Sweet 16
Orange County United Way hosted its 16th Annual Women’s Philanthropy Fund Breakfast on May 16 at Hotel Irvine, raising more than $500,000. It’s the organization’s most important event of the year and raises funds to allow United Way to implement programs with demonstrable impact for underserved populations.
Nearly 900 community leaders registered for the event, making it one of the most successful breakfast fundraisers in the county. Bank of America served as champion sponsor.
“Orange County United Way assesses the community’s needs and creates efficient programs that deliver immeasurable results,” said Shari Battle, co-chair of the Breakfast and a market manager for Bank of America in Orange County. “It’s an honor to work alongside these passionate women and help create and fund long-term solutions.”
Other sponsors include the Owl Foundation, Crowell & Moring LLP, Edison International, Ernst & Young, Nordstrom Inc., and Pacific Life Insurance Co.
The event also featured celebrity guest Erin Andrews, a sportscaster at Fox Sports, who spoke of the importance of being a good role model for young people.
The Business of Art
On June 4, more than 250 corporate and philanthropic leaders gathered at the Samueli Theater to enjoy the Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ annual Arts and Business Leadership Awards Dinner. The event was co-chaired by Lupe Erwin, executive vice president, private client services, Wood Gutmann & Bogart Insurance Brokers; and James Cascone, partner at Deloitte. The event raised nearly $300,000.
Gaddi Vasquez, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture and senior vice president of government affairs at Southern California Edison, was presented with the Distinguished Arts & Business Leader award. Karla Kraft, shareholder at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, received the Rising Arts & Business Leader award. The pair was recognized for demonstrating exemplary business leadership and consistent, generous support to Orange County’s arts organizations.
Orange County School of the Arts student Avalon Lafosse received the first-ever Student Arts Leader award, plus a $5,000 scholarship sponsored by Taco Bell Corp.
Sponsors of the dinner included Yamaha Corporation of America, Kia Motors America, Edison International, Taco Bell, and Elite OC Productions LLC.
Olive Crest Orange County held its first annual Wine Women & Shoes benefit at the Waterfront Beach Resort on April 12. More than 400 guests attended the event, raising more than $170,000 to support the nonprofit’s mission of transforming the lives of abused, neglected, and at-risk children and their families.
The event featured designer shoe shopping on the hotel terrace, along with wine tastings, gourmet hors d’oeuvres, a silent and live auction, and an opportunity drawing. A runway fashion show by the fashion brand Grayse proved a fitting finale.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Sponsors included HUB, Rutan & Tucker, TEM, Total Environmental Management Inc., Oltmans Construction Co., RSM US LLP, Frome Family Foundation, Harbor Compounding Pharmacy, DSW, and The Zenith Workers’ Compensation Specialists.
Raising Awareness and Voices
Over 240 Orange County business leaders, influencers, and representatives from the Orange County Department of Education joined local Girl Scouts at the Newport Beach Country Club on May 10 to discuss advancing diversity and gender equality to attract the best and brightest to their organizations and companies.
“It is so important for companies to look for opportunities to champion diversity and gender equality at every level and partner with organizations like Girl Scouts,” said Carla Furuno, regional president, BNY Mellon Wealth Management. “[Girl Scouts] are providing girls with opportunities to try new things, build confidence, and become strong leaders.”
Sponsors for the eighth annual Voice for Girls forum included BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Beacon Pointe Advisors, Orange County Department of Education, Angels Baseball, Blizzard Entertainment Inc., Cibola Systems, Cox, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, OC Fair & Event Center, and Western Digital Corp.
Keynote speaker L. Song Richardson, dean and chancellor’s professor of law at University of California-Irvine School of Law, explored unconscious mental processes that can lead people to view the world through a biased lens. Following the keynote, Alina Lee Santiago, Girl Scout alum and vice president of operations at Continuum Advisory LLC, interviewed local Girl Scouts about the corporate culture they will be looking for when they enter the workforce.
Bits & Pieces
Leticia Juarez, ABC7 TV news reporter, and Ryan McGinnis, real estate agent, Provident Real Estate, were named the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Orange County Inland Empire Chapter’s 2019 Man & Woman of the Year for raising more than $350,000 together to support LLS’s goal to find cures for blood cancers and ensure that patients have access to lifesaving treatments … Orange County’s Credit Union raised more than $4,000 for CHOC Children’s at Shred and eWaste Day events on April 1 and May 4, held in partnership with Williams Data Management and California Electronics Recycler.
