Friday October 18, 2024
Registration 11am | Lunch 11:30pm - 1:30pm
Sheraton Downtown Phoenix
Unity Agent Sponsor:
Center Stage Sponsors:
Floodlight Sponsors:
Searchlight Sponsors:
Experience a New Way of Gathering
At the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown we have revolutionized style and comfort, both for work and relaxation, and created so much more than just a hotel. It’s a destination that brings innovative spaces, unmatched event expertise and personalized meeting programming together, allowing guests to connect, minds to expand and attendees to harness the power of the collective.
Our 110,000-square-feet of bright and energetic meeting and event space is thoughtfully designed over two levels, bringing you a seamless event experience. While our food and beverage experience raises the bar with purposeful and sustainable culinary programming in our outlets and meeting spaces alike.
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For more information or to book your event, contact Rawan Qubain, Senior Catering Sales Executive at 602.817.5315 or Rawan.Qubain@Sheraton.com
Welcome!
Welcome to the Fourteenth Annual Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards! We are incredibly proud of this year’s courageous, passionate and inspiring ONE Community Spotlight on Success Local Heroes who have made an amazing impact in our community. We can’t wait to share their stories with you today.
Since our inception in 2008, ONE Community has evolved into the coalition of socially responsible businesses, organizations and individuals who are moving diversity, inclusion, equity and equality forward for all Arizonans.
We are empowered by YOU - our LGBTQ+ and allied business and community members – through your engagement, connectivity, your commitment to community and for believing that Arizona should truly be welcoming and Open for Business to Everyone no matter who you are, who you love or how you identify.
We are thankful for our talented and dedicated ONE Community team and our coalition partners. Together we are educating and guiding our LGBTQ+ inclusive business, faith and community leaders as we work together to create an inclusive, equitable, and equal Arizona and nation.
This year we are especially excited to launch our Your Vote is Your Voice program with so many of our partners and community leaders across the state highlighting the importance of voting as well as how and when to vote. This election, make sure to vote to use the power of your voice!
We are grateful to our sponsors, for your investment in ONE Community, the LGBTQ+ community and for truly supporting our commitment to a state that celebrates, respects and protects us all.
We are Better Together. We are ONE Community!
In Unity, ~Angela and the team at ONE Community
Unleash the creative power of collaboration.
Achieve faster, better, stickier results through masterfully facilitated face-to-face or virtual workshops.
• Team building
• Strategic planning
• Operational effectiveness
• Problem solving
• Leadership development
Dennis Skinner, Founder and President
Welcome Carey Pena
National Anthem
Jenn Newman
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego
Janine Skinner, Community Engagement Director, ONE Community The Year In Review
Angela Hughey & Michael Soto, Co-Chairs, Equality and Fairness Campaign Common Good Award
Mesa Mayor John Giles
Lunch
Local Hero Presentation
Amanda Ventura and Bobby Dulle
With Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, ONEAZ Credit Union & Fry’s Food Stores
Local Hero Presentation
Michele White and Monica Villalobos With JPM Chase, Hensley & Cox Communications
Local Hero Presentation
Chad Wolver and The Right Rev. Jennifer A. Reddall With Full Swing Studios, Waymo, Glendale Chamber of Commerce & SRP
Joanne Dwyer, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility & Corporate Communications, PetSmart UNITY Agent Award
Nate Rhoton
Angela Hughey, co-founder & President, ONE Community
Please join us after the awards ceremony for cocktails and networking.
Highlight Table Sponsors
Adobe Population Health
APS
Arizona Animal Welfare League
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Community Foundation
Arizona Hispanic Chamber
Ballard Spahr
Casco Financial
City of Mesa
City of Scottsdale
Clear Channel Outdoor
Experience Scottsdale
Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus Pine
Glendale Chamber of Commerce
Goodmans
Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce
Lauren Witte Girard and Friends
Local First Arizona
Phoenix Fast-Track Cities
Phoenix Mercury and Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Rising Southwest Gas SRP
Tammy Perkins and Susan Robbins
Tempe Police Department
Tempe Tourism
Terry Hanson and Friends
The Colibri Collective
The Episcopal Diocese
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
VH Included Visit Mesa Waymo
We stand proud
JPMorganChase works to advance equity and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community globally through philanthropic engagements, public stances and actions on relevant policy issues, and local community support.
Congratulations to the 2024 honorees! We are proud to support ONE Community and celebrate the work of this exceptional group of leaders.
