LOS ANGELES - s4story -- Meredith Thomas is an award-winning actress and producer. She started her career while still in elementary school as Tessie in "Annie" and in "Pleasantville" as a teenager and hasn't stopped acting since. She is ranked in second place in the number of Lifetime Television Movies acted in. Included among her awards is a Best Actress win for her 6th Christmas movie "The Best Gift". As a producer, Meredith has made inclusion her passion and in 2018 she created a charity event called FYC Independents which gives a platform to underrepresented talent including people of color, performers with disabilities, LGBTQ talent, and women. The FYC Independents' movement helped lead to countless Emmy® nominations and wins. Meredith is also a founding director of the Cre Theater Company and Changing Perceptions where she writes, directs, and produces theater for visually disabled actors.

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Attendees at this Gala will be entertained by internationally acclaimed performers from around the world, such as international recording artist Eugene Cole, accomplished recording musician Michael Raye, April Diamond, a Billboard Charting Recording Artist who was #1 on the National New Music Radio Charts in 2021, Mezzo Soprano Hiroko Yoshinaga, and up-and-coming artist Natasha Mar.
Red carpet and Happy hour is from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm. Come join us for a unique, magical International Women's Day Gala, a 5 Course Dinner, live music and a fashion show highlighting the designs of international fashion designer Gordana Gehlhausen (GOGA), a Project Runway finalist, Rohini Bedi, Oksana Grigorenko, and international fashion designer and creative director Tommy Le along with Art by VLADI, from 6:30 - 10:00 pm.
The Key-note speaker will be Katherine Sellery, world renown parenting expert and best- selling author. At the heart of the Gala will be the Women's Inspiration Awards which honors women who have made contributions in their communities as well as in the world at large. Some of the honorees who will receive the Women's Inspiration Award include Ava Kaufman, Gail Gibson, Gloria Shulman, Lori Boody, Pam Atwal, Sansu Ramsey, Susan Irvine and Starla Lewis.

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This year's event will be benefitting Ava's Heart Foundation, a 501c3, which helps people who require a heart transplant to meet their six-month residency requirement to be able to live near a Heart Transplant Center in order to be able to get on the heart transplant list.

Purchase Tickets and Sponsorships:   https://bit.ly/iwd2024
Website:    http://www.womensempowerment.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/WomensEmpowermentSummit/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/womens_empowerment_summit/