A Board is Born: Ladies of the Court
On April 26, 2017, the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute Distinguished Speaker Series luncheon featured award-winning journalist Lesley Stahl and her book, Becoming Grandma. The WINGS Women’s Board of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation served as a collaborative partner with the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for the occasion, and the hugely successful luncheon caused co-chairs Gena Bonsall and Penny Gunning to realize the formula could be repeated for an ongoing event.
They put their heads together and decided to create a Legacy Luncheon for Justice O’Connor. The effort will be collaborative effort between Hospice of the Valley and the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute.
“There are so many great things about Arizona,” Gunning explains. “And Justice O’Connor is the best of Arizona. It’s nice to have someone everyone can get behind and be proud of.”
Like Justice O’Connor, Gunning and Bonsall are women of action. Once they have an idea, they make it happen. To that end, they assembled “Ladies of the Court,” a new community board to serve as the Women’s Board of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute.
The pair have each been active supporters of the community for years, working on committees, chairing events, serving on nonprofit boards. Their goal was to create a diverse, nonpartisan board of women representing all walks of life, an “incredible eclectic group,” who would roll up their sleeves and get things done. Their vast personal networks guided the selection of 26 seasoned community supporters. The resulting board, printed below, comprises powerhouse women who have founded, worked with or otherwise lent support to an endless number of community causes: Board of Visitors, Heart Ball, Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, PANDA, the major arts organizations and institutions, hospital foundations and more.
The Women of the Court have now organized their first Legacy Luncheon, and, not surprisingly, it is a sell-out. The April 25, 2018, event will feature former first lady Laura Bush as the featured speaker. Bush will reflect on her time as first lady and discuss her book, Spoken from the Heart. Proceeds from the luncheon will equally benefit Hospice of the Valley and its new dementia care and education campus and the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute.
MORE LUNCHEON INFO
LADIES OF THE COURT
Trisha Anthony
Gena Bonsall
Liz Bunn
Cathy Dickey
Anne Marie Dobbs
Jacquie Dorrance
Harriet Friedland
Sandy Getz
Sue Glawe
Penny Gunning
Martha Hunter Henderson
Carrie Hulburd
Jane Jozoff
Margot Knight
Susan Levine
Jan Lewis
Sandy Magruder
Ina Manaster
Debbie Moak
Kolby Moffatt
Carolyn O’Malley
Susan Palmer-Hunter
Sue Selig
Susie Small
Kim Sterling-Heflin
Gay Wray