© 2024 JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Multicultural Advisory Board
Amanda Ventura, Public Affairs Manager, Waymo
Barb Harris, Partner, teamworks communication
Bettina Nava, President, Nexus Strategy Group
Blair Moses, Community Member
Chad Wolver, Chief Financial Officer, Adobe Care & Wellness
Charles Cobbs, Police Community Affairs Liaison, Mesa Police Department
Corri Rankins, Vice President; Operations Project Consultant, Bank of America
Dan Packard, Institutional Trust Officer, PNC Financial Services
Devney Marhle, President & CEO, Downtown Phoenix Inc.
Dr. Sheila Harris, President, Shelia D. Harris Consulting Services
George Childs, Vice Chair, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS
James Christian, Director of External & Legislative Affairs, AT&T
Katee Van Horn, Founder, VH Included
Kerwin Brown, Executive Director, Tanner Community Development Corporation
Lauren Witte Girard, Content Director, Conan & Company
Liza Buchanan, Vice President of Marketing, Sunstate Equipment Co.
Patrick Tighe, Attorney, Snell & Wilmer
Sophia Lovasz, Dir. of Retail Entrepreneurship at Local First Arizona
Meredith Plaxco, Vice President, Loss Prevention & Safety, PetSmart
Tammy Perkins, Community Member
Thomas Barr, Vice President, Local First Arizona
Vince Kozar, President, Phoenix Mercury
Carey Peña HOST
Carey Peña is an Emmy award–winning journalist, television personality, and podcast host.
A natural born storyteller and innate advocate, Peña is determined to create content & connection. It’s why the award-winning journalist and public figure founded Inspired Media 360, a cause-driven media and content firm dedicated to informing, advocating, empowering and inspiring.
In 2022, after witnessing the toll the pandemic took on everyone, Peña co-founded Arizona’s Center for Positive Media. Using her talents to identify and amplify stories of impact and paths to healing, she created shows like YouTube’s “Good Morning Sunshine” and “The Next Chapter” podcast.
A believer in paying it forward and giving back, she continues to emcee for the many charities and causes she champions in Arizona and across the United States.
With an expansive social media following, it’s more than the numbers for Peña. It’s about making authentic connections with her audience, and sharing meaningful content with the community to help improve lives - one story at a time.
Jenn Newman VOCALIST
Jenn Newman is in the business of using her voice— whether as an accomplished soprano soloist, an LGBTQ+ proud parent and advocate, negotiating for her real estate clients, or empowering others personally and professionally. She is the founder of the NEWHAUS Real Estate Team, powered by The Brokery, and co-founder of The Success Resequencing Project with Debbie Pontikas. Their podcast, also named The Success Resequencing Project, is available on all streaming platforms.
A sought-after headliner for symphony pops concerts, Newman has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic, Winston-Salem Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, Arizona MusicFest, and The Phoenix Symphony.
A graduate of Arizona State University, Newman lived and worked in New York City for a decade before returning to the Valley in 2016. She now resides in Scottsdale with her husband of 24 years, Jim. As recent empty nesters, they frequently visit Flagstaff, where their daughter, Lyla Grace, is an NAU Lumberjack.
Visit www.TheNewhausTeam.com.
PHOENIX MAYOR KATE GALLEGO
Since her early days serving Phoenix on the City Council, Kate has been focused on creating the Phoenix of the future: a welcoming, thriving city with ample high-wage jobs and opportunities for all.
As mayor, Kate spends every day focused on getting things done for Phoenix families. The results speak for themselves: Kate brought a historic $65 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant to Phoenix that’s creating thousands of great-paying career paths; she built coalitions to deliver critical improvements to parks, public safety, and city infrastructure; and she is partnering with ASU to build a brand-new medical school in downtown Phoenix.
Kate is the second elected woman mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city mayors in the nation. She graduated from Harvard and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Though serving Phoenicians keeps her days busy and her heart full, her favorite job is being Michael’s mom.
JANINE SKINNER
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
DIRECTOR,
ONE COMMUNITY
Janine Skinner is the Community Engagement Director for ONE Community, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ advocacy and education across Arizona. After raising three children in Arizona, two of whom are LGBTQ+, Janine became fiercely passionate about making her home state an inclusive and affirming place for all. She started volunteering for ONE Community and fell in love with their mission to create an Arizona where everyone is treated equally. She was thrilled to join the team in 2018. For 10 years prior to this Janine worked for Feed My Starving Children and was integral in helping to bring the non-profit to Arizona and to grow their Mesa packing facility to the largest in the nation. She brings her years of fundraising and partnership building experience along with her passion for equality to the ONE Community team.
