LeaderLuncheon is one of Salt Lake City’s most powerful and inspiring annual events. It’s a vital fundraiser for YWCA Utah and a celebration of women’s strength, leadership, and the collective power we hold when we rise as one. The funds raised make our life-saving work possible—we truly can’t do it without you.
Sponsorships
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Recognition in event program
Sponsor slides 1 Table (10 Seats)
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Includes all Leader Level benefits
Verbal recognition by emcee
Name recognition on table
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Includes all Leader & Bronze Level benefits
2 Table (20 Seats)
Preferred Seating
Program Quarter page ad
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Includes all benefits up to Silver
3 Table (30 Seats)
Priority Seating
Program Half page ad
Logo/name listed on event page
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Includes all benefits up to Gold
4 Table (40 Seats)
Recognition on event donation page Program Full page ad
10 exclusive pre event tickets
VIP Seating
Logo/name listed on promo materials
Guest Valet Parking at Grand America
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Includes all benefits up to Keynote
5 Table (50 Seats)
Guest Valet Parking at Grand America
20 exclusive pre event tickets
Opportunity to present at event
Recognition in media
Outstanding Achievement Awards
SAMIRA HARNISH
2026 Outstanding Achievement Award
Equity & Human Rights
Samira Harnish spent 20 years as an R&D engineer before leaving her career to answer a deeper calling. In 2010, she founded Women of the World (WoW) to support forcibly displaced women and girls in Utah — drawing on her own experience immigrating from Iraq to build something she wished had existed.
Today, WoW is Utah's leading organization helping refugee and immigrant women achieve self-sufficiency. Samira's work has earned her the UNHCR Americas Regional Nansen Refugee Award — chosen from over 450 international nominees — along with two Salt Lake City Human Rights Awards and recognition as Utah Business Woman of the Year.
SILVIA CASTRO BENNETT
2026 Outstanding Achievement Award
Business & Innovation
Silvia Castro Bennett knows what it takes to turn aspiration into ownership — and she's built an organization around making that possible.
As President and CEO of the Suazo Business Center, she has tripled clients served, expanded the organization statewide, and in the past year alone supported over 1,500 businesses and helped create and retain more than 1,000 jobs. Under her leadership, Suazo earned CDFI designation, deepening its capacity to move capital into underserved communities.
With two decades of executive experience across nonprofit, public, and private sectors, Silvia has been recognized as a Utah Business Woman of the Year, 2025 CEO of the Year, and recipient of the Salt Lake Chamber's Pathfinder Award.
MICHELLE FLYNN
2026 Outstanding Achievement Award
Transformational Leadership & Impact
Michelle Flynn has spent 25 years at The Road Home — and for the last five of them, has led it.
As CEO, Michelle oversees one of Utah's most essential homeless services organizations, providing emergency shelter and housing programs across Salt Lake County. Her work sits at the intersection of systems thinking and human dignity: best practices, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and the unglamorous, necessary work of keeping people housed.
The Utah Housing Coalition named her their 2020 Person of the Year for leadership that goes beyond the job description.
Twenty-five years in, she's still at it.
ASHA PAREKH
2026 Outstanding Achievement Award
Community Builder & Champion
Asha Parekh doesn't just work within systems — she builds new ones when the old ones fall short.
Over a career spanning government, nonprofit, and justice sectors, she founded the Utah Refugee Center, launched the Salt Lake Area Family Justice Center at YWCA Utah, and now leads the Survivor and Victim Services Division at the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office — overseeing Children's Justice Centers, victim advocacy, and Camp HOPE for children who have experienced trauma.
Each institution she's built reflects the same belief: that people navigating crisis deserve coordinated, compassionate support — not more barriers.
Named Utah Businesswoman of the Year in 2021, Asha's work has shaped how Utah shows up for its most vulnerable residents for decades.
Women selected for this prestigious award join a powerful legacy of more than 100 women who have shaped a more just and equitable Utah.
2025: Michelle Mooney, Christena Huntsman Durham, Becky Edwards, Jenny Mayer Glenn, The Women Tech Council
2024: Dr. Jackie Thompson, Lavanya Mahate, Janida Emerson, Rachel Weaver, Dr. Jen Plumb
2023: Senator Luz Escamilla, Lori Teske Hudson, Nubia Pena, Jennifer Smith, Dr. Isabel Teresa Molina-Avella, Deborah Colimon
2021-2022: Marian Dora Howe-Taylor, Candyce Fly Lee, Sarah McClellan, Lynne Nilson, Katie Kern, Margarita Satini
2020: Sandra Hollins, Neylan McBaine, Dr. Angela Dunn
2019: Deanna Kepka, Mara Rabin, Amy Rees Anderson, Rosie Rivera, Kendra Tomsic
2018: Sheryl Allen, Mary Beckerle, Patricia Christensen, Cristina Flores, Yasmen Simonian, Paula Green Johnson (YWCA Heart and Soul Award)
2017: Lisa Gentile, Carol Osborn, Lorena Riffo-Jenson, Joan Smith
2016: Jackie Biskupski, Sherrie Hayashi, Nedra Hotchkins, Susan Madsen, Gail Miller
2015: Rosemarie Hunter, Linda Leckman, Carolyn Goodwin Schubach, Peggy Tomsic, Olene Walker (Mary Schubach McCarthey Lifetime Achievement Award)
2014: Martha Bradley, Christina Gallop, Jacqueline Gomez-Arias, Peggy Fletcher Stack, Betty Sawyer, Yda Smith