Our International Outreach Award goes to Cristal Montenez Baylor and the Hashoo Foundation. The Hashoo Foundation was recognized for their empowerment of Women through a Honeybee Farming project. The project trains Pakistani women to be beekeepers and enables them to generate a stable source of income to provide for themselves and their dependants. The honey they raise is sold to luxury hotels worldwide. The Hashoo Foundation won the coveted BBC World Challenge 08 for their solution to two of the planets biggest problems, hunger and poverty.

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Kristi Schiller was presented with the prestigious Philanthropy Award.  Kristi never says no to a worthy cause, especially one that benefits women and children.   She volunteers her talents for many Houston non-profits.More

Mary Kate Robinson with The Art Institute of Houston was recognized as the Chamber's Committee Chair of the Year.  She supported one of our most important initiatives, Education.  Mary Kate organized important programs with Houston and Spring Branch School Districts.  They programs included, Job Shadowing, Texas Scholars, Mentoring and Scholarship Programs.  Mary Kate Robinson and The Art Institute of Houston generously donated the talents of many of their students to create the Chamber's website.  The Art Institute of Houston is a founding member of the Chamber.

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Our RockStar Award was presented to Dr. Mary Ann Reynolds with Stewart Title.  Mary Ann is a woman who epitomizes professionalism.  She is articulate, loyal, beautiful, both inside and out and disciplined.  She is a great role model to women in the business community.  She has been Suzan's sounding board and "cheerleader" of the Chamber. Mary Ann serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Chamber.More

Our Economic Development Award goes to Dress for Success, Houston and Co-Founder Nancy Levicki for her vision in co-founding the organization.  Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that helps thousands of Houston's female workforce succeed.  The organization provides interview suits, confidence boosts and career development to more than 3000 women annually.  The suits they provide help women not only look their best, it gives their clients a strong first impression in an interview, and the confidence to succeed. Founded by Nancy Levicki and Susie Cunningham, Dress for Success Houston has grown from serving three non-profit member organizations to serving over 110 non-profit sites in the greater Houston area.More

Karen Chin with B2B CFO is the Chamber's 2008 Volunteer of the Year.  The award is presented to someone who has demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond and who has given significantly of her time and talents to the Chamber for the betterment of the business community. Karen has served on most of the Chamber committees and attended nearly every event the Chamber has hosted. At every luncheon, she encourages 20 to 30 of her friends and colleagues to come along. Not surprising, many of her guests have become important members of the Chamber. Karen serves as our treasurer as well as serving on the Board.More

We were honored to present our Citizen of the Year Award to Paula Harris with Schlumberger.  Paula has received numerous recognitions and has served on several boards including Mental Health Association, The Ensemble Theatre Board, the Menil Development, and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership Board.  She is an author and publisher and wrote the book, For Sister: The Guide for Professional Black Women and recently wrote and published the children's book, When I Grow Up, I want to be an engineer.  Paula was elected to the HISD Board of Education and proudly serves at the First Vice President of the HISD BoardMore

When Suzan Deison, Founder & President of the Chamber, initially started thinking about founding a Houston based women's Chamber of Commerce, one of the first people to give her that extra encouragement and support was a man, Richard Cole with AT&T. Richard was also instrumental in encouraging Suzan to apply for the Galleria Chamber of Commerce Presidency.  Richard has been a strong advocate for all women and a great mentor for at least five other Chamber Presidents. We believe he also holds the record for serving on more Chamber Boards than anyone else in the City.  Richard served as our Governmental Affairs Chair and also serves on our Executive Committee and Board.More