
The Top Ten Professional Women and Leading Business Awards is Oct. 13 in Fresno.
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The Marjaree Mason Center has announced its Top Ten Professional Women and Leading Business Awards honorees for 2017 — the 34th annual edition of the event.
Every year about 1,000 people in Fresno gather to celebrate ten women who serve as role models and community leaders while also making strides in their professions, as well as one business for its support of women and women’s issues.
The following honorees were nominated by a community member and reviewed by a five-judge panel:
Mendy Laval Alkotob – Partner, Laval Family Consulting; intrapreneur in residence, Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Fresno State; instructor, Craig School Of Business, Fresno State
Angie Barfield – Student intervention & prevention coordinator, Fresno County Office of Education; community youth advocate
DeDe Darnell – Interior designer and firm principal, Darden Architects
Katherine Flores, MD – Director, UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research
Linda Gleason – Executive director, Fresno Cradle to Career Partnership; founding director, The Children’s Movement Fresno
Debbie Jacobsen – Co-owner, J&L Vineyards
Catherine Lumsden-Dvorak – MediCare account manager, DiBuduo & DeFendis Insurance Brokers, LLC.
Karen Musson – Managing partner, Gar Tootelian, Inc.; CEO, Gar and Esther Tootelian Charitable Foundation
Diane Phakonekham – Executive director, Big Brothers Big Sisters
Kathryn Phillips – Children’s grief support group facilitator, Hinds Hospice
2017 Leading Business: MJR Creative Group
“Congratulations to this year’s Top Ten award recipients, a group of leaders who are not only making great strides in their professional careers but serve as leaders and role models in their investment in our community,” said Nicole Linder, Marjaree Mason Center’s executive director, in a statement. “Marjaree Mason Center is proud to host this annual event and asks the community to join us in honoring these outstanding citizens.”
Tickets for the Oct. 13 event at 11 a.m. at the Fresno Convention Center mmcenter.org/top-ten