Maybelline Salutes Education
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NEW YORK – Maybelline New York tipped its hat to 10 women who are making a difference. The 2008 Maybelline New York Beauty of Education dinner was held at the historic New York Public Library in Manhattan.
The night’s honorees included: Dr. Deborah Sims, whose nonprofit organization, Hopes for Higher Education, helps foster children and their parents find funding for education; Nina Gilbert, who started Ivy Prepatory Academy, the first all-girls state charter school in Georgia; Dr. Monica Peek, a breast cancer specialist who is educating the community about the disease via her Sisters Working It Out initiative; Jessica Fenster-Sparber, a teacher that works with incarcerated teens through the Literacy for Incarcerated Teens (LIT) program; Nancy Mellon, the founder of The River School, a day school that works specifically with children suffering from hearing loss; Anna Shetler, founder of HOODHOP Inc., a free youth dance program; Shaune Johnson, whose Tap Dance Only and Girlfriends Talk programs target self-confidence and self-esteem in young women; Dr. Katherine Flores, founder of the Doctors Academy, a program that helps disadvantaged youth who are interested in the medical field; Nora de Hoyos Comstock, a Texas native who helps unite Latinas through her Las Comadres Para Las Americas Web site; and Layla Avila, a teacher who founded the New Teacher Project.
Co-hosted by supermodel and Maybelline brand ambassador Tomiko Fraser, the intimate affair paid homage to 10 women that are uplifting their community via educational causes. Carolyn Holba, Maybelline New York’s SVP of marketing, expressed how important the night was for the cosmetic giant. “This is a particular meaningful event for Maybelline. This is the fourth year that we’ve been privileged to be in the company of women who are truly making a difference and inspiring others,” she said.
In addition to receiving the award, each of the winners received a $10,000 grant to support her cause. Shetler was moved to tears as she accepted the award, while Johnson admitted the moment left her at a loss for words, “I am just very excited and overwhelmed to be honored for doing something I love to do,” she said.
–ivory m. jones
