The Women’s Fund of Omaha is excited to announce that Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer will be the featured keynote speaker at our annual Lead the Change celebration at the CenturyLink Center on Friday, October 27.
Octavia Spencer is an award-winning actress and author. She made her film debut in A Time to Kill. Her breakthrough role was in the 2011 period film The Help, where she played Minny Jackson. She won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film. She’s also starred in Fruitvale Station, Black or White, Smashed, Snowpiercer and The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
Recently, Spencer starred in Hidden Figures. She received Academy Award, SAG and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Dorothy Vaughan—an African American mathematician that worked at NASA during the space race. She is also the author of the children’s book The Sweetest Heist in History (Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective). Spencer is an incredible actress and seeks out diverse stories that educate, inspire and make an impact.
At the annual Lead the Change event, the Women’s Fund will award $3.5 million in grants to local nonprofit agencies for programs that are making a positive impact on the lives of Omaha-area women and girls. Attendees will vote to determine which local nonprofit agencies will receive an additional $10,000 through the Be the Change Grant.
The Women’s Fund Lead the Change event has a projected attendance of 1,500 community and business leaders of all genders.
For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Michelle Zych, Executive Director of the Women’s Fund, at MZych@OmahaWomensFund.org or call (402) 827-9280.