LANSING, MI — The 42nd Kaleidoscope event is set for September 9, 2016 at Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing, MI.
Kaleidoscope is designed to empower, enrich, and inspire women in the community. This daylong event focuses on women’s health and education initiatives, and features unique opportunities to learn and network. Women Working Wonders (W3) is proud to continue the legacy of the Michigan State University Alumni Association Kaleidoscope program, now in its 42nd year. The women of W3 are excited to introduce a re-imagined Kaleidoscope to the mid-Michigan community. This event supports W3’s mission to support the physical and psychological health of women through community leadership, resource development and outreach initiatives. Friends and partners at the Michigan State University Alumni Association continue to have a strong presence in Kaleidoscope, and the most popular features of the event will remain unchanged.
Suzanne de Passe, co-chair of de Passe Jones Entertainment, will be the keynote speaker. She began her career at Motown Records as a creative assistant to company founder Berry Gordy. She subsequently rose to the position of President of Motown Productions, the television and film division of the company.
During her first year at Motown, de Passe found — and brought to Gordy’s attention — five young brothers from Gary, IN, who became the superstars known as the Jackson 5. She also brought a number of other artists to the company, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Rick James, songwriter/producer Michael Masser, and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
In 1983, she sold, produced and co-wrote her first television special — “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” — which was honored with an Emmy that same year in the category of Best Music or Variety Program. The television special received other honors including a Peabody Award.
In her career, de Passe has produced a number of award-winning shows and mini-series that include “Lonesome Dove,” “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” “Small Sacrifices” and “Buffalo Girls.” Both she and her productions have received many accolades and honors, including two Emmys, six NAACP Image Awards, three Peabody Awards and a Golden Globe. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing “Lady Sings the Blues” and was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
Over the years, de Passe has served on a number of boards, including the Television Academy Foundation, the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors, the American Film Institute, the Grammy Foundation Board, the Los Angeles Opera and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. She has also shared her considerable professional knowledge and experience with students in her role as the Time Warner Endowed Chair at the John Johnson School of Communications, Howard University, and Emerson College in Boston.
W3 invited back Kaleidoscope staple, Professor Elliot Engel. Professor Engel is one of the most insightful, personable and entertaining lecturers to come out of academia in the past 50 years. His witty, engaging speaking style imparts hard, factual information, leaving his audiences virtually spellbound yet charmed by his humor and insight. Using anecdotes and analysis, he gives new insights into the backgrounds, accomplishments and lives of the great masters of English and American literature, as well as significant historical figures.
As a professor, Engel has taught courses at Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. For his scholarship and teaching, he has received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award and the Victorian Society Award of Merit.
In this opening session, He will speak about one of the iconic families of America’s Gilded Age — The Vanderbilts — and their triumphs and tragedies in the context of family dynamics and historical influences. He’ll trace this fabulously wealthy family’s amazing tale from Cornelius, born in the 18th century, to Gloria (of designer jeans fame and mother of CNN’s Anderson Cooper).
Women Working Wonders (W3) was founded in 2002 by Lansing entrepreneur Virginia Hilbert, the Sparrow Foundation’s Women Working Wonders (W3) Committee is comprised of more than 35 professional women from the Greater Lansing area. The W3 committee is proud to host signature fundraisers: The Dapper Dads Challenge and Fashion Show, the W3 5k/0k: Run, Walk, Revitalize and Kaleidoscope: Reflect. Recharge. Reimagine.
Through community support of its fundraising efforts, W3 has raised over $1.3 million since 2002 to support this mission.
W3 supported and funded projects include:
A $250,000 MicroSelection HDR V2 that reduces radiation treatment for patients with certain types of breast cancer from five weeks to five days.
A state-of-the-art Stereotactic breast biopsy machine for Sparrow’s Radiology Department.
A dedicated room for the compassionate treatment of victims of sexual assault, which serves more than 350 Patients annually (most of whom are under the age of 18.)
A transition-to-hospice program that helps terminally ill patients and their families ease into end-of-life care.
An Infant Bereavement Program for the heartbreaking instances when parents have lost a newborn.
Pocket-sized cards outlining symptoms of heart disease and stroke specific to women, created and distributed to women throughout the Greater Lansing region.
A comfortable (and comforting) family lounge in Sparrow’s new, state-of-the-science neurological tower of the hospital.
Softer, more comfortable examination gowns for women undergoing mammograms at Sparrow.
The event is $100.00 per person and you can register at www.sparrowfoundation.org.
