Eight amazing women were honored yesterday at Houston Woman Magazine’s Second Annual Nominate HER Awards Luncheon. The big event was held at the fabulous Hotel Granduca, located at 1080 Uptown Blvd. As expected, all went well, and our guests were duly impressed with the hotel’s beauty, fine food and service.

For those who don’t know: The Nominate HER Awards program recognizes individuals who influence and inspire those around them and, thereby, serve as excellent role models for others in our community. Recipients of the Nominate HER Awards were nominated by readers of Houston Woman Magazine and selected by our staff.

Proceeds from the Nominate Her Awards Luncheon fund scholarships for female students majoring in journalism. (Yes, I like the idea of helping other women pursue careers in the field I love!)

Now, at this time, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the 2008 Nominate HER Award honorees. They are Chris Hook, two-time cancer survivor and founder of the Denise Vellion Memorial Library at the Houston Northwest Medical Center’s Breast Center, Broad Shoulders Award; Lisa Wang, founder of Helping Hearts Resale Heaven, Community Angel Award; Nicolette Hardwicke, founder of Paddington British Private School, Evolving Eve Award; Suzan Deison, president of the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Gutsy Gal Award; Tracy Case, wife, mother of two and an active CanCare volunteer, Maximum Mom Award; Mimi Dinh, founder of Mikel Marketing, Savvy Sister Award; Saakshi Chowdhary, high school student and Girl Scout, Tomorrow’s Woman Award; and Nancy Rutledge, executive director of the Houston CPA Society, Wise Woman Award.

The stories of all eight recipients, as well as full coverage of the Nominate HER Awards Luncheon, will appear in the September issue of Houston Woman Magazine. Please watch for it!

Once again, I’d like to thank this year’s sponsors for all their keen interest and generous support. These incredible partners of ours include Chilton Capital Management, Frankie Ann Holmes, M.D., Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Margo P. Geddie of Smith Barney, Marnoble Computer Sales and Service, Unity Church of North Houston and the Vickie Milazzo Institute,

I’d also like to express my sincere appreciation to several others that contributed so much to the success of yesterday’s grand celebration: The Reverend Shay St. John of Unity Church of North Houston for giving a most inspiring invocation, Gary Maltz of Alexander’s Fine Portraits for shooting hundreds of photos for us, Nino of Flowers by Nino for providing the most incredible floral arrangements I’ve ever seen in my life, and Laura Lopez for gifting a copy of her great new book, “The Connected and Committed Leader,” to all our guests,

And, last but not least, I’d like to thank Jane Mulholland, a colleague and great friend, for being there yesterday “to do whatever I needed her to do.” As it turned out, that was no small thing!