Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Announces 2024 Inspiring Women of Iowa Finalists
The annual event, benefitting Girl Scouts in Greater Iowa, showcases women of courage, confidence, and character as well as individuals who advocate for women.
Des Moines, IA- Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa is excited to announce the finalists for the 2024 Inspiring Women of Iowa event, presented by Lincoln Savings Bank. At the eighth annual Inspiring Women of Iowa luncheon on May 10, 2024, we will honor 16 finalists and celebrate the Courage, Confidence and Character Award recipients as well as those who make up the community of support around them, Inspiring Advocates for Women. The event chair for 2024 is Tina Smothers, Owner of Integrated Asset Management-IAM, LLC and the Emcee is Jodi Long, Anchor/Reporter at KCCI 8 News. Tickets are now available at inspiringwomenofiowa.com.
Courage Award Finalists:
- Trudy Carlson, CEO & Founder of Conversational Lounge Network
- Rosalind Fox, Factory Manager at John Deere
- Shalika Khindurangala, President & Founder of Iowans for Ukrainians and Career Coordinator at Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University
- Smita Nishant, Vice President of Technology & Data Strategy at Wells Fargo
Confidence Award Finalists:
- Trina Flack, Vice President of Sales at Catch Des Moines
- Penny Furgerson, Co-Founder of Gateway Dance Theatre
- Kori Heuss, President & Owner of Heuss Printing, Inc.
- April Schmaltz, President & CEO at Delta Dental of Iowa
Character Award Finalists:
- Dr. Lindsey Christianson, Broadlawns Primary Care Clinic Section Chief & Faculty for Broadlawns Medical Center FP/TY Residency Program
- Valora’ James, Co-Chair of Hip-Hope Many Shades of Colour Young Women’s Conference
- Justine Teut, Human Resources Executive
- Sarah Noll Wilson, President of Sarah Noll Wilson, Inc.
Inspiring Advocate for Women Award Finalists:
- Teleza “TJ” Daniels, Director of the Iowa Center’s Women’s Business Center at Iowa Center for Economic Success
- Rachel Formaro, Founder & CEO, Blu Pagoda LLC
- Lisa Grefe, Wealth Advisor at Northwest Wealth Management
- Adrienne Hardin, Senior Customer Content Manager at TrustRadius
Finalists were selected from nominations submitted by the public, and then reviewed by the nominations committee, comprised of former Inspiring Women of Iowa award finalists. Proceeds from Inspiring Women of Iowa benefit Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, and our mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Event Details:
- Date: Friday, May 10, 2024
- Location: The Meadows Events & Conference Center, 1 Prairie Meadows Drive, Altoona, Iowa 50009
- Networking begins at 11:00 a.m.
- Doors open at 11:30 a.m.
- Event & lunch at 12:00 p.m.
- Event ends at 1:00 p.m.
- Networking ends at 2:00 p.m.
Ticket Options:
- Table Purchase: $400 per table. Tables seat 8 and will be reserved seating.
- Individual Tickets: $60 per ticket. Individual tickets are open seating and not assigned to a table.
Registration closes May 1, 2024. Purchase tickets at inspiringwomenofiowa.com.
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About Inspiring Women of Iowa:
Inspiring Women of Iowa started in 2017 with a simple idea: recognize women of courage, confidence, and character, who are making the world a better place. Why does that sound familiar? Because it also happens to be the mission of Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, where we believe society is better because strong women show girls that anything is possible.
Since then, the Inspiring Women of Iowa event has showcased women who exemplify bravery, empathy, and drive as they go through their daily lives. From teachers to executives, filmmakers to attorneys, these women continue to inspire us every single day. We knew there was an opportunity to celebrate these women and share their stories with Iowans, so we created this event to tell their stories and to get inspired to do more for women and girls in our community.
At the 2020 Inspiring Women of Iowa luncheon, we debuted a new category– the Inspiring Advocate for Women Award, celebrating those who support and fight for women every day.
Proceeds from the event benefit Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, where girls learn to empower themselves to make change in the world. Sounds inspiring, doesn’t it?
About Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa:
We are Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa. We’re more than 13,000 girls and adults from Central/Western Iowa, NE Nebraska and SE South Dakota who believe every girl can change the world.
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends.
Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them.
To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscoutsiowa.org.