2024 COMMON GOOD AWARD
John Giles is the 40th mayor of Mesa, Arizona. He was first elected in 2014 and reelected in 2016 and 2020.
Mayor Giles oversees a growing economy that has added tens of thousands of new jobs, over $8 billion in new capital investment. Under his leadership, the city adopted a nondiscrimination ordinance, demonstrating that Mesa is an inclusive city committed to equality.
His attention to Mesa’s downtown resulted in Arizona State University’s Media, Immersion and eXperience Center (MIX Center) with cutting-edge programs and an emerging creative economy with new businesses, restaurants, housing and entertainment options.
Mayor Giles spearheads the Mesa College Promise which provides qualified high school graduates with a free community college education.
His advocacy for a sustainable future for Mesa led to the adoption of a Climate Action Plan, which includes achieving carbon neutrality, using 100% renewable energy and diverting 90% of waste from the landfill by 2050.
Mayor Giles is Chair of the Immigration Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and serves on the Board of Trustees. He is the Co-Chair of Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, Chair of the Mayor’s Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, and serves on the Accelerator for America Advisory Council.
Born and raised in Mesa, Mayor Giles earned degrees from Brigham Young University in Political Science and Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law where he is now an Adjunct Professor. He practiced law in Mesa for nearly 30 years before working full-time as Mayor. Mayor Giles has completed two full Ironman competitions, 20 marathons and four Boston Marathons. He is the creator and host of the It’s Always Cool in Mesa podcast, which shares the city’s most beloved history, people and stories. Mayor Giles and his wife Dawn have been married for more than 40 years. They have five children and eight grandchildren.
Angela Hughey
Co-founder & President, ONE Community Co-Chair Equality and Fairness Campaign
Angela Hughey is the co-founder and President of ONE Community and ONE Community Foundation. Founded in 2008, ONE Community is the coalition of socially responsible businesses and organizations moving diversity, inclusion, and equality for all Arizonans forward.
In 2013, Angela and the ONE Community team launched the UNITY Pledge, a concerted effort by Arizona businesses and individuals to advance workplace equality and equal treatment in housing and public accommodations for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ) individuals and their allies. Angela is also credited with the Multicultural Conversation with the Candidates, Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards, the UNITY Summit, the Point of Pride Summit, the ONE Community Institute and The State of LGBTQ Arizona collaborative report. Angela is also credited with leading bipartisan coalitions of business, faith, and everyday Arizonans in support of successful LGBTQ+ inclusive ordinances. Her leadership has also led to the introduction and historic hearing of Arizona’s first bipartisan bill in support of updating our state’s law to include LGBTQ+ individuals in employment, housing and public accommodations.
Angela and ONE Community led the open for business to everyone coalition in response to SB1062, which led to an educational campaign of the same name, which focuses on diversity, inclusion, and equality for all Arizonans to ensure the economic sustainability of the state. Echo Magazine named Angela their 2014 Woman of the Year. In 2015, Angela became the founding Chair of Valley Leadership’s Leadership Advance Program for high potential leaders, overseeing the program for two years. Angela was the 2016 recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s Al Brook’s Community Leadership Award. Angela was a member of the Arizona Community Foundation’s LGBTQ+ Philanthropy committee from 2016 through 2018. In 2021, the Phoenix Business Journal named Angela one of its Most Admired Leaders. Angela was recently named Valley Leadership’s 2023 Woman of the Year.
Michael Soto
Michael Soto is an advocate in the Arizona and national LGBTQ+ movement for equality. He works as a political consultant and in Arizona is involved with Equality Arizona, One Community, and One n Ten.
A graduate of ASU with a Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies and a Master of Science in Justice Studies. He is currently a PhD student in Justice Studies. Michael is a proven leader in the movement for LGBTQ+ liberation, with nearly 25 years of experience across sectors, from the local to the international level.
Amanda Ventura is a public affairs manager at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company, where she manages community outreach and public education initiatives in three of Waymo’s four markets and forges relationships with national safety, mobility, disability, and accessibility advocates in DC and beyond.
For several years, she led Waymo Serve and Waymo
Gives Back initiatives, which encourage employees all over the world to volunteer and donate to important causes in their communities.
Before joining Waymo, she was an editor, reporter, and a director at a public relations agency in Arizona. Amanda is the vice chair of the Arizona Animal Welfare League’s board of directors and a volunteer baker with For Goodness Cakes, which provides homemade birthday and celebratory treats to at-risk and foster youth nationwide. A proud Sun Devil, she lives in Phoenix with her AAWL alum, Dabo, and enjoys hiking and birding. Her latest goal is to cook her way through nearly 200 countries’ national dishes.
