The Women in the World Summit returns to San Antonio on Tuesday, Dec. 8, in celebration of the influential women who are impacting art, technology and many other disciplines. Summit founder and CEO Tina Brown, who formerly served as the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Newsweek Daily Beast Company, developed the annual summit to highlight women’s achievements.
“We are thrilled to be bringing Women in the World back to San Antonio once again, San Antonio is a city on the rise,”Brown said. “Its diversity and commitment to education makes it the perfect partner city for collaboration.”
The 2015 summit will recognize the achievements and contributions of many talented women including: America Fererra, Lara Logan, Juliette Kayyem, Yeonmi Park, Lavinia Limon, Admiral William McRaven, and the 2015 Toyota Mother of Invention, Maria Dellapina. Brown will co-host the event with 3N Group president Guillermo Nicolas, San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor and San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Sculley.
“We are proud to welcome (the summit) back to our city for the second year,” Sculley said. “Last year’s event was the talk of the town and the quality of the presenters was outstanding. That, with San Antonio’s cultural diversity and history of strong female leaders, makes it the ideal location for this event.”
America Ferrera is an award-winning actress and producer, who also serves as the ambassador for Voto Latino, a leading nonpartisan national youth empowerment organization, which engages people across the country in online discussions of voter ID laws, education and immigration.
Juliette Kayyem, a lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, formerly served as the Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Kayyem also founded of one of the few female-owned security businesses in America, which provides strategic advice to companies on risk management. With over 15 years experience managing complex policy initiatives and organizing government responses to major crises in both state and federal government, Kayyem will talk about what the West must do to prevent another major terror attack and to counter violent extremism around the world.
Lavinia Limon, CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, has more than 30 years of experience working on behalf of refugees and immigrants. Her mission has been to protect the rights and address the needs of tens of thousands of immigrants fleeing the epidemic of violence in Central America.
Lara Logan, an award winning journalist and correspondent for 60 Minutes, will moderate a panel titled, “Women Fighting the Terror Crisis.”
Yeonmi Park is a 22-year-old human rights activist and North Korean defector. After escaping North Korea, she moved to Seoul, South Korea, where she speaks out about the human rights abuses happening in her homeland.
William H. McRaven, Adm. (Ret.), Chancellor of The University of Texas System formerly served as commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command. He will join the summit for a program entitled, “Things My Mother Taught. ”
Mother of Invention
Women in the World is sponsored by Toyota, the City of San Antonio, HEB, AT&T and NuStar.
Since 2012, Toyota has partnered with “Women in the World” to honor Toyota Mothers of Invention, a program that recognizes women who actively contribute to their local and global communities through innovation, entrepreneurship and invention.
Maria Dellapina, founder of Specs4Us, will be recognized by Toyota as the next and final 2015 Toyota Mother of Invention at the upcoming summit. Dellapina created Specs4Us to improve the quality of life for children and adults with Down syndrome. With over 25 years of experience in the optical field, Maria decided to utilize her knowledge and passion as an optician to help her daughter, who has Down syndrome, and others like her gain access to specially fitting frames.
“San Antonio exemplifies the women in the summit as we have many passionate and powerful women leading our city, businesses, communities and households,” said Mayor Taylor. “This year’s women in the program is sure to once again elevate and inspire all our female leaders.”
The event will take place at the St. Anthony Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ticket prices run between $75- $150 each. Click here to purchase tickets.
*Top image: Speakers from the 2014 Women in the World summit gather for a group photo. Courtesy photo.
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