2010 Career Women of Achievement Keynote Speaker

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard is an American television and film actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1983 film Cross Creek. She also appeared as Lily Sloane, in Star Trek: First Contact and Down in the Delta as a single alcoholic mother from Chicago forced to spend a summer with her uncle in Mississippi. Woodard's television credits include Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Puss in Boots, L.A. Law, and Homicide: Life on the Street.   Woodard has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for her television performances in Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, the television movie Miss Evers' Boys, and The Practice. She has also received Emmy nominations for Words by Heart, St. Elsewhere, Unnatural Causes, a second for St. Elsewhere, A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story, The Piano Lesson, Gulliver's Travels, Homicide: Life on the Street, and The Water Is Wide. From 2005 to 2006, Woodard starred in the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and received another Emmy nomination for her role as Betty Applewhite. Woodard has appeared on stage in such plays as Map of the World, Drowning Crow, Me & Bessie, and The Winter's Tale. She starred in Tyler Perry's latest film The Family That Preys. Alfre Woodard's latest film is the upcoming American Violet, where she plays the mother of a 24-year-old African American woman who is wrongfully swept up in a drug raid.

2010 Career Women of Achievement Co-Chairs

Dianne Dunkelman Founder and CEO, Clever Crazes for Kids Dianne Dunkelman, a 2001 Career Woman of Achievement Honoree and YWCA Board Member, is founder and CEO of Clever Crazes for Kids, an organization committed to building healthy lives with a primary focus on nutrition, physical activity, self-esteem and respect for our earth. Clever Crazes for Kids grew out of the nationwide success Dianne experienced while leading Speaking of Women’s Health, which she founded in 1995. Dianne has been recognized throughout the city and country for her women’s health initiatives as well as her philanthropic efforts. In 2008, she was honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at their 53rd annual Freedom Fund Dinner in recognition of her work to advance on behalf of women of color and their families. The March of Dimes, the National Conference for Community and Justice Citation Award and numerous more have also recognized her. Dianne is active in many organizations including the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and serves as Trustee on the Boards of the University of Cincinnati Foundation and the Contemporary Arts Center.

Marilyn Shazor CEO, SORTA/Metro Marilyn Shazor, a 2009 YWCA Career Women of Achievement, is the first female and the first African American CEO of SORTA/Metro. These are only the most recent “firsts” Marilyn adds to her resume. She was the first COO of Metro, the first female executive at Green Tokai Co., and the first member of her family to earn a college degree. Marilyn oversees 950 employees, a budget of nearly $100 million and a fleet of more than 400 vehicles. In 2008, Marilyn received the American Public Transportation Association Innovation Award for the Everybody Rides Metro foundation.  Marilyn serves on the boards of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, the Fine Arts Fund Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Chatfield College. In 2009, she was the recipient of the Hamilton County Board of MR/DD’s J. Lajuana Miller Inclusion Award and the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Ohio Award.

To volunteer for the 2010 Career Women of Achievement Luncheon, please contact Sophia Gilligan Helms.

2009 YWCA Career Women of Achievement Images

YWCA President & CEO, Charlene Ventura, Event Co-Chair, Tillie Hidalgo Lima, Keynote Speaker, Elizabeth Vargas, Event Co-Chair, Nora Zorich, YWCA Board Chair, Penny Pensak

YWCA Career Women of Achievement Honorees, Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship Recipient, Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship Recipient and keynote speaker. Back Row: Victoria Morgan, Susan Croushore Middle Row: Mary Lynn Ferguson-McHugh, Chandra Gravely, Marilyn Shazor, Vikki Kimbrough Front Row: Kimaya Hudgins, Jill McGruder, Elizabeth Vargas, Delores Epps, Karen Carnahan

Karen Carnahan	Susan Croushore	Delores Epps	Mary Lynn Ferguson-McHugh
Chandra Gravely, MD	Jill McGruder	Victoria Morgan	Marilyn Shazor

Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship	Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship
Kimaya Hudgins	Vikki Kimbrough

To learn more about the 2008 Career Women of Achievement Honorees and luncheon, please click here.