinction. The Young Woman of Distinction Award, given to an active Girl Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award recipient (highest award given by Girl Scouts), will be announced late summer. Funds raised during the luncheon will provide crucial leadership development, socio-emotional skill cultivation, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), entrepreneurship, life skills, and outdoor leadership programs to more than 26,000 girls in Northeast Texas.
Honorees: Nina Vaca, Sara Martineau and Todd Williams
2017 Women of Distinction recipient, Nina Vaca, is Pinnacle Group’s Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. Her dynamic leadership over the past 20 years has propelled the company from a niche IT services firm to the workforce solutions powerhouse it is today, with a suite of business lines to address the range of IT human capital challenges companies in the Fortune 500 face. Pinnacle’s evolution and astronomical growth is the result of Vaca’s fearless approach to overcoming challenges and her intense focus on two core values: delivering impeccable service to clients and putting people at the heart of everything Pinnacle does. Pinnacle has been named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies for over a decade and in 2015 was named the Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Company in the U.S. by the Women Presidents’ Organization. In 2017, Vaca was named one of Fortune’s 50 most powerful Latinas and most recently recognized as the youngest of thirteen women named to the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) National Women’s Month Honorees.
Vaca is a committed civic leader and philanthropist. She advocates passionately for women and entrepreneurs and works to advance girls and women in STEM fields. In 2014, the White House appointed Vaca as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. She also serves as Chairman Emeritus of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
2017 Women of Distinction recipient, Sara Martineau, has been serving the DFW community for over 20 years. She has dedicated her life to the betterment of others through her vast philanthropic efforts. Martineau is a member of Crystal Charity Ball and Junior League of Dallas. She currently serves on the Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command Advisory Board, the Catholic Foundation Advisory Board, The Dallas Opera Women’s Board, the Trinity River Mission Advisory Board, and the UT Southwestern Medical Center President Research Council.
For her exemplary leadership, Martineau has been recognized with several awards including the University of Texas at Dallas – Gifford K. Johnson Community Leadership Award in 2010, the Juanita and Henry S. Miller Jr. Founders Award in 2011 presented by The Dallas Opera, was recognized as the SMU Meadows School of the Arts Honoree in 2013, and presented the Ruth and Ken Altshuler Callier Cares Award in 2014 by Callier Center for Communication Disorders.
Sara is married to David Martineau, and is the proud mother of two children, Maria and David. Sara and her husband are committed to serving the Dallas community and are actively involved in over 15 local nonprofit organizations.
2017 Man Enough to be a Girl Scout recipient, Todd Williams is a highly committed to public education. Todd is the founding Chairman and Executive Director of The Commit! Partnership, the nation’s largest collective impact organization with over 190 institutions (including 15 school districts and eight higher education institutions educating over790,000 students) focused together on meaningfully improving post-secondary completion levels across the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He also serves as the Education Policy Advisor to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.
Todd is a current trustee and former board chair for Austin College, one of the region’s leading liberal arts institutions located in Sherman, Texas. With his wife Abby, Todd also serves on the board and was the founding chair of the regional advisory board for Teach for America in Dallas/Ft. Worth, and also helped establish in 2007 the Williams Preparatory School, a K-12 free tuition public charter school operated by Uplift Education that educates over 1,500 primarily low-income children in northwest Dallas. 100% of its graduates since its first senior class in 2011 have been accepted to a four year college or university.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first woman of color in the world to go to space, served six years as a NASA astronaut. Today, Jemison is leading the 100 Year Starship program that is working to ensure the capability for human interstellar space travel to another star is possible within the next 100 years. She is also the founder of The Jemison Group, Inc., a technology consulting firm that integrates the critical impact of socio-cultural issues when designing and implementing technologies. Prior to working at NASA, she joined the Peace Corps for two and a half years as the Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia overseeing the healthcare system. At the Women of Distinction Luncheon, Jemison will inspire others with her story of how she dedicated her life’s work to scientific, technological and medical advancements.
Emcee: Clarice Tinsley
In November 2016, Clarice Tinsley marked her 38th year as the 10 p.m. anchor on KDFW Fox 4. With major investigative reporting awards to her credit, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, Clarice is recognized as one of Texas’ more knowledgeable reporters.
Clarice has earned a DuPont-Columbia Citation, an Emmy, three Dallas Press Club Katie Awards, two Awards of Excellence from American Women in Radio and Television, Best Investigative Reporting from Texas Associated Press, the Texas Headliner Award for Investigative Reporting, the Journalistic Award for Excellence from the American College of Emergency Physicians and First Place from the Texas Public Health Association.
Clarice is an active member of the Dallas community. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of Girls Scouts of Northeast Texas, an Advisory Board Member of St. Philip’s School in South Dallas as well as an Advisory Board member for the School of Journalism at SMU. She is a member of the YET Board of Directors and Chairs the YET Communications and Public Relations Committee. In May 2016, Clarice received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
Co-Chairs: Susan Glassmoyer and Laura Downing
Susan Glassmoyer and Laura Downing are excited to serve as co-chairs of the 2017 Women of Distinction Luncheon. Working moms of daughters, Laura and Susan are both active members of the Crystal Charity Ball and volunteer their time and talents at Highland Park ISD schools, CitySquare, and the Park Cities Chapter of the National Charity League.
Laura, a proud mother of three girls, is Managing Director of Talent at RGP and a CPA. She is involved with the United Way Women of Tocqueville, Park Cities Baptist Church, Genesis Women’s Shelter, and chaired the 2016 Ally’s Wish Boots and Blessings Gala.
Susan, a proud mother of two daughters, teaches yoga, leads the Confirmation Class at Highland Park United Methodist Church and volunteers with her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop. She serves on the Boards of the SMU Kappa Kappa Gamma Advisory Council, Hope Supply Co, Hunger Busters and New Friends New Life.
For more information about becoming a sponsor, purchasing tickets or a table at the event, please contact Amanda Rainey at [email protected] or visit www.gsnetx.org/wdl
About Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas:
Girl Scouts is the premier leadership development organization for girls. Girl Scouts builds girls into G.I.R.L.s – go-getters, innovators, risk takers and leaders™ who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas serves more than 27,000 girls and 12,500 adults in 32 northeast Texas counties. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas recently received the Center for Nonprofit Management nonprofit of the year award in 2016. The board is chaired by Kit Addleman, partner at Haynes and Boone, who was recognized by both the Dallas Business Journal and Center for Nonprofit Management nonprofit board chair of the year awards in 2016. For information on how to join, volunteer, donate or reconnect to the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, call 800.442.2260 or visit www.gsnetx.org.
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