Before folks fly out of town for summer, some organizations are swooping in with news about the fall fundraising events that will honor local heroes and heroines. In this case, it is the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, who have recovered from their cookie campaign and have big announcements about their 15th Annual Women of Distinction Luncheon.
Presented by AT&T, the event that “celebrates outstanding women leaders of all ages and one man, for their service to the community” will take place on Friday, October 18, at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
Luncheon Co-Chairs Venise Stuart and Candace Winslow have just revealed the lineup of honorees that include:
- Mary Anne Cree will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sabrina Martinez Harrison and Roslyn Dawson Thompson will receive the 2019 Women of Distinction Award
- Jorge Baldor will be presented the Man Enough to be a Girl Scout Award.
According to Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas CEO Jennifer Bartkowski, “I am proud to recognize this year’s honorees for their exemplary leadership and lifelong commitment to serving all people in our Dallas community. As an organization, we work hard each day to ensure that the girls in our community have strong opportunities for success, but we can’t do it alone. It’s people like Sabrina, Roslyn and Jorge who are at the forefront of solving the challenges for women and girls in Northeast Texas and we are grateful for their work.”
It should be noted that Mary Anne has carried on the Girl Scout tradition that was established by her mother, the late Rosine Sammons, who “started the first brownie troop in Dallas in the late 1930’s.” In turn Mary Ann was her daughters’ Girl Scout leader. Today Mary Anne is the chairman of the Sammons Center for the Arts and thanks to the family support, The Rosine Sammons Observation Deck is on the very top of The Moody Foundation Observation Tower at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence.
The luncheon speaker will be announced in the weeks ahead, but tickets and sponsorships are available here.
In the meantime, check out the descriptions of all the honorees and Luncheon Emcee Clarice Tinsley following the jump.
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Recognizes Those Dedicated to Advancing Women in Texas
Mary Anne Cree, Sabrina Martinez Harrison, Roslyn Dawson Thompson, and Jorge Baldor to be honored at the Women of Distinction Luncheon on October 18
DALLAS – Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) will host the 15th annual Women of Distinction Luncheon presented by AT&T, which celebrates outstanding women leaders of all ages and one man, for their service to the community, on 11:30 a.m. on Friday, October 18, 2019 at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
Sabrina Martinez Harrison and Roslyn Dawson Thompson will receive the is year’s Woman of Distinction Award for their commitment to community leadership and service to others, particularly girls and women. For his passion in making sure Northeast Texas is a place for everyone to succeed, Jorge Baldor, will receive the Man Enough to be a Girl Scout Award. Mary Anne Cree, Chairman of the Sammons Center for the Arts, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement award. The 2019 Women of Distinction luncheon is co-chaired by Candace Winslow and Venise Stuart.
“I am proud to recognize this year’s honorees for their exemplary leadership and lifelong commitment to serving all people in our Dallas community,” said Jennifer Bartkowski, chief executive officer for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. “As an organization, we work hard each day to ensure that the girls in our community have strong opportunities for success, but we can’t do it alone. It’s people like Sabrina, Roslyn and Jorge who are at the forefront of solving the challenges for women and girls in Northeast Texas and we are grateful for their work.”
The keynote speaker and Young Women of Distinction will be announced later this summer. Lifetime Girl Scout and FOX 4 news anchor, Clarice Tinsley, will return as the luncheon emcee.
Funds raised during the luncheon 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 25,000 girls in Northeast Texas. To purchase tickets, visit: https://www.gsnetx.org/en/Giving/Give/wdl.html.
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Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas — Girl Scouts is building a pipeline of strong, confident girls. As the expert in how girls learn, Girl Scouts provides relevant programming that focuses on life skills, STEM, entrepreneurship and the outdoors – helping girls develop the confidence to know they can do anything they put their minds to. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas serves more than 25,000 girls and 12,000 adult volunteers across 32 counties. In 2018, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas opened the STEM Center of Excellence, a 92-acre state-of-the-art camp just outside of Dallas where girls can experience programs in astronomy, robotics, coding, computer science and more. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas was recognized as a 2018 Tech Titan Technology Advocate Finalist, 2017 Million Women Mentors Stand Up for STEM Award, and 2016 CNM Connect Nonprofit of the Year. Learn more at gsnetx.org or call 972-349-2400.
Clarice Tinsley — Millions of viewers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area have turned to FOX 4’s Clarice Tinsley for the latest headlines and the most in-depth news stories affecting Texas and the world. With major investigative reporting awards to her credit, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, four regional EMMY Awards and a DuPont-Columbia Citation. Clarice is uncompromising in her commitment to inform the community thoroughly and credibly. Recognized as one of Texas’ most knowledgeable reporters, Clarice is on the air and has been on the scene as important news stories unfold. On December 4, 2018, Clarice celebrated 40 years as the Anchor of the 10pm news on KDFW FOX4
Mary Anne Cree (Lifetime Achievement Award) — Mary Anne Sammons Cree is the Chairman of the Sammons Center for the Arts and generous benefactor behind The Rosine Sammons Observation Deck on the very top of The Moody Foundation Observation Tower at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence. Mary Anne’s mother, Rosine Sammons, started the first brownie troop in Dallas in the late 1930’s, and Mary Anne carried on the tradition as a Girl Scout leader for her daughters. She has served on the board of both the AT&T Performing Arts Center as well as the Baylor Healthcare System Foundation. She is involved with the Texas Discovery Gardens and funds the Rosine Sammons Lecture Series in Media Ethics at SMU.
Sabrina Martinez Harrison (Woman of Distinction) — Sabrina Martinez Harrison is wife, mother of two, the co-owner and interior designer for Mint Dentistry and the founder of Equipped by Faith Ministries, a women’s organization that seeks to help young women form closer connections to each other and their faiths. Sabrina has great passion for giving back through philanthropic endeavors, always searching for ways to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Sabrina is on the executive board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star. Alongside her husband, Dr. Field Harrison, Sabrina works to equip leaders and individuals to maximize their potential and use their business platform to help like-minded organizations in the community.
Roslyn Dawson Thompson (Woman of Distinction) — Roslyn Dawson Thompson is the president and CEO of The Texas Women’s Foundation, the largest regional women’s fund in the world. During its three-decade run, the organization has granted more than $42.2 million to drive meaningful social and economic change for women, girls and families in Texas. Roslyn has served extensively throughout the philanthropic community focusing on economic security for women, and advocating for gender equality in leadership. She also has held leadership roles in numerous North Texas groups, including Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas, Junior League of Dallas, and YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas.
Jorge Baldor (Man Enough to Be a Girl Scout) — Jorge Baldor, Dallas civic leader, is nominated to be 2019 Man Enough to be a Girl Scout. In 2018, he was nominated by the Dallas Morning News as Texas of the Year. In 2016 he was named by D CEO Magazine as Outstanding Latino Advocate. The Latino Center for Leadership Development, which he founded in 2015, is a non-partisan educational leadership training program providing promising individuals the skills and networks necessary to succeed in positions of impact. He most recently opened the Latino Arts Project, the first-of-its-kind permanent, pop-up museum designed to celebrate Latino art, history and culture. He also founded Mercado369 in the heart of Oak Cliff, a community art center and cafe reflecting the rich culture and history of Latin America from Mexico to Argentina. Jorge worked with multiple partners and city leaders to bring After8toEducate to life, the first all-encompassing program to support unsheltered high school youth in Dallas, offering students 14-21 a place to shower, do laundry, eat a meal and connect with resources.