Hoda Kotb named among Women of Influence for 2014
American Arab journalist and Today Show reporter Hoda Kotb will be among those honored May 1 by the T.J. Marshall Foundation for Leukemia, Caner and AIDS Research. Honorees also include fashion designer Randi Rahm, Z100 Radio’s Sharon Dastur, and founder of Radio One Cathy Hughes.
The T.J. Martell Foundation for leukemia, cancer and AIDS Research has announced its Women of Influence Awards which will be held Thursday, May 1st, 2014 at New York’s Essex House at Central Park South. The awards and luncheon will be from 11:30am – 2pm and is intended to raise funds for cancer research. The four outstanding women will be recognized for achieving tremendous goals in business while balancing work, home and health.
The foundation will honor Hoda Kotb, Co-host of the fourth hour of NBC’s Today Show, Randi Rahm, celebrated New York fashion designer, Sharon Dastur, Program Director for New York’s Z100 Radio and Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairperson of Radio One Inc.
“I am extremely excited about our second Women of Influence Awards in New York. The event brings together such amazing women to bond, learn about healthy living, breast cancer, awareness and prevention and to celebrate health and fitness month,” said Laura Heatherly, CEO of the T.J. Martell Foundation. “This event will raise vital funds for the T.J. Martell Foundation’s breast cancer research programs .”
Hoda Kotb, whose first name means guidance in Egyptian, is the Daytime Emmy award winning Co-host of the fourth hour of NBC’s Today Show. She also is a regular contributor to the network’s Dateline NBC. She is the author of the best-selling book Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer and Kathie Lee (2010) and Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives. In 2007, Kotb underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer and has since become a strong advocate for breast cancer awareness. It was at this time that she allowed Today Show cameras to follow her throughout her cancer battle and afterwards announced that she was cancer free. Her entire story was well documented on the show and has since raised important awareness for the prevention and early detection of breast cancer.
English: Randi Rahm in finale of her Fall 2011 Fashion Show (Photo credit: Wikipedia)New York fashion designer Randi Rahm is one of the worlds most celebrated designers with an eye on detail. Rahm is famous for her couture gowns, bridal wear and evening wear collections and her wide range of clientele including celebrities and socialites. Rahm is based in New York and is also a classically trained concert pianist and musician. She has dressed celebrities such as Carrie Underwood, Mariah Carey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Eva Longoria, Ashanti, Holly Hunter and various other celebrities.
Often described as one of the most welcoming designers in New York, Rahm is quick to tell anyone that she designs for the real woman and considers herself her own client. This personal mantra is what makes her designs some of the most sought after in the world. Rahm works closely with every single client and leaves her distinctive mark not only on the fashions they choose but in the lifelong friendships she has been able to acquire along the way. Rahm is a strong advocate for cancer prevention and research often contributing her time and influence to organizations like the T.J. Martell Foundation who make a difference and are passionate about finding a cure.
Sharon Dastur, Program Director of New York’s powerhouse Z100 Radio was also one of the top honorees for Billboard’s Women in Music 2011, 2012 and 2013, in addition to being named one of the Most Influential Women in Radio and Best Program Directors in America for the last 5 years. Dastur has been at Z100 for over 18 years and was responsible for a 23% increase in the station’s share in New York for listeners aged 18-34. She has helped grow Z100 into one of the world’s most influential radio stations. Dastur added a second station, Nick Radio, a youth-targeted station featured on iHeartRadio, in a partnership between Clear Channel and Nickelodeon. She is also the Executive Producer of the world famous Z100’s Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden, that sells out every year in under an hour. That role has also expanded into one of the Producers for the national Jingle Ball tour with concerts in a dozen markets around the country. Sharon’s love and ear for hit music has helped launch the careers of many superstars in music today.
Radio One Founder and Chairperson, Cathy Hughes is no stranger to adversity and challenge. The woman named Entrepreneur of the Year by the company Ernst & Young has built a media empire, but not without its challenges. Throughout her early years, Hughes looked that challenge straight in the face and has become a wonder woman of sorts in the industry. Hughes founded Radio One in 1980 and later expanded into TVOne. The company went public in 1999 making her the first and only African-American woman to head a publicly traded corporation. In the 1970s she created the urban radio format called “The Quiet Storm” on WHUR. When she and her husband Dewey Hughes, bought AM Radio station WOL 1450 in Washington, D.C. no one could have predicted that she would revamp it into a 24-hour talk radio format with the theme “Information is Power” and create one of the most listened to talk radio stations in the nation’s capital. Radio One currently owns 53 radio stations in 16 major markets in the U.S. Hughes’ son Alfred Liggins III, serves as CEO and President of Radio One and Hughes as Chairperson.
The 2014 Women of Influence Awards & Luncheon tickets, table sponsors and journal ads can be reviewed by going to the website’s Events Page. Ticket purchase link: http://bit.ly/WomenofInfluencePR
ABOUT THE T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION:
The T.J. Martell Foundation is the music industry’s largest foundation that funds innovative medical research focused on finding cures for leukemia, cancer and AIDS. The Foundation, headquartered in New York, is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was founded in 1975 by music industry executive Tony Martell and his colleagues in loving memory of his son T.J., who died of leukemia. The Foundation has provided more than $260 million dollars for research that supports top hospitals in the United States. For more information click on the T.J. Martell Foundation go to www.tjmartell.org
www.facebook.com/tjmartellfoundation
www.pinterest.com/tjmartellfndn
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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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