IWA: International Women Associates

2012 Woman Extraordinaire

Connie K. Duckworth

Duckworth founded ARZU Studio Hope in 2004, following a twenty-year career at Goldman Sachs as the first woman sales and trading partner in the firm’s history.  ARZU, which means “hope” in Dari, is an innovative social and business model that helps Afghan women weavers and their families break the cycle of poverty by providing a steady income and access to education and healthcare from the rugs they weave.  Ms. Duckworth is a corporate director, entrepreneur, published author, investor in women-led start-ups and a social activist. She has received numerous awards for leadership, advocacy, social impact, innovation and global presence.

To learn about Sponsorship Opportunities, click below.

2012 WEX Sponsorship Members FINAL.pdf

TO BUY RAFFLE TICKETS, CLICK HERE 

TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT, CLICK HERE. 

Since 1996, IWA has presented its annual Woman Extraordinaire Award to a distingushed Chicago-area woman who has made outstanding contributions in her field and in the international arena. 

Past honorees are:

• 2011 Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, In her role as Vice President of Global Corporate Citizenship for Boeing Compant, Ms. Roosevelt provides philosophical and strategic direction to a network of US and international community investors. 

• 2010 Marjorie Craig Benton, She served as the U.S. Ambassador to UNICEF and Board   Chair of Save the Children Federation.  Benton co-founded the Chicago Global Donors Forum, Chicago Foundation for Women and the Peace Museum in Chicago.

• 2009   Major L. Tammy Duckworth She was named by President Obama to be Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  Previously she served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.  She is an Iraq War veteran with severe combat wounds that cost her both legs and damaged  her right arm.

• 2008  Bliss Browne, M.Div. Founder and President of Imagine Chicago; founding partner of Ubumama, a global and arts-based maternal health initiative. 

• 2007   Funmi Olopade, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago; breast cancer specialist; 2005 MacArthur Foundation fellow 

• 2006   Mary Margaret McCarthy, J.D. Attorney representing asylum clients and trafficking  victims from more than 90 countries; head of the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center 

• 2005   Adele Simmons, Ph.D. Global Philanthropy President; former President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

• 2004    Georgie Anne Geyer Foreign correspondent; syndicated columnist; television analyst; author 

• 2003    Cheryl I. Niro, J.D. Founder of the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education 

• 2002    Nina Nathan Schroeder Co-Founder of the Tibetan Alliance in Chicago; advocate for children in Chicago Public School system

• 2001    Jeanne L. Nowaczewski Director of the Public Education Project and Staff Counsel for Business and Professional People for the Public Interest; founder of The Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago

• 2000    Ronne Hartfield Arts educator; multicultural education specialist; author 

• 1999    Janet Davison Rowley, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics, and Cell   Biology at the University of Chicago Medical School 

• 1998    Eva L. Maddox Co-Founder of Archeworks, an alternative design school; president of Eva Maddox Associates, an interior design and architecture firm 

• 1997    Stephanie Pace Marshall, Ph.D. Founding Executive Director of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy 

• 1996    Mary Zimmerman Artistic Associate at the Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre,