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2014 Women of Concern Awards Luncheon on Feb. 28

Concern
Worldwide U.S. Honors Marie Tillman,
President
and Co-Founder of the Pat Tillman
Foundation
and Susan
Walsh, Founder and President of Little by Little
at the 16th Annual Women of Concern
Luncheon



 



Chicago—Concern Worldwide U.S., the
international humanitarian organization, will honor Marie Tillman, President and Co-Founder of
the Pat Tillman Foundation, with the 2014 Leadership Award, and Susan Walsh, Founder and President of Little by Little, with the 2014 Humanitarian Award for their outstanding
humanitarian and philanthropic leadership at its Women of Concern Award Luncheon in Chicago on Friday, February 28, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. with a reception at 12:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker
Drive.

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“Marie Tillman and Susan Walsh are not only
pioneers in their respective fields—they are inspirations for positive change,”
said Joseph Cahalan, CEO of Concern Worldwide U.S. “Their
compassion and commitment to bringing equal access to healthcare and helping
active service members fulfill their academic dreams have undoubtedly touched
and transformed the lives of thousands of people.”

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In response to the
nationwide outpouring of support following her husband Pat Tillman’s death in
2004, Marie Tillman co-founded the Pat Tillman Foundation, where she served
first as a member of the Board of Directors and now as President. In 2008,
Marie led the effort to redefine the Foundation’s mission by developing the
Tillman Military Scholars Program, which aims to create the next generation of
leaders by helping a select group of veterans, active service members and their
spouses to fulfill their academic dreams. To date, 290 Tillman Military
Scholars
—representing 34 states and attending 92
academic institutions nationwide—have been awarded over $4.1 million in
scholarship support. A native of San Jose, CA, Marie graduated with honors from
the University of California, Santa Barbara. 
She worked in Marketing and Production at the Arizona Republic and ESPN
and her memoir, The Letter, was
released in June 2012. Marie currently lives in the Chicago suburbs with her
husband and their four boys.



 



Susan Walsh has been
a pediatric nurse for more than 30 years, and an educator in the graduate
nursing program at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In 2006, having led
medical teams several times a year into Haiti, Sue and her husband Brian
founded Little by Little to improve health and well-being in the Haitian
village of Gramothe. On January 12, 2010, Sue and her medical team were working
in Haiti when the devastating earthquake struck. Little
by Little provides support to those in need and promotes self-reliance and
sustainability through educational initiatives. In addition to continuing
mission trips to provide basic healthcare, especially to mothers and children,
Little by Little’s long term goal is to advance the maternal child wellness
center and support sustainability and reciprocity for the villagers of
Gramothe.  Sue is a graduate of the
University of Illinois, and author of the 2011 book, Walking in Broken Shoes: A Nurse’s Story about Haiti and the Earthquake.
Sue and her family currently live in the Chicago suburbs.



 



Now in its 16th year,
the event attracts more than 600 guests including members of Chicago’s business
and community leaders and raises more than $340,000 for Concern’s work with the
extreme poor.  Marie Tillman and Susan
Walsh will join past honorees of the Chicago Women of Concern Award Luncheon
such as Shirley Welsh Ryan, Mari
Gallagher, Catherine Bertini, Samantha Power, Mary Dempsey, Avis
LaVelle, Justice Anne Burke, Aimee Mullins, and Mary Houghton.



 



Felicia
Middlebooks of WBBM Newsradio will emcee the event.
The Chicago Women of Concern Award Luncheon honors women who have demonstrated
the qualities of justice, generosity, and compassion in their work and daily
lives. Ticket prices are $150 per ticket and $1,500 per table.  Corporate
sponsorship packages range from $3,000
- $20,000. To purchase tickets, please visit concernusa.org or call (312)
431-8400. Funds raised through the event will support Concern’s work to break
the cycle of extreme poverty in 25 of the world’s poorest countries. Follow
#ConcernWomen and @Concern on Twitter for more information and live update from
the ceremony.



 



 



About Concern Worldwide



Concern
Worldwide is an international, non-governmental humanitarian organization
dedicated to reducing extreme poverty, with more than 3,200 personnel working
in 25 of the world’s poorest countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Concern Worldwide targets the root causes of extreme poverty through programs
in health, education, livelihoods and microfinance, HIV and AIDS, and emergency
response, directly reaching more than 8.5 million people. For more information,
please visit concernusa.org or follow us on
Twitter
and
Facebook.






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