October 18, 2017
For Immediate Release
Davis was a selected honoree for Springfield Business Journal’s (SBJ’s) Twenty Most Influential Women of 2017 Awards. Each year, an independent panel of judges chooses 20 women responsible for improving southwest Missouri through business, civic and philanthropic leadership. This year’s event brought the grand total of honorees to 360.
Davis’ efforts to make the community a better place are reflected in the anti-drug marketing campaign in use by CoxHealth’s Population Health Department in Branson. “Sink or Swim” at DrugFreeOzarks.org addresses the epidemic of addiction in the United States and specifically in Stone and Taney Counties. The program is designed to educate the public, prevent drug misuse and provide a recovery resource database. Davis’ team has done pro bono work for organizations including Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS), CASA of Missouri and Southwest Missouri, American Cancer Society, Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Ronald McDonald Family Room of Northwest Arkansas and others.
Even the Most Influential Women honor included raising funds for a local nonprofit organization. For over ten years, SBJ has partnered with Women In Need (WIN) of the Ozarks to challenge honorees to raise money for struggling working women. WIN fills the gaps that other agencies provide too slowly–or not at all–for many women.
Prior to the event, all honorees were loaned a purse. Each purse was adorned with a large multi-color bow and WIN tag designed to garner attention each time the honoree stepped out in public, and ultimately spur conversation with potential donors in the community. While sharing the WIN mission, the women competed to see who could “fill their purses” with the most money for working women in need.
Davis was honored, along with 19 other women, during an awards ceremony and luncheon on Friday, October 13, 2017, at University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center. Between honoree’s individual fundraising, money collected at tables and a silent auction, the event raised nearly $20,000 for WIN. There was $10,161 gathered by honorees, $7,115 collected from a silent auction, $1,856 donated at event tables and $762 collected from raffles. Learn more about WIN at womeninneedoftheozarks.org. Honoree profiles, program details and the nomination form are available online at sbj.net.