Spotlight On: Arizona Foundation for Women

Sadly, Avnet does not give us a day off on Columbus Day, so I will not be on holiday Monday, October 12.  Happily, I will be doing something really exciting.  The Arizona Foundation for Women (AFW) is a nonprofit that is near and dear to my heart.  I served on their board of directors for several years and still stay involved with them through some committee work.  Wonderful organization.  Very fulfilling work, I did with them.

My favorite thing about this nonprofit is that they look to fulfill the unmet needs of Arizona’s women and children.  It’s the unmet part that is so exciting.  The founders of this org took a look at what was going on in Arizona.  They said, we do not want to re- invent the wheel here, we just want to get a big picture.  What’s going on in our community, what isn’t, where is the gap, how can we fill it, where can we create synergies?  Love that concept!

And speaking of synergies, AFW is also where I first met Deb Carstens, a wonderful woman, great leader and incredible philanthropist.  She has donated thousands of dollars to this community.  Luckily for Avnet, she also is a great supporter of the Avnet Tech Games and is donating our scholarship money again for the April 10, 2010 event.

Anyway, back to what’s happening on Monday, in Phoenix, Ariz. — AFW hosts the Sandra Day O’Connor Awards Luncheon. This will be the 13th awards luncheon.  It has been my pleasure to have been at almost all 13 of these.   Met lots of impressive, strong leaders at these events.  Stand-outs in my mind, although we are not on the same side of the fence, so to speak, were Elizabeth Dole and Barbara Bush.

Am really excited about the award recipient this year.  The luncheon will be honoring Dr. Madeleine Albright with the Sandra Day O’Connor Lifetime Achievement Award.  For more info or to purchase tickets, visit the AFW Web site.

Spotlight On: AFW
The mission of The Arizona Foundation for Women is to invest in and promote innovative solutions to fulfill the unmet needs of Arizona’s women and children.

The Arizona Foundation for Women works to enhance the lives of women and children by investing in and promoting innovative solutions to such issues as domestic violence and child abuse prevention, economic self-sufficiency and self-esteem for young women.

The Foundation promotes women’s philanthropy, funds model programs or new ideas, facilitates community collaboration and works to influence public policy. Through its work, the Foundation strives to create an Arizona where women and children live free from fear and violence in a just society.