Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) Program

The Outstanding Women Leaders program holds an annual event to honor Winston-Salem’s outstanding women leaders. The event is the "brainchild" of the former Mayor Pro Tem Vivian H. Burke to honor trailblazing women in our community. The Outstanding Women Leaders program has previously recognized 154 chief executive officers, doctors, attorneys, and women of numerous professions as an effort to shine a light on the significant contributions made by women leaders in Winston-Salem.

Mayor Pro Tem Burke believed in the importance of sharing the stories of individual women who have successfully challenged the role of women in both business and the paid labor force. Women have always worked, but often their work has been undervalued and underpaid.

View information about the Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) Committee.

2020 Honorees

The OWL committee recognized the 2020 slate of outstanding women leaders throughout 2019 during City Council meetings. 

  • Lawren Desai, Executive Director and Curator – A/perture Cinema
  • Suzanne Danhauer, Associate Professor and clinical health psychologist in the Social Sciences and Health Policy department at Wake Forest Baptist Health
  • Dr. Pamela Oliver, Executive Vice President at Novant Health and President of the Novant Health Physician Network
  • Cathy Pace, President and CEO of Allegacy Federal Credit Union
  •  Mari Jo Turner, Executive Director of the Hispanic League
  • Talitha Vickers, main anchor at WXII 12 News
  • Jacinta White, President and CEO of Deeper Dive Consulting, Poet and Writer