The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation will be honoring 12 outstanding women entrepreneurs from Santa Barbara County at their gala, Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards, May 6 at the Bacara Resort.
Eleven winners are being selected from the seventy nominations received this year by an independent panel of judges. To preserve the integrity of the awards, the judges are not connected with the foundation and do not live in Santa Barbara.
For this year’s awards, the SOE Foundation board voted on one special category and have announced it ahead of the ceremony: the Rock Star: Life Achievement Award. They unanimously chose Sara Miller McCune to be the recipient for 2016.
“Sara is the epitome of a successful woman entrepreneur. She started Sage Publications at the age of 24 by publishing journals in the the social sciences, an area largely ignored by the existing publishers. Now her company publishes journals and books around the world,” says Cathy Feldman, board chair and CEO of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation. “Sage has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Sara remains very much involved in this remarkable company. She’s an amazing role model for women because she has not only succeeded, but Sara also generously gives back to this community.”
Feldman points out that the top three nominees in each of the other eleven categories will be announced in a few weeks, but the winners will not be made public until the Awards dinner at the Bacara Resort May 6.
Lynda Weinman, co-founder and former executive chair of lynda.com, will again be the inspiring emcee for the event and will announce the winners.
Proceeds from the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards benefit the winners of the SBCC Scheinfeld Center’s New Venture Challenge, a business plan competition for regional high school and college students.
The winners of both tiers of the New Venture Challenge Awards will be the foundation’s guests and receive their prizes at the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards dinner.
“The mission of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation is to support entrepreneurship at all levels in Santa Barbara County because entrepreneurs are the engine for growing our economy,” Feldman added. “By recognizing women entrepreneurs for the benefit of student entrepreneurs, we believe we are making an important contribution.”
For more information about the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards go to www.soefoundation.org, email info@soefoundation.org or call 805.682.8380.
Tickets for the gala are available online.
— Cathy Feldman is the board chair and CEO of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation.