Williams

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The 2024 Women for Shepherd Women’s Luncheon and Expo will be held in the Suzanne Shipley Wellness Center on March 23, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Women for Shepherd University and Shepherd University Foundation are making this new, women-focused event come to life.

“The 2024 Women’s Expo and Luncheon will highlight local, women-owned small businesses and nonprofits through an all-day expo,” said a news release from Shepherd University, noting that many of the businesses being featured in this event are alumnae-owned.

Local merchants registered for the expo include: Resplendent Miss Write and SJB Millinery, Ball & Chain Permanent Jewelry and Cotswold Downs Crafts.

Wellness-related vendors appearing at the expo will be: Access 304, Ascending Psychotherapy, Manna Wellness, Marigold Healing Center, Mohalu Wellness and WVU Medicine.

Nonprofits registered to appear at the expo are: Brian O’Neill Jr. Foundation, CASA Eastern Panhandle, Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center, Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley, Hospice of Eastern Panhandle, Junior League of the Eastern Panhandle, Panhandle Home Health, Stars that Shine, Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications, Voices Against Domestic Violence and Women Investing in Shepherd (WISH).

Services being featured at the expo will include: Art by Weeze, Au Pair in America, Brand Necessary Headshots, Corner Connections, Destination by Kimberly, Equitable Advisors, author and educational consulter Judy Van Tol, Make My Essay Better, the Shepherdstown Opera House and Tracy Regalia-Edward Jones.

Admission to the expo sessions is free. The expo’s morning session will run from 9-11:20 a.m. and its afternoon session will run from 1:30-3:30 p.m. In between those two periods will be the focal point of the day — the luncheon and keynote speech.

“The event will also include a ticketed luncheon, sponsored by Edward Jones – Tracy Regalia,” the news release said, noting that each luncheon ticket costs $30 per-person. “The lunch will feature keynote speaker Judee Ann Williams ’01, who currently serves as global head of impact for Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Sports. Judee is a prominent figure of the global philanthropic community. She is on the Board of Trustees of Save the Children and holds various appointments on boards and advisory councils across the country.”

While currently living in Washington, D.C. with her husband and identical twin daughters, Williams is a native of Hurricane. After graduating from Shepherd in 2001 with her bachelor’s degree in political science, with a minor in business, she went on to receive a second degree from Shepherd, the 2020 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Williams was named, a Champion for Children in 2019 by Boys & Girls Club of America, a 35 under 35 “Women to Watch in Entertainment” by Glamour Magazine and to Variety’s 2019 Power of Women New York Impact List. She has also been featured in Vogue, and has presented at the Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest conference and festival and at the Fast Company Innovation festival.

Tickets to the pasta buffet luncheon must be purchased by March 15, by visiting https://shepherduniversityfoundation.org/wsuexpolunchtix/ or calling Director of Donor Relations Meg Patterson at 304-876-5021. More information about the event is available at https://shepherduniversityfoundation.org/events/wsuwomensexpo/.