Accolades: The Texas Academy Awards of Child Advocacy

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.

Stay tuned to see our list of nominees for this year’s awards and join us on November 3rd for the ultimate celebration!

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.