Hallum, Little, Lee Nominated for Chamber’s WomanUP Awards
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce will honor area women leaders at its annual WomanUP Awards on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
More than 60 business women have been nominated this year, including several leaders in the African American Community. DeWana Little, Executive Director of the YMI Cultural Center; Jacquelyn Hallum, Director of Health Careers and Diversity Education at MAHEC; and Stephanie Lee, Asst. VP and Manager of First Horizon Bank’s South Asheville office.
Ms. Hallum, who has a dual master’s degree in health administration and business administration, has been at MAHEC (Mountain Area Health Education Center) for 25 years, having begun as a rural outreach coordinator, then director of health careers and workforce diversity, and then into her present position. She was a member and then Chair of the Asheville City School Board for eight years, and served on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast planning committee for a number of years.
As Executive Director of the YMI Cultural Center, DeWana Little is responsible for overseeing one of Asheville’s most historic and important centers of Black history and culture in western North Carolina. Founded in 1895, the center offers special programming, education, outreach, art exhibits, and numerous other special events; Little oversees all of them through her staff.
Ms. Lee has over 13 years of financial services experience and 10 years of human resources experience. With areas of expertise including loans, lines of credit, mortgages, and investments, she is a member of the Black Wall Street AVL, where she focuses on providing consumer and business financial services to cohort members establish strong financial. Stephanie earned a BA from Tusculum College, an MBA from Lincoln Memorial University, and a Business Analytics graduate degree from Harvard Business School.
Winners of WomanUP will be honored at a breakfast and celebration at Crowne Plaza Resort in West Asheville on Thursday, January 27, 2022 from 8-10:30 a.m. Tickets are $50 for Chamber members and $70 for the general public. A breakfast buffet will be catered by The Chef’s Kitchen at Ingles.
If the Covid-19 pandemic makes it impossible for an individual to attend in person, or if the event must be held virtually, interested individuals may ask to be sent an email by registering at web.ashevillechamber.org/events/WomanUPCelebration-7718/details and choosing the “Send Me an Email About the Virtual Option” option.
For more information about the WomanUP event, please visit www.ashevillechamber.org/news-events/events/womanup.