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What do you get when we tell your story?
• Onboarding Consultation
• 1 Hour Collaborative Editing Session
• Up to 3 Revisions
• Animated Title Card & Call To Action
• Licensed Soundtrack
• Color Grading
• Custom Video Thumbnails
• 3 Day Delivery After Final Revision
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We are proud to partner with ONE Community and Local First Arizona. All of their business members receive a 10% discount.
info@fullswingstudios.com www.FullSwingStudios.com (480) 691-2469
Dulle currently serves as the President of Phoenix Rising Football Club, Arizona’s only professional soccer team. Dulle initially joined the Club as Chief Operating Officer ahead of its rebrand from Arizona United to Phoenix Rising FC in April 2016. Prior to the rebrand, the franchise had a record of 29-43-14. Since the rebrand, Rising has established itself as one of the top teams in the USL Championship. Dulle was promoted to General Manager of the club in 2018 and under his leadership, the Club signed one of the top players in the world, Didier Drogba, won the Western Conference Championship in 2018, 2020, and 2023, won the Regular-Season Title in 2019, and transferred multiple players to first-division clubs around the world. Rising holds the record for the most consecutive wins in North American soccer history and won the USL Championship in 2023.
Prior to Dulle’s time with Phoenix Rising, he spent nine seasons with the worldfamous Harlem Globetrotters overseeing their global operations. He visited 40-plus countries during his tenure and led events and appearances in 70-plus countries.
Dulle graduated from Grand Canyon University, where he was a three-year letter winner on the Men’s Soccer Team. He currently resides in Chandler with his wife Tess and three children.
Michele assumed the role of Executive Director at the Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce (GPECC) in July 2023, bringing with her a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Prior to joining GPECC, Michele played a pivotal role in assisting other LGBTQ+ chambers of commerce.
Michele’s expertise encompasses a wide range of areas, including advocacy, strategic planning, board development, fundraising, business operations and growth, staff and volunteer management, community organizing, and systems creation. Her ability to train clients to advocate for themselves at the legislature and her dedication to promoting community through education are particularly noteworthy. Michele has shared her knowledge and passion for advocacy and community organizing as an instructor in the Master of Social Work program at Arizona State University (ASU), where she earned both her master’s degree in social work (Policy Administration and Community Organizing) and her bachelor’s degree in anthropology.
A third-generation Phoenix native, Michele is deeply rooted in the community she serves. Her commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ business growth and development is driven by a desire to foster a strong and vibrant LGBTQ+ community in Greater Phoenix.
Michele’s connection to small business in Phoenix runs deep. Her great-grandparents owned a restaurant in the Sears “mansion” on Central Avenue in the 1940s and 1950s, and her grandparents operated a lock shop on 7th Street through the 1970s. Michele grew up helping in her parents’ locksmith and catering businesses, gaining firsthand experience in the challenges and rewards of small business ownership. She continued this legacy by owning and operating businesses in central Phoenix, including Fair Trade Cafe from 2007 to 2013.
Living in central Phoenix with her wife, Trista, Michele enjoys singing, dancing, cooking, and hiking. Her personal interests reflect her love for the vibrant and diverse community she is proud to call home. As Executive Director of GPECC, Michele is excited to leverage her extensive experience and deep community ties to strengthen and support the LGBTQ+ community in Phoenix.
Ms. Villalobos became President & CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in late 2019, following seven years as Vice President and Foundation Executive Director. She oversees strategic growth initiatives, including the Arizona Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center, the Native American Business and Economic Development Center (NABEDC), and the Capital Readiness Program, all funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
As Editor-in-Chief of 23 research publications, including the annual DATOS: State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market, Ms. Villalobos has contributed to the understanding of Arizona’s Hispanic business landscape. In 2023, she was appointed by Governor Hobbs to co-chair the transition committee responsible for selecting state directors in Arizona’s government.
Before her current role, Ms. Villalobos founded ResearchByDesign, a marketing research firm specializing in qualitative and quantitative studies. Her entrepreneurial success and contributions to Hispanic business development earned her several accolades, including the 2015 Latina Style Inc. Entrepreneur of the Year, 2020 Most Influential Women in Arizona by AZ Business Magazine, and the 2022 Titan 100 recipient. She also received the Ohtli Award, the highest honor from the Mexican government, for her work benefiting the Hispanic community.
Her professional expertise spans multicultural communication strategies and ROI business case assessments, having worked as the Director of Accounts at Latin Force LLC. She led strategy development for clients such as Wells Fargo, the NFL, Kraft Foods, and ING.
