Texas Women’s Foundation Honors Changemakers at 2026 Leadership Forum & Awards Celebration

 Texas Women’s Foundation’s Leadership Forum & Awards Celebration brought together a sold-out audience of more than 600 attendees on April 29 at Moody Performance Hall for an inspiring evening dedicated to celebrating women’s leadership and building #StrongWomenBetterTexas and raising more than $385,000 in support of the foundation’s mission. 

Event Leadership: Karen Hughes White (President & CEO, TXWF), Cristal Retana Luna (Co-Chair), Cris Zertuche Wong (TXWF Board Chair), Lynn McBee (Co-Chair)

Co-chaired by Cristal Retana Lule and Lynn McBee, the event highlighted the power of sisterhood and collective philanthropy in removing the barriers to women’s economic security, stability and success and creating a strong and vibrant Texas for all.

Young Leader Award Recipients: Karen Hughes White (President & CEO, TXWF), Amanda Valentine, Prisma Garcia, Cris Zertuche Wong (TXWF Board Chair)

The 2026 Young Leader Award recipients, Prisma Garcia and Amanda Valentine, were recognized for their bold leadership and commitment to creating pathways for others. Garcia’s work in education, mental health access and public service, alongside Valentine’s impact in healthcare operations and systems improvement, exemplify the next generation of changemakers.

The prestigious Maura Women Helping Women Awards honored five exceptional leaders:

• Debra Hunter Johnson for her transformational leadership and advocacy in the corporate and nonprofit sectors;
• Kim Bizor Tolbert for her groundbreaking leadership as Dallas City Manager and commitment to public service;
• Margie Aguilar for amplifying diverse voices through media and storytelling with an emphasis on the Hispanic community;
• Dr. Olga Martinez Hickman for her community-driven work advancing equity and opportunity through Bachman Lake Together;
• Thear Suzuki for her purpose-driven leadership and dedication to inspiring courageous action through mentorship and philanthropy.

The Leadership Forum, presented by Southwest Airlines, emceed by CBS News Anchor Karen Borta, served as a masterclass in leadership, featuring dynamic, micro-learning sessions with award recipients and thought leaders. Borta emphasized the power of collective action and shared purpose in driving meaningful change for women and families across Texas.

The forum opened with “Power, Poise & Purpose,” featuring Kim Bizor Tolbert who shared her insights on leading with intention and navigating leadership at the highest levels of public service. Tolbert shared that the award carries deep meaning, calling it “a mandate to continue to work, swim upstream and focus on what matters.” She emphasized staying grounded in faith amid pressure, noting, “I use my voice to help women find ways forward — not just by opening the door, but by making sure they have the keys.”

Karen Borta, Kim Bizor Tolbert

To close the forum, Thear Suzuki reflected on values-driven leadership, legacy, and the importance of inspiring courageous action in others. “Courage comes from external sources – we have courage to act when we know someone has our back,” she shared.

Following the forum, the foundation presented its Special Recognition Award to High Tech Rising (formerly High Tech High Heels) for its decades-long commitment to advancing girls in STEM. Melendy Lovett and Laura Steffek accepted the honor, sharing that over 25 years, the initiative has reached more than 90,000 girls and invested more than $2 million in STEM education. Fittingly, Texas Instruments sponsored this award as its female leaders were the catalyst for founding the nonprofit 25 years ago.

Concluding the program, the Foundation introduced its inaugural Champion Award, honoring Allen Nye, CEO of Oncor, for his leadership in advancing women in the workplace. Nye thanked Texas Women’s Foundation for opening doors, expanding opportunities and reminding others what is possible when talent is encouraged. “Better decisions are made when there are more perspectives at the table. It’s not just the right thing to do; it’s good business.”

Texas Women’s Foundation President and CEO Karen Hughes White closed the program by thanking attendees, congratulating award recipients, and reflecting on the collective experience, saying, “Friends, I hope you all are feeling as inspired and energized as I am. More importantly, I hope you are feeling hopeful about the future we’re building together.”

Texas Women’s Foundation Honored Seven Women for Leadership and Service

 Texas Women’s Foundation (TXWF) held its 42^nd annual Leadership Forum and Awards Celebration (LFAC), presented by AT&T, on April 29. The Foundation honored five Maura Women Helping Women recipients and two Young Leader Award recipients who have made positive impacts in the lives of women and girls. 

The keynote conversation featured Adriana Gascoigne, author of Tech Boss Lady and founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, interviewed by AT&T’s Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations Marachel Knight. 

After the compelling talk, the honorees and TXWF leaders and supporters participated in leadership forums with event attendees. LFAC netted $475,000 to further the mission of Texas Women’s Foundation.

Co-Chairs Hattie Hill and Jana Etheridge

Co-chairs Jana Etheridge, senior vice president, chief of staff & customer office, Financial Services, Capital One, and Hattie Hill, president and CEO of T.D. Jakes Foundation, welcomed everyone and discussed how difficult the pandemic has been on women, particularly working moms who have had to balance work, school, child care and family duties – if they had a job where they could work from home. 

Brenda Jackson, Leadership Awards Selection Committee co-chair, gave a history of the leadership awards.

A. Shonn Brown, Chair of the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Board, introduced three of the award recipients. 

 ·      Maura Award Recipient Trisha Cunningham is leading in calm and in crisis as the president and CEO of North Texas Food Bank by leading a staff of 180 that helped serve 97 million meals in 2020.

 ·      Rani Puranik, Maura Award recipient, is an intrapreneur and global change agent as co-owner and Global CFO of Houston-based Worldwide Oilfield Machine and leading supporter of an Indian school. 

 ·      Young Leader Award Recipient Kim Roxie is an entrepreneur and catalyst for women of color as founder and CEO of LAMIK Beauty that caters to multicultural women. 

 

Co-chair Hattie Hill introduced the two award recipients:

 ·      Maura Award Recipient Judy Treviño is paying it forward as executive director of CCVI Ministries, an international nonprofit organization that is transforming the lives of people and the community.

 ·      Cheryl Polote Williamson, Maura Award recipient, is helping people find their power through their purpose as founder of Soul Reborn and Cheryl Polote Williamson LLC.

Co-chair Jana Etheridge introduced two award recipients:

 ·      Young Leader Award Recipient Diana Mao is transforming women from victimized to victorious as the president of Nomi Network whose mission is to eradicate human trafficking.  

 ·      Jin-Ya Huang, Maura Award recipient, invests in women as the founder of Break Bread, Break Borders that empowers refugee women economically through the storytelling of cooking, food and culture. 

 

Jennifer Biry, chief financial officer of AT&T’s Warner Media business and presenting sponsor, introduced the keynote speaker, Adriana Gascoigne and Marachel Knight. 

 Marachel Knight moderated the discussion with Adriana Gascoigne and asked her questions about her life, career and advice. Gascoigne, who has often been the only female and woman of color at many start-up companies gave the following advice:

 ·      Leadership starts at the top. 

 ·      Resiliency is an important quality in starting a business. 

 ·      Find your passion and purpose.

 ·      Find the right partners and the right funding sources.

 ·      Don’t be afraid to take risks. 

 In addition to the video recordings, Texas Women’s Foundation launches Gender Matters™, a podcast series sponsored by Kimberly-Clark Corp. that features in-depth interviews with each award recipient with Kimberly-Clark Corp. executives and TXWF CEO Roslyn Dawson Thompson. More information can be found at txwfleadership.org.