2007 banquet photos
courtesy of
Focus Photography
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to Keynote 24th Annual WWIG Scholarship Recognition Banquet
Dinner to Be Held Tuesday, May 17 at the Monona Terrace in Madison
Wisconsin Women in Government (WWIG) announced today that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor, will keynote the organization’s 24th Annual Scholarship Recognition Banquet on Tuesday, May 17 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison.
“We are thrilled to have Kathleen Kennedy Townsend keynote this year’s banquet,” said Angela Arrington, WWIG President. “Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has led a remarkable life of public service and humanitarianism, as Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor, as an environmental attorney, and as a health care and education advocate. She is a true role model for women serving in government at all levels.”
Banquet tickets and sponsorship opportunities:
Individual banquet tickets are on sale now for $65 and can be purchased online by clicking on the "buy now" link below. You may also download the reservation form and mail it in. Those interested in attending can also call (608) 848-2321 for more information. Sponsorships are also available - download the reservation form for information on sponsorship levels and how to reserve your table.
The banquet will begin with a networking and cocktail reception from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The dinner, program and keynote address will run from 7:00-8:30 p.m. New this year: the networking reception will feature a photo booth from Focus Photography and the banquet will feature a silent auction.
WWIG’s annual dinner is the premier bipartisan political event in Wisconsin, attended by more than 1,000 state and local elected officials, business leaders, public servants, and political enthusiasts. Since 1987, WWIG has raised money to support and encourage women to choose a career in government service. Each year, the organization awards scholarships to women pursuing undergraduate study in public service and administration and government affairs.
Online registration has closed for this event.
Karen Hughes to Keynote 23rd Annual WWIG Scholarship Recognition Banquet
Dinner to Be Held Wednesday, May 5 at the Monona Terrace in Madison
MADISON – Wisconsin Women in Government (WWIG) announced today that Ambassador Karen Hughes will keynote the organization’s 23rd Annual Scholarship Recognition Banquet on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison. Hughes is a veteran Republican political advisor from Texas who served former President George W. Bush in a number of key roles, including as White House Counselor from 2001 to 2002.
“We are thrilled to have Karen Hughes keynote this year’s banquet,” said Grace Cudney, WWIG President.
“A woman of many accomplishments, Karen Hughes has led a remarkable life of public service and political activism.”
Hughes served as Counselor to President Bush from 2001 to 2002. Told by the President that he wanted her “in the room whenever a major decision was made,” Hughes worked on a comprehensive range of domestic and foreign policy issues. She also led the White House Offices of Communications, Press Secretary, Media Affairs and Speechwriting.
Hughes also served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2005-2007. In that role, Ambassador Hughes dramatically reshaped the State Department’s communications efforts, launched a new focus on America’s “diplomacy of deeds” through health, education and English-teaching programs, and made public diplomacy central in the development of foreign policy.
Hughes’ political experience includes serving as Communications Director of President Bush's presidential campaign in 2000, senior communications strategist on his 2004 re-election campaign, Director of Communications in the Texas Governor's Office, Executive Director of the Texas Republican Party, and numerous political, issue and bond campaigns.
She is the author of Ten Minutes from Normal, a book about her experiences working for President Bush and her decision leave the White House and move with her family home to Texas in 2002. She is currently the Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm. In her personal time, she has also devoted herself to the cause of breast cancer awareness.
A limited number of Individual banquet tickets are available for $65. Those interested in attending can call (608) 848-2321 for more information. Sponsorships are also available, and information on sponsorship levels and how to reserve your table can be found at www.WiscWomenInGovernment.org.
The banquet will begin with a networking reception at 5:15 p.m. The welcome and keynote address will begin at 7:00 p.m., with dinner and the awards program immediately following.
NOTE: Media interested in attending should contact Jessica Erickson at 608-215-0468 or via email at jessicaerickson20@hotmail.com for media credentials.
On-line Tickets sales are closed
WWIG’s annual dinner is the premier bipartisan political event in Wisconsin, attended by more than 1,000 state and local elected officials, business leaders, public servants, and political enthusiasts. Since 1987, WWIG has raised money to support and encourage women to choose a career in government service. Each year, the organization awards scholarships to women pursuing undergraduate study in public service and administration and government affairs.