Ms. Villalobos holds a Master of Arts in Communications from Seton Hall University and a double major in Linguistics and Psychology from UCLA. She is set to complete her doctorate at the University of Southern California in December 2024.
Ms. Villalobos is a first-generation Mexican-American and resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her fiancé and two sons, while caring for her mother. With deep ties to the community, she serves on several boards, including Valley of the Sun United Way and St. Mary’s Food Bank. Her leadership continues to support Hispanic business growth and development in Arizona.
36-year-old Arizona native Chad Wolver brings nearly a decade of commercial banking, strategic finance, and management experience to the Adobe Population Health leadership team. Phoenix-based Adobe Population Health ranks 2,271 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
A graduate of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, Chad earned an Executive MBA with a focus in Accounting and Finance. While serving as Vice President at Bank of America, Chad was the banker for Adobe Care & Wellness (rebranded as Adobe Population Health in 2022), which experienced 242% three-year growth from 2020 to 2023.
CFO since 2021, Chad has managed Adobe Population Health’s strategic financial strategy, overseeing its budget by using technology to create efficiency, synergy, scalability, and deeper insight to grow the organization efficiently as it expands as a multi-state provider.
Chad serves on the boards of some of Arizona’s most well-recognized philanthropic organizations, including Arizona Community Foundation’s Kellenberger + Tollefson Center for LGBTQ Philanthropy Advisory Council and ONE Community’s Millennial Advisory Board. He’s a past board member of ASU Lodestar Center’s Leadership Council, Human Rights Campaign Arizona, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, and Phoenix Community Alliance’s Social & Housing Advancement Committee.
In his free time, Chad enjoys traveling with his partner and spending time with their beloved Italian greyhounds.
PROUD PARTNER OF ONE COMMUNITY
Bishop Jennifer A. Reddall is the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Arizona and the first woman to serve in that position. A 2002 graduate of the General Theological Seminary in New York City, she was previously rector of Church of the Epiphany in New York City until her election in October 2018. She was ordained as bishop on March 9, 2019.
Bishop Reddall leads a diocese of 64 worshiping communities that strive to build churches where newcomers and longtime parishioners alike can deepen their faith, experience the love of God and their neighbor, and claim their identity as disciples and ministers of the Gospel.
Bishop Reddall arrived in the diocese committed to being an attentive pastor to her clergy, building connections and relationships between all regions of the diocese, cultivating a sense of joy and vitality in diocesan events and mission, and expanding evangelism in Hispanic and Latino communities, both in Spanish and in English. Since becoming bishop, she has been especially active in enhancing the diocese’s work on LGBTQ+ issues, antiracism, creation care, and deepening its commitment to refugees and immigrants.
A collaborative leader, the bishop works to build consensus when making difficult decisions through broad consultation and shared prayer. She believes that one aspect of her work is modeling civil, loving discourse in a polarized world. “Arizona is truly a borderland—an intersection of so many different groups and ideas,” she has written. “Jesus calls us to always remember that we are to love our enemies, not destroy them.”
Bishop Reddall grew up in California, graduated from Yale University in 1997 with a degree in Theater Studies, and joined the Episcopal Urban Intern Program, now known as Episcopal Service Corps, in Los Angeles before entering the seminary. She has one child, Nathan.
UNITY AGENT AWARD
Nate Rhoton serves as the CEO for one-n-ten, an LGBTQ non-profit delivering youth services in Arizona. Joining the team in 2015, he served as the Director of Development followed by Director of Finance & Operations, before assuming his current role in January of 2018.
Following a career of fifteen years in corporate management and finance, Rhoton chose to serve the community with his nonprofit fundraising and development expertise. Serving for twelve years as the operations director and then CFO of a local construction company, he worked to expand corporate community involvement and non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees. Managing significant growth for the company, he saw early on the need for continued staff development and instituted training to increase retention and help new employees to assume higher paying roles within the company.
Born and raised in Arizona, Nate graduated from Flagstaff High School and then pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Arizona State University’s WP Carey School of Business graduating magna cum laude in 2000. Over the last decade, he has committed himself to nonprofit service, serving on the Arizona steering committee of the Human Rights Campaign, the board of the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, The Melonhead Foundation, and as co-chair of the board of directors for Equality Arizona. Currently he serves as the chair of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Phoenix, vice chair of Leading for Change, and on the LGBTQ Advisory to the Chancellor of Maricopa County Community Colleges.
In his free time, he loves hanging out with his rescue pup, Molly.
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