The 29th ARCS Foundation Atlanta Chapter Scholar Awards Celebration on November 19th was a milestone. It was decided in February that the yearly face to face gathering should become a virtual one. With a leap of faith, the committee hit the ground and started running. It took nine months of weekly zoom meetings, but the results were well worth it. Immense thanks go to Farideh Azadi our Scholar Awards Celebration Chair, Kristen Gibbs - event Co-Chair, Becky Riley - Ambassadors Chair, Ellen Adair Wyche, Erin Dasher, Leslie Petter, and many, many more!
The Scholar Awards Luncheon (SAL) was renamed to the Scholar Awards Celebration (SAC). Due to COVID-19, the event had to be planned differently. A more donor-focused program was created with an intended audience of current and potential donors, all scholars and scholar alums, their families/friends, ARCS members, guests, media contacts, and representatives from all four universities. The event aimed to promote, “Funding STEM scholars who will change the world.” Thanks to Nancy Chambers, we received a generous donation from BlackRock. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager guiding individuals, financial professionals, and institutions in building better financial futures.
The plan was to have an anchorwoman report about ARCS Atlanta’s scholars’ achievements and showcase the great philanthropic work of Atlanta women in the field of science. Duane Stork with Duane Stork Productions was commissioned under the direction of Ellen Adair Wyche to start this vision. Event components were to:
- Provide a welcoming atmosphere when people log in and are waiting for the event to start.
- Excite the viewers with an energetic introductory segment with a preview of what attendees should expect and set the tone for What/Who is ARCS and why are we here today?
- Introduce “#I am ARCS Atlanta” - thanks to Shelley Whiting for this brilliant idea which is now used in our social media.
- Recognize sponsors in order to fulfill sponsors' expectations for exposure.
- Showcase and celebrate the scholars.
- Share relevant and exciting scientific findings that show what ARCS is all about.
- Invite viewers to participate in our mission to give, join, connect and follow us through social media,
- Produce an event that will be recorded for future viewing both in full and edited highlight reel versions,
- Provide more ways to connect with ARCS Atlanta in the future
- Present the message that we are not raising money, we are raising SCIENTISTS.
The goal was to draw in new donations, new members, and new engagement from non-members. A texting app was used for raising money in addition to encouraging online donations through the ARCS Atlanta website DONATE NOW bottom. A special thanks to Pat Leake for getting all the scholar videos and Funds Development - Caroline Hardin, Katie Houser, and Lisa Bankoff - for getting the donations texting app set so that 100% of all donations would go directly to the Scholar Fund.
Mariela Romero was selected as the moderator. She is the Univision Communications Regional Community Empowerment Director. Mariela’s distinction and recognition are indisputable, as is her unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence. She has received 23 Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts South East Region. The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named her one of the most influential Latinos. By selecting Mariela as this year’s moderator, our hope was to further our reach in our community.
Dr. David Thomas, President of Morehouse College, and Kenneth Saffold, Director and South Region Head of BlackRock, who is also a Morehouse graduate, were selected as guest speakers. The conversation was set up outside and was scripted and edited with amazing help from Kristen Gibbs and Ellen Adair Wyche. The clear goal was to inspire members and non-members to participate and donate.
Dr. Ann Chahroudi was the keynote speaker. She is Director of Children’s Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines at Emory Hospital and also Medical Director at Ponce Family & Youth Clinic, Infectious Disease Program at Grady Health System. Dr. Chahroudi illustrated with a multitude of slides how COVID-19 is affecting children aged 12 and under. She also addressed the promising vaccine which was in the developmental stage. This was the only portion of the program that was live.
Leslie Petter gave opening remarks congratulating our scholars as well as closing remarks thanking our viewers and making a final ask.
ARCS Atlanta is grateful to all who contributed to making this year’s celebration a success!
