5th Annual Elly Awards to Honor Tina Brown & Emily Rafferty, 6/22

The Women's Forum of New York will present The 5th Annual Elly Awards Luncheon benefiting The Education Fund of the Women's Forum on Monday, June 22nd at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The awards, named for the Women's Forum founder Elinor Guggenheimer, will honor outstanding women leaders.

The Elly Award Recipients (both in attendance) will be:

- Tina Brown CBE, award-winning journalist, former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Daily Beast, and Newsweek; best-selling author; founder & CEO of Tina Brown Live Media and Women in the World.

- Emily Rafferty, President Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank National Board of Chairs, and Chairwoman of NYC & Company.

The Elly Award Celebrity Presenters (both in attendance) will be:

• Mika Brzezinski, Co-Host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and best-selling author.
• Judy Collins, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, author, and activist.

Deborah Norville, two-time Emmy-winning journalist, long-time anchor of "Inside Edition," and best-selling author, will moderate a conversation on leadership with the honorees following the presentation of the awards.

"The Women's Forum is a leadership organization of New York's preeminent female leaders in every professional sector, from finance to fine arts. Appreciating that education is the key to success in every industry, we pride ourselves in helping high potential women over the age of 35 return to college after their education has been disrupted by life's adversities. Giving these women a second chance to realize their potential is our way of giving back and building new leaders."

- Ami Kaplan, President of the Women's Forum of New York.

"Twenty-eight years ago, the Education Fund embarked on a mission to help women, who had overcome serious hardships in their lives, to realize their dream of an education. We started out slowly, but have been able to achieve real momentum in helping these women through the Elly Awards. Education Fund grants have made a significant impact on the lives of the women who receive them, on their families, and on their communities as grant recipients earn a degree and take their place in the work world."

- Linda A. Willett, President, The Education Fund of the Women's Forum.

The Elly Awards will begin at 11:30 a.m. at The Plaza Hotel with a reception and VIP arrivals. The Luncheon and Presentation will be from 12:15 to 2:00 p.m.

The 2015 Elly Awards:

Legendary Chair: Lucy Jarvis.

Honorary Chairs: Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck.

Chairs: Anne Donovan Bodnar, Eugenia Ulasewicz.

Committee: Lauren Anderson, Beverly Beaudoin, Emita Hill, Suzanne Jaffe, Ami Kaplan, Liz Neumark, Denise V. Seegal, Ilene Wachs, Linda A. Willett.

GOLD SPONSORS

BNY Mellon.

SILVER SPONSORS

Dede Thompson Bartlett, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Deloitte, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.,

Macy's Inc., SunGard Financial Systems, Time Warner Inc., Lulu C. Wang, Linda A. Willett.

BRONZE SPONSORS

Georgette F. Bennett, Annabelle Bexiga and Chris McConnell, Anne Donovan Bodnar, Chadick Ellig, Jane A. Chmielinski, Commonfund, Con Edison, Christine M. Cumming, General Electric, Great Performances and CPS Events at The Plaza, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Lucy Jarvis, Ann Kaplan, KPMG LLP, Monika Machon, Nina McLemore, Donna M. Milrod, Norton Rose Fulbright, OppenheimerFunds, Pershing - a BNY Mellon company, Muriel F. Siebert Foundation, U.S. Bank, Marissa Wesely.

BENEFACTOR SUPPORTERS

Marsha Askins, Pamela Baxter, Sarah Beatty, Beverly Beaudoin, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, Maura Carley, Carolyn Carter, Patricia Chadwick, Change Create Transform Foundation, Jane Chesnutt, Irene Cohen, Linda Cohen, Pamela Craig, Lisa Dennison, Kathleen Dore, Rita V. Foley, Gail D. Fosler, Jill Granoff, Elizabeth Grayer, Annette Green, Dr. Ludy Green, Julie Greiner, Karen Grinthal, Veronica W. Hackett, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Suzanne D. Jaffe, Anuradha T. Jayanti, Julia Kahr, Rikki Klieman, Gail S. Landis, Barbara Marcus, Marcella Maxwell, Ellyn A. McColgan, Maria R. Morris, Carol Nelson, Barbara G. Novick, Marianne Parrs, Deborah A. Peacock, Joan Price, Jonelle Procope, Abbe Raven, Grace E. Richardson, Marcella Rosen, Denise V. Seegal, Ellyn Shook, Marissa Shorenstein, Esther Silver-Parker, Sheryl Sleeva, Marcy Syms, Barbara Tober, Trio Foundation, Eugenia Ulasewicz, Ilene Wachs, Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner.

PATRON SUPPORTERS

Lauren C. Anderson, Ellen Archer, Subha V. Barry, Linda Basch, Ann E. Bergin, Myra J. Biblowit, Kim Bishop, Cathie Black, Vita Cassese, Barbara Colwell, Connie S.P. Chen, Patricia Cook, Ph.D., Rita B. Crotty, Diane D'Erasmo, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Marsha Dubrow, Ph.D., Gail M. Dudack, Tiffany Dufu, Traci Entel, Susan Falk, Mary C. Farrell, Deborah A. Farrington, Gloria Feldt, Bilha Chesner Fish, M.D., Carolee Friedlander, Barbara J. Friedman, Fredrica S. Friedman, Ileen Sheppard Gallagher, Deborah Gillis, Barbara Dwyer Gunn, Lou Rena Hammond, Beth Hirschhorn, Carol Hochman, Nancy J. Kelley, Amy Dorn Kopelan, Ilene H. Lang, Laurie Ledford, Hillie Mahoney, Esther Margolis, Loretta McCarthy, Jacqueline McMickens, Wendy Mendenhall, Amy Miller, Deanna M. Mulligan, Cristyne L. Nicholas, Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., Julianna Richter, Janet Rollé, Eunice I. Salton, Ann Misiaszek Sarnoff, Rosita Sarnoff, Dr. Karen Scappaticci, Ellen Schall, Ellen Sills-Levy, Kathryn B. Swintek, Suzanne Townsen, Laura R. Walker, Edie Weiner, Anita Volz Wien, Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg, Melinda B. Wolfe, Helena Wong, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher.

THE EDUCATION FUND VIDEO

Underwriting for The Education Fund Video was generously supplied by The Sy Syms Foundation.

The Women's Forum of New York:

The Women's Forum of New York is New York's premier organization of women leaders comprised of the highest women achievers across all professional sectors from finance to fine arts.

They advance women's leadership three ways:

- through core programming which provides personal and professional enrichment to their members

- through the Education Fund which provides education awards to high potential women whose careers have been derailed by adversity

- through the Corporate Board Initiative which expands and extends the contribution of women leaders through participation on corporate and civic boards.

The Education Fund is an educational and charitable arm of The Women's Forum of New York, established under a separate corporate governance as a 501(c)3 tax deductible organization.

Since 1987, the Fund has helped mature women pursue educational goals and enhance their capacities to provide productive and supportive service to their communities. The Award recognizes extraordinary and often heroic effort in overcoming adversity and the most daunting of odds in restructuring lives for success.

Grants are awarded to women over the age of 35 who, after suffering great adversity and an interruption in their education, are now pursuing undergraduate college degrees. Students in this population are often single parents, economically disadvantaged and struggling with the rising costs of a college education. Over the past 28 years, 172 women have been honored by The Education Fund.

WOMEN'S FORUM BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ami Kaplan, President, Liz Neumark, Vice President, Anuradha T. Jayanti, Treasurer, Carolyn Carter, Secretary, Linda L. Addison, Lauren C. Anderson, Pamela Baxter, Anne Donovan Bodnar, Jane A. Chmielinski, Lisa Dennison, Julia Kahr, Rikki Klieman, Monika M. Machon, Jonelle Procope, Lisa Garcia Quiroz, Janet Rollé, Eugenia Ulasewicz, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Sheena Wright, Janice Reals Ellig, Ex-Officio, Doris P. Meister, Ex-Officio.

THE EDUCATION FUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Linda A. Willett, President, Liz Neumark, Vice President, Anuradha T. Jayanti, Treasurer, Carolyn Carter, Secretary, Marianne Brown, Mary Ann Casati, Lisa Dennison, Ami Kaplan, Ilene Wachs, Beverly Beaudoin, Ex-Officio, Irene Cohen, Ex-Officio.