The Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation held its fourth annual Women of Worth Stiletto Awards Luncheon last week at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach. Guest speakers at the event included Dr. Courtney Miller of the Scripps Florida Research Institute in Jupiter and mental health advocate Dena Sisk Foman.
“Dr. Miller’s addiction research gives us real hope, and Dena Sisk Foman inspires us to overcome great adversity,” explained Wayne Burns, CEO of the Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation.
At the event, attended by nearly 175 people, the foundation announced its new charitable recipient. “The Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation is dedicated to making a difference in the lives and health of people, not just in Palm Beach County, but throughout the world,” said Dr. Jeffry Bishop, chairman of the foundation. “We are proud of our foundation’s newly formed partnership with Scripps. One of the new charitable recipients of the foundation is Dr. Kendall Nettles of the Scripps Institute, who is focused on groundbreaking research in the area of breast and ovarian cancer diagnostics.”
The luncheon is held annually to recognize and celebrate women who have made valuable contributions in Palm Beach County.
The nominees in the corporate category included: Michelle Haines, BB&T Bank; Robbin Lee, Wellington Regional Medical Center; and Aleida Socarras, Florida Public Utilities.
In the entrepreneur category, the nominees included: Joanna Boynton, Boynton Financial Group; Silvia Garcia, Silvia Garcia Insurance Advisors; Carol O’Neil, CEO Financial Services; and Deana Pizzo, IT Solutions of South Florida.
The nominees in the young professionals category included: Jessica Clasby, Leadership Palm Beach County; Caitlin Mertzlufft, NextEra Energy Resources; and Loverly Sheridan, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries.
In the nonprofit category, the nominees were: Paula Giordano, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries; Kristen Solomon, Guardian Ad Litem; Diana Stanley, the Lord’s Place; and Julie Swindler, Families First of Palm Beach.
The 2014 winners were: Aleida Socarras of Florida Public Utilities, Deana Pizzo of IT Solutions of South Florida, Caitlin Mertzlufft of NextEra Energy Resources and Diana Stanley of the Lord’s Place.
Sponsors of the event included the Mall at Wellington Green, Pandora, the Schumacher Family of Dealerships, Anderson-Moore Construction, the Troika Group, FPL, McLaughlin & Stern, Republic Services, Florida Public Utilities and the Palm Beach Post.
The Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce.
ABOVE: (L-R) Foundation CEO Wayne Burns, Rachelle Crain of the Mall at Wellington Green, Diana Stanley of the Lord’s Place, Deana Pizzo of IT Solutions of South Florida, Caitlin Mertzlufft of NextEra Energy Resources, Aleida Socarras of Public Utilities, Foundation Chairman Dr. Jeffrey Bishop and Pattie Light of Pandora.