Past keynote speakers have been:
2009 – Donna Brazile, veteran Democratic political commentator and strategist
2008 – Jenna Bush, best-selling author & international child rights advocate
2007 – Elizabeth Edwards, accomplished attorney, best-selling author
2006 – Christine Todd Whitman, New Jersey’s first female Governor
2005 – Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former First Lady and U.S. Senator
2004 – Mary Matalin, former counselor to President Bush & Vice President Cheney
2003 – The Capitol Steps, musical political satire
2002 – Linda Wertheimer, award-winning broadcaster for National Public Radio
2001 – Catherine Crier, award-winning journalist for Court TV
2000 – Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist and author
1999 – Pat Schroeder, former Colorado congresswoman
1998 – Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas
1997 – Lynne Cheney, former Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and author
1996 – Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for President Clinton
1995 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
1994 – Ann Compton, award-winning journalist for ABC
1993 – Janet Steiger, former chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission
1992 – Molly Ivins, award-winning syndicated columnist and best-selling author
1991 – Peggy Noonan, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, author, and former speechwriter to President Nixon
1990 - Ellen Goodman, syndicated columnist
1989 – Marie Davis Jackson
1988 – Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former Chancellor of UW-Madison
Ambassador Karen Hughes
- Counselor to the President, 2001-2002
- Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, 2005-2007
- Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller
Karen Hughes is a senior strategist helping business leaders strengthen their corporate/CEO reputations, achieve business goals through effective communications and shape positive public and stakeholder perceptions.
Since joining Burson-Marsteller in 2008, she has brought to the business world her unique expertise honed over more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience, from helping lead winning presidential and gubernatorial campaigns to serving at the highest levels of federal and state government. Before joining Burson-Marsteller, Amb. Hughes was responsible for reaching out to audiences across the world on behalf of America as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2005-2007. In that role, Amb. Hughes dramatically reshaped the State Department’s communications efforts, rebuilt an agency that had been demoralized by years of budget cuts, launched a new focus on America’s “diplomacy of deeds” through health, education and English-teaching programs, and made public diplomacy central in the development of foreign policy.
Amb. Hughes served as Counselor to President George W. Bush in the White House from 2001 to 2002. Her title of "Counselor" reflected her role as a strategic advisor to President Bush. Told by the President that he wanted her “in the room whenever a major decision was made,” Amb. Hughes worked on a comprehensive range of domestic and foreign policy issues. She also led the White House Offices of Communications, Press Secretary, Media Affairs and Speechwriting.
When she left the White House to return with her family to Texas in 2002, The New York Times wrote: “The rule of thumb in any White House is that nobody is indispensable except the president. But Karen Hughes has come as close to that description as any recent presidential aide.” The Associated Press called her “perhaps the most influential woman ever to serve an American president.” ABC News said Karen Hughes was “the indispensable aide who could walk into the Oval Office and give the president an unvarnished opinion that he trusted.
Amb. Hughes’ extensive political experience includes serving as Communications Director and one of the “Iron Triangle” of three people who led President Bush's successful presidential campaign in 2000, and she traveled with President Bush as a senior communications strategist on his 2004 re-election campaign. She worked on state policy and served as Director of Communications in the Texas Governor's office (1995-1999) and directed communications during Governor Bush's successful campaign for Texas governor in1994 and his campaign for re-election in 1998. She was instrumental in helping develop and shape then-Governor and presidential candidate Bush’s image as a “compassionate conservative.
As Executive Director of the Texas Republican Party from 1992 until 1994, Amb. Hughes managed all aspects of the party's operations from candidate recruitment to fundraising. She served as a public relations consultant and frequent spokesman for the Republican Party in Texas throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. She was the Director of Media Relations for Halcyon Associates, a boutique public relations/public affairs company in Dallas, from 1987 until 1990. She worked on numerous political, issue and bond campaigns in Dallas in the 1980s and early 1990s and was the Texas press coordinator for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign.
Amb. Hughes started her career as a journalist, working as a television reporter for KXAS-TV (NBC affiliate) in Dallas-Fort Worth, where she covered everything from tornadoes to the Texas Legislature from 1977 until 1984. She is the author of Ten Minutes from Normal, a book about her experiences working for President Bush and her decision to leave the White House and move with her family home to Texas in 2002.
Amb. Hughes is a Phi Beta Kappa and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Journalism from Southern Methodist University in 1977. She is an elder in the Presbyterian Church and a long-time Sunday School teacher. She is married to attorney Jerry Hughes and has two children, Leigh and Robert.
