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Accolades: The Texas Academy Awards of Child Advocacy

November 3 @ 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

CHILDREN AT RISK is once again excited to host our Accolades Luncheon: The Texas Academy Awards of Child Advocacy. At this annual event, attendees will enjoy a delicious lunch as we honor and give accolades to outstanding child advocates and nonprofit organizations driving change and making life better for Texas children.

We are delighted to have Robert and Georgiana Ladd and Ben and Mary Patton as Chairs for this year’s Luncheon. Our focus is to highlight the importance of Early & K-12 education. CHILDREN AT RISK works to ensure every child and family has access to affordable high quality early education programs and strengthen an early childhood workforce that is prepared, rewarded, and supported. We conduct research to understand trends, inequities, resources, and opportunities in public education and use that research to advocate for policy change at the local, state, and federal levels.

We are thrilled to honor Dr. Ruth Simmons, a native Texan and a trail blazer in the field of education on a national level. Dr. Simmons has held numerous distinguished leadership roles in the field of education, most notably as the first African American female to lead an Ivy League institution as President of Brown University.

See below for this year’s award nominees and join us on November 3rd for the ultimate celebration!

NOMINEES

CHILD HEALTH ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

Dr. Steven Kelder, Coordinated Approach To Child Health

Rekha Lakshmanan, The Immunization Partnership

Dr. Glenn Fennelly, Texas Tech University Health Sciences El Paso

EDUCATION ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

Amanda Fernandez, Latinos for Education

Dr. Teresa Granillo, AVANCE

Marcia Page, Education is Freedom

CHILD WITH DISABILITIES ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

Jennifer Martinez, The Arc of Texas

Liz Selig, KNOWAutism

EXCELLENCE IN EQUITY – NONPROFIT

Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation

AVANCE

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

EXCELLENCE IN EQUITY – POLICY

Representative Toni Rose, Texas House of Representatives

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, Texas’ 16th Congressional District in El Paso

OUTSTANDING CHILD FOCUSED NONPROFIT/NONPROFIT PROGRAM

Big Thought

Head Start of Greater Dallas

Big Brothers, Big Sisters – Lone Star

RISING STAR IN CHILD ADVOCACY

Kendra Richardson, FunkyTownFridge

Viridiana Carrizales, ImmSchools

Arshia Papari, Our Turn

OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT RESEARCHER

Dr. Camille Gibson, College of Juvenile & Psychology at Prairie View A&M University

Grace Tee Lewis, Environmental Defense Fund

OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT COLLABORATIVE/COLLABORATIVE PROGRAM

Texas Partnership for Out of School Time

Texas Girls Collaborative Project

The Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies

OUTSTANDING CHILD ADVOCATE – HOUSTON, GULF COAST, AND EAST TEXAS

Kevin Hattery, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston

Cynthia Colbert, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Dr. Melanie Johnson, Collaborative for Children

OUTSTANDING CHILD ADVOCATE – AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO, AND CENTRAL TEXAS

Cody Summerville, Texas Association for the Education of Young Children

Susan McDowell, LifeWorks Austin

Kim Updegrove, Mothers’ Milk Bank – Austin

OUTSTANDING CHILD ADVOCATE – EL PASO AND WEST TEXAS

Cathy Evces Gaytan, El Paso Guidance Center

Rafael Garcia, Sacred Heart Church – El Paso

OUTSTANDING CHILD ADVOCATE – DALLAS, FORT WORTH, AND NORTH TEXAS

Dr. Olga Martinez Hickman, Bachman Lake Together

Leah King, United Way of Tarrant County

OUTSTANDING CHILD ADVOCATE – RIO GRANDE VALLEY

Ernest Espinoza, Children’s Bereavement Center

Martha Gonzalez, Big Heroes Inc.

Jesus Sanchez, Children’s Advocacy Center of Hidalgo and Starr Counties

ABOUT OUR CHAIRS

Rob and Georgiana Ladd have been married for 45 years having met at Rice University. They both attended the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business. Georgiana is a member of the University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston’s Development Board. Rob is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Rice University.

Rob is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE:SCM) and Managing Partner of Stellus Capital Management, a private investment firm with $3 billion of assets under management. He has previously held senior leadership positions at DE Shaw, Duke Energy, Arthur Andersen and First City Bancorporation.

Ben and Mary Patton are highly accomplished leaders in the Houston community. They are the proud parents of daughter, Violet, and much like other couples, they juggle full-time careers as well. Ben is a partner at Reed Smith and Beth is an interior designer with her own firm, Mary Patton Design.

Both Ben and Mary are philanthropists and believe in giving back to the Houston community.  When not designing, Mary enjoys painting in her studio, playing tennis, practicing yoga and spending quality time with her family and friends.  Ben, when not spending time with his family volunteers by serving on the Board of Directors of Dress for Success Houston and Houston Wilderness, and as an active member of the Center for Houston’s Future Business and Civic Leadership Forum.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Title Sponsor
Claude McKay Sponsor

Robert & Georgiana Ladd and Benjamin & Mary Patton

Barbara Bush Sponsor

Erich Almonte, King & Spalding LLC

Hackett Family Foundation

Devika Kornbacher, Clifford Chance

Ben Patton, Reed Smith

Maya Pomroy, The Public Lead

Ruth J. Simmons

For more information, please contact Michelle Bowman at mbowman@childrenatrisk.org or 713.301.6970.

Details

Date:
November 3, 2023
Time:
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Event Category:

Venue

Hotel ZaZa Museum District
5701 Main St
Houston, TX 77005 United States
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