It’s her year
Women and Children First names Marcy Doderer Woman of the Year
Marcy Doderer, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Children’s Hospital, was honored Feb. 15 as the woman of the year by Women and Children First.
Doderer has been CEO of Children’s since 2013. She was joined at the black-tie event by her husband, Mark, and daughters Emily and Katie.
The evening began with a champagne reception for VIPs in the Arkansas Ballroom at the Marriott, Little Rock. Later, the party moved to the Grand Ballroom where guests dined on mango salsa salad, sorbet, filet with panseared scallops and chocolate cake.
Wallace Smith served as chairman of the event. Daniel Robinson, past chairman of the organization’s board of directors, and Donna Terrell, news anchor at Fox-16, served as emcees.
After dinner, the Doderers made their way to the dance floor to show off their fancy footwork skills to “Fly Me to the Moon” by the band Dizzy 7. Not long into their dance, the couple encouraged other guests to join them — and many obliged.
For more than 40 years, Women and Children First has worked to empower women and their children to live independently and free from domestic violence. The organization provides crisis intervention, safe shelter, social and legal advocacy and support services.
Former honorees are Phyllis Brandon (2007), Cindy Murphy (2008), Millie Ward (2009), Donna Cone (2010), Ginger Beebe (2011), Linda Gleason (2012), Terri Erwin (2013), Eileen Sotomora (2014), Sharon Bale (2015), The Men Behind the Mission — Chuck Erwin, George Gleason, Chip Murphy, and Dr. Ricardo Sotomora (2016), Melanie Jackson (2017), the Rev. Betsy Singleton Snyder (2018) and Susan Hickingbotham (2019).