Inspirational Women Celebrated at Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Leadership Awards

Palm Beach, FL – April 17, 2019 – The Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Foundation, Inc. hosted their 36th Annual Luncheon to honor women in leadership. Emmy Award winning foreign correspondent Lara Logan was the guest speaker for this special award ceremony, which brings together inspirational women in the private, public, nonprofit, and volunteer sectors of the community. The day celebrates and recognizes a select number of these women, and it awards the day’s proceeds for educational scholarships for women who want to attend college and may not have the means to do so.

This year’s event was held at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, where founding members mingled with the younger generation of business women. Enjoying a three course lunch, the women discussed their line of work and many spoke of juggling family-life with careers. The master of ceremonies for the event was CB12 news anchor Liz Quirantes, who introduced the award winners. Each winner gave an account of their career and the trials and tribulations they had to overcome. It was fascinating to see and hear that the award recipients spanned a number of generations, all with a common thread: “Support one another, be kind and respectful and be determined.”

Honorary chair Yvonne Boice delivered an inspirational speech stating, “As women we are expected to do it all and not be fearful. If you have never felt fear, you must not be human. I say analyze your fears, create a strategy and then a back up plan. Make sure you surround yourself with friends, mentors and advisors. We should not only discuss our failures and triumphs, but also our fears too.”

The award winners included: Beth Walton (President and Chief Executive officer of Town of Palm Beach United Way), Elizabeth Hamma (Senior Vice President of Hubbard Radio Palm Beach), Mary Lerardi (a long time member of the community and volunteer for numerous non profits), and Dr. Lisa Williams-Taylor (CEO at Children’s Services Council County). All delivered heartfelt and inspirational speeches, reflecting on their personal and career histories.

Lara Logan delivered an incredibly powerful speech that left a number of the audience humbled, appreciative, and even tearful. She shared incredible stories from her assignment in war zones, to her childhood memories. A mother of three, she feels very strongly about fighting for what you believe in and staying true to yourself, emphasizing, “I was raised by a very strong woman who constantly inspires me even though she died seventeen years ago. Even now when I have been through some tough times, she is the strength that I hold on to, a pillar in my life. My feet are so firmly planted in reality due to the house I grew up in. I was raised to know who I am, what I stand for, and we always knew that we were loved. I always think of that when I travel, and it’s one of the main reasons I have been able to do the work that I have done, for as long as I have.”

After hearing incredible stories from the award winners, founding members, the honorary chair and Lara Logan, many women in the audience felt a wave of determination and enthusiasm. Acknowledging that being a woman and succeeding is not just an issue of gender, but life stories, a truth and a belief that we all have within us.