January 2016 KAWE Knoxville Association of Women Executives The mission of the Knoxville Association of Women Executives (KAWE) is to provide executive women with opportunities to grow professionally including networking, building relationships, personal and professional development, mentoring, and leadership. www.kawetn.org January Speaker Sue Beverly To initiate the new year, we will be welcoming Sue Beverly, Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald House in Knoxville, as our speaker for the January meeting. She is highly qualified to speak about the House as she has been the ED for 29 years of the House's 31 years in the community. During that time the House has increased its occupancy, added additional space, and initiated an endowment at the East Tennessee Foundation. Before Sue took over leadership of Ronald McDonald House, she was a Special Education teacher and a volunteer at the House. She is a terrific cook and boasts a library of over 800 cookbooks, regularly demonstrating her skills for board members. In her spare time, she and her husband Mike like to travel and volunteer with golden retriever rescues. President s Letter Happy New Year KAWE friends! Goodbye 2015 hello 2016! This past year has flown by and now we are ready to tackle a New Year! But before we do, I like to reflect on the happenings in KAWE and thank our 2015 KAWE board for a fantastic year under the expert leadership of Mary Beth Ramey as president! We have been amused and educated by our monthly programs, organized by Heather Overton.
LaVance Davis and Michele Cox did an outstanding job in keeping us laughing and being entertained at their many Socials. Their last but not least, high energy and fun Holiday Party at Fox Den was the icing on the cake and enjoyed by all who attended! Kudos to the Social Committee! Jacquie Turner and Dianna Mercier made sure that our monthly meetings went on without a hitch. Job well done! Angela Harwood-Brent, as always, did her job behind the scenes as Treasurer so proficiently, that it seems effortless, but we know better! Notable Woman and the Scholarship committees, Susan Justice, Rose Conway-Cox, and Tina Snodderly were able to designate very worthy recipients. Mary Knepper and her committee took on a huge task to review and recommend changes to our Bylaws in the Spring of 2015 and three of their suggestions were voted on and accepted by the membership in November. Thanks to our webmaster, Kathryn McCullough, our website is being maintained on a regular basis. Anne Swartzlander has done a great job in publishing the newsletter each month while begging the membership for copy! As a new year s resolution, may I suggest we help Anne in this arena!? Thanks to our Membership Chair, Susan Stalgaitis, we have two new members, Cheyenne Perry and Karen Dotson. Welcome ladies! We experienced highs and lows, joy and sorrow during 2016. The birth of Brittany Brent-Smith s son, Everett Smith and the loss of our dear friend, Lucy Gibson. We will honor Lucy each year when we bestow the Notable Woman award carrying her name. With the help of the new 2016 KAWE board, I will strive for a productive and interesting New Year and keep you up-to-date on any new plans that may come up while maintaining the standard that has been put in place by so many former presidents and their boards! Blessings to all in 2016 Elizabeth Offringa, President KAWE 2016
Notable Woman Award - Missy Wallen, Chairman of the Board of Pinnacle Financial Services Tribute to Lucy Gibson
December Board Meeting Christmas Party Subdued lighting, sparkling holiday decorations, lovely women in their elegant party frocks, handsome men in the tuxes and best suits, waiters quietly pouring champagne and serving dinner, in the back ground the strains of seasonal music provided by our young guest violinists. AND then at 8:30 the DJ cranks up and the dancing begins. What a party. Our Jersey Girl, Melissa, showed us some moves. Mary Beth and Elizabeth, past and current Presidents were in the middle of the dancing circle. Of course Dianna, Susan, and guest Joy
were letting their hair down. In fact, Joy hit 11000 steps on her Fitbit. Then Denise and Rob, Kathryn and David, and Myra and Mike slowed the tempo for some romantic moments. Las Mamacitas showed us what they learned at the Cha Cha lesson arranged by Michele in the fall. So many dancers, so much fun. And who were the ladies with the butterflies? 50 members and guests enjoyed a night of food, fun, and frolic. If you missed it, we hope to see you next year.