Los Angeles Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards
Los Angeles Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Beverly Hills Hotel
9641 Sunset Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
For more information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please contact HOBY@mtaevents.com.
Hosted by Rainn Wilson of The Office
FEATURING OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI Award Honorees
Marta Belcher
Joshua Ford
Abigail Wheeler
Michael Young
Click here for more information on our Outstanding Alumni
About Our Honorees:
Gary Kelly
Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer
Southwest Airlines
Gary Kelly serves as the Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO at Southwest Airlines. A 24-year Southwest veteran who became CFO in 1989, Gary has worked closely with Southwest's legendary Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher and President Emeritus Colleen Barrett to build the nation's largest airline in terms of passengers and the undisputed Low-Fare Leader.
Gary began his career at Southwest Airlines as Controller, moving up to CFO and Vice President Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO, before being promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman in July 2004. Gary assumed the role of Chairman in May 2008 and President in July 2008. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc. Southwest Airlines is celebrating 38 years of consecutive profitability and was named #1 in Customer Satisfaction by the Department of Transportation for the year 2009. For the 13th year in a row, Fortune magazine listed Southwest Airlines among the world's most admired corporations.
Gary has received awards and recognitions, including being named one of Business Travel News' 25 Most Influential Executives of 2004; named a finalist for Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News editors for the year 2005; honored with the 4th Annual Friends of Texas Public Schools Friend of the Year Award for 2008; named one of the best CEOs in America for 2008, 2009, and 2010 by Institutional Investor magazine; voted Dallas CEO of the Year in 2009 by the Dallas Morning News' "Top 100 Places to Work"; selected two years in a row as D CEO Magazine's CEO of the Year for 2009 and 2010; awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award by B'nai B'rith in 2010; honored by the Texas Exes' with their Distinguished Alumnus Award; selected as Dallas Business Journal's CEO of the year for 2011; and most recently named to the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
Gary received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs; chairs the McCombs School Advisory Council at the University of Texas at Austin; named to the Lincoln National Corporation's Board of Directors; and recently named Vice Chairman of the Air Transport Association.
T. Hale Boggs
Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award
Partner
Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP
Mr. Boggs is a Partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP and splits his time between the firm's Los Angeles and northern California offices. He founded the Palo Alto office in 1998 and chairs the firm's nationwide Business Development. In addition, Mr. Boggs serves on the compensation committee and Executive Committees. Mr. Boggs' expertise includes but is not limited to venture capital, equity and debt offerings, equity compensation matters, SEC reporting and disclosure, intellectual property licensing, complex corporate transactions & governance. He also represents venture capital firms in capital fund procurement and advisement. He is an expert in structuring creative arrangements to acquire, develop, protect and distribute technologies and products both domestically and internationally. He was named one of the The Best Lawyers in America, 2000-2012 and one of the "500 New Stars, New Worlds" in the Lawdragon guide.
Mr. Boggs is a member of the Board of Directors of BizWorld Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on teaching business fundamentals and entrepreneurship to school-children throughout the United States and internationally. He also volunteers with the HIBEAM, the Hawaii Business and Entrepreneur Acceleration Mentors, which helps to launch and build new technology, biotechnology and life sciences companies by providing them with expert professional advice and access to funding sources.
Tena Clark
HOBY Leadership in Entertainment Award
Founder and CEO/Chief Creative Officer
DMI Music and Media Solutions
Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Holliday, Gladys Knight, CeCe Winans, Dionne Warwick, Patti Austin, Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams and Rev. Shirley Caesar are among the iconic recording artists for whom Clark has written and/or produced. And she also programs the music for the President on Air Force One!
A musical compass has guided Clark from rural Mississippi to Hollywood. Clark has excelled in multiple genres across an astonishing breadth of mediums. Highlights include penning award-winning country hits, contributing to multi-platinum movie soundtracks including Hope Floats, The Five Heart Beats, Where the Heart Is and My Best Friend's Wedding, writing songs for television shows like Desperate Housewives, and creating the instantly recognizable national campaign theme, "Have You Had Your Break Today," for McDonald's.
In homage to her musical and spiritual roots, Clark produced Church: Songs of Soul and Inspiration, that included classic soul artists like Warwick and Kahn plus contributions from Dr. Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. A stratospheric anthem from this collection, "Way Up There," written and produced by Clark and performed by Patti LaBelle, was nominated for a GRAMMY award. Clark, a preeminent songwriter, is one of the rare female producers in the music business, and is among the most influential women in American media. As CEO/Chief Creative Officer for the industry leader DMI Music & Media Solutions, the company she envisioned almost 12 years ago, she is involved with every imaginative aspect of the forward-thinking firm's far-reaching endeavors. But she is never far from her recording studio and her world-class campus. Writing eloquent songs and producing remarkable artists is at the heart of her musical soul.
Carla Christofferson
HOBY Inspiration Award
Partner
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Co-Owner, LA Sparks
Carla Christofferson is the Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, the Firm's largest office, and a member of the Business Trial and Litigation Practice. She is recognized as a leader both within the Firm and in the greater Los Angeles community.
During her 20-year career, Christofferson has represented a major multinational petroleum company, a national retail grocery chain as well as Proposition 65 claims. In the entertainment sector, Christofferson has handled litigation involving multi-million dollar intellectual property rights for both a major motion picture studio and independent film companies.
In addition to her legal practice, Christofferson has played a vital role in the leadership of O'Melveny, overseeing the development of training, mentoring, evaluation, and recruiting programs as the Talent Development Partner from 2004 to 2006; serving on the Firm's five-attorney Executive Committee; and acting as the Firm's National Hiring Partner. She currently is a member of the Firm's Values Award Committee.
Outside of O'Melveny, Christofferson is the co-owner of the Los Angeles Sparks WNBA franchise, which she bought in 2006 after years as a season tickets holder. Christofferson also serves as a board member of several non-profit organizations, including the Los Angeles Library Foundation, High Tech Los Angeles and is a member of the United Way Women Leaders.
Christofferson has been recognized for her community service and professional achievements over the years. She was named as one of the "Top Women Litigators" by the Daily Journal in 2008 and 2009, and as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in California" by the Daily Journal in 2008. She also has received numerous awards, including the University of North Dakota Young Alumni Award in 2007, the "I Have a Dream"® Foundation Dream Keeper Award in 2009, the California Women's Foundation Trailblazer Award in 2009, the Junior League Women in Leadership Award in 2008, Urban Economic Summit Living History Award in 2008 and the Anti-Defamation League Deborah Award in 2010.
Christofferson grew up in a small town in North Dakota, eventually representing the state as Miss North Dakota in 1989, the same year she earned a B.A. in Communications from the University of North Dakota. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1992 and clerked for US District Court Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. before joining O'Melveny full time in 1993.