WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
The prestigious Smart Woman
of the Year awards honor professional women who exemplify
the smart woman. They recognize women who are “Making Waves”
to improve their professional lives, their company or their
industry. They're thriving in their career and speaking their
voice.
Congratulations to these
smart women who are recipients of the Smart Woman of the Year
awards. We celebrate your brilliance.
The author of Bodacious! Woman: Outrageously
In Charge of Your Life and Lovin' It! does not exactly sound
like an engineering professional. But then again, Mary Foley
is no ordinary gal. Early in her career, Mary decided her
engineering degree just wasn’t for her. She pursued the fast-track
at AOL but after numerous promotions, she hit the glass ceiling
and wouldn’t settle for “No.” She left job security to reinvent
herself as a human resources consultant, an author and founder
of her own company – Bodacious! Ventures. Through her writing,
speaking engagements, consulting and her “Live Like Your Nail
Color” Club, Mary is inspiring women to find the inner courage,
knowledge, and tools to create the lives and careers they
love. Mary is living proof of a bold, audacious, and courageous
— a bodacious — career changer making waves to improve her
life and the lives of others.
Ten years ago, Aurelia Lewis was a successful
advertising executive at a prestigious Richmond agency. After
12 years in the industry, Aurelia saw a need for a small strategic
media planning and placement company that actually let media
folks have exposure to clients. Off Aurelia went to create
her own firm – Lewis Media Partners. She now celebrates a
company that in 10 years went from two to 45 clients with
combined annual budgets of over $8 million. Her ideas stem
from her passions for her clients and for the environment.
In a personal effort to eliminate plastic shopping bags for
the betterment of the local environment, Aurelia created colorful
cloth shopping bags; all profits from the bag sales are donated
to her garden club. Also, to help small local retailers cost-efficiently
compete against the large mall retailers, Aurelia created
an online company - mysecretsale.com. With these ideas come
inspiring ventures making waves for Aurelia’s profession,
her passions and her clients.
As founder of her own technology consulting
firm, Athena Enterprises, Lisa Disselkamp travels the country
helping companies with their technology decision-making and
implementations. She is currently leading the nation's sixth
largest healthcare company – CHI – with their workforce management
technology (WMT) project. In 2006, Lisa wrote her first book
on WMT, Working the Clock. Lisa’s recognized expertise on
new technology is making waves in a male dominated industry.
She is a visionary, helping companies use technology to grow
profits by offering functional and business expertise, while
most in her industry are strictly technical. Her goal is to
take the payroll profession from the "basement to boardroom."
Jenni Lee Crocker is making waves serving philanthropic
causes in Greater Richmond. In addition to her demanding career
as Director of Business Development for Ernst & Young,
Jenni Lee is giving of her time to several worthwhile causes.
As a founding Board member of the Hayes -Hitzeman Foundation,
Jenni Lee helped establish a nationally known organization
for the prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Her involvement
in this cause has enabled every infant born in Virginia to
receive a "This Side Up" infant gown, which demonstrates
the "on the back position" for infants. Jenni Lee
also serves on the Board of the Richmond Juvenile Diabetes
Foundation, the Richmond SPCA Fur Ball Committee, and was
honored as one of Richmond's Top 40 under 40 for both business
and charitable involvement.
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- Smart Woman Awards