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Friday, March 10, 2017
Hilton Tampa Downtown
211 North Tampa Street. Tampa
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
The Waves of Changes event attracts affluent, educated professionals. 85% of attendees are women ranging from CEOs to young professionals in the Tampa Bay community. They are key influencers, philanthropic, business and community-minded.
Community Conversation with Sheila and...
Sheila Johnson, Co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, 
and our nation’s first black woman to attain billionaire status will be this year’s recipient of The Helen Gordon Davis Women’s Leadership Award on March 10, 2017. She is the pinnacle of entrepreneurship, making waves in every facet of the business world from multimedia productions to sports franchises. Johnson continues to prove that no obstacle is insurmountable if one only has the tools, willpower, and ingenuity to succeed.
- She is the second wealthiest woman of color in America today, just a step behind Oprah Winfrey. Johnson was unable to participate in sports when she was younger, and has been instrumental in facilitating changing conditions for women in sports, as President and Managing Partner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics; additionally, she is part owner in two men’s franchises the Washington Capitals (NHL) and the Washington Wizards (NBA).
- She opened up avenues for women of all races to enter the boardroom through the golf course, when she began purchasing golf resorts after being excluded from them herself. She is the owner of the local Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor.
- She was the first black woman to sit on the Executive Committee of the USGA, and is currently in her second year as their Secretary.
- She has a passion for the arts, and has recently began investing in film as executive producer of four documentary films: Kicking It (2008), A Powerful Noise (2008), She Is the Matador (2009), and The Other City (2010).
- In 2006, she was named Global Ambassador to Care, a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty through women’s empowerment.
- Her lifelong dedication to the arts earned her an appointment to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Paying tribute to a local woman who has turned the tides for women's leadership in our Tampa Bay community
Sandy Freedman, the first woman to become Mayor of Tampa Bay, will be the first recipient of The Helen Gordon Davis Women’s Centre’s Waves Award. This honor will be bestowed upon her at our Waves of Change Women’s Leadership Award luncheon, paying homage to a local woman who has continuously facilitated a tide of positive change for the Tampa Bay area over her career and her lifetime. She was inaugurated on July, 16 1986, taking over for the remainder of Bob Martinez’s term while he successfully campaigned for Governor of Florida. Upon taking the oath of office, Freedman immediately hit the ground running on a mission to clean up Tampa Bay. She is a champion of minorities, and has spent her career helping to bring equality to Tampa Bay. In an effort to help the impoverished gain financial agency, she launched the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, a housing initiative which partnered with local lending institutions and private non-profit agencies to make way for public housing residents to become home-owners. She organized Tampa’s first march against hate crimes. She aimed to have an administration which was an inclusive representation of all voices in Tampa Bay, appointing women and other minorities to the top positions in City Government. They were able to found the city’s first Women’s and Minority Business Enterprise program, this cleared a path way for people of minority status to attain more city contracts. She used her time in office to put Tampa on the national map, and under her watchful eye, the city gained the City Convention Center and the Florida Aquarium. She instituted programs to beautify and preserve our local ecology. We owe her a debt of gratitude for starting the city wide recycling program. She is also responsible for the restoration of Bayshore Boulevard, and the annual Hillsborough River clean up.
Our first Waves of Change Luncheon sold out in only three days -- the audience was then and again will be a “Who’s Who” of Tampa. This year’s luncheon is expected to attract 600-800 community leaders, legislators, entrepreneurs, educators and business people.
Waves of Change has quickly become a signature event attracting major corporations and organizations as sponsors; among them, Johnson & Johnson, Hands Across the Bay, TECO Energy, The Tampa Bay Rays, The Tampa Bay Times, USAmeriBank, Fifth Third Bank, and many others.
Waves of Change is a signature event in Tampa and a great way to connect with the community in a highly visible way
1) Empowering women and girls; and
2) Education and Youth Empowerment
This event is literally bursting with opinion leaders and decision-makers in the Tampa Bay region -- a great audience to showcase your commitment to the health and well being of women, girls, and their families.
Ample opportunities for promotion include Gravitas Magazine, the Tampa Bay Times, local news outlets, and numerous local and regional online resources and social media platforms.
This year will be a particularly festive celebration because it is our 40th anniversary of serving the Tampa Bay Community.
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