More than 3,000 members of The Links, Incorporated will meet to “Celebrate. Elevate. Serve.” at the organization’s 44th National Assembly being held at the Gaylord Texan Resort Wednesday, June 19 through Sunday, June 23, 2024. “This National Assembly affords our organization the opportunity to celebrate trailblazers, elevate our advocacy and serve the global community at a higher and more impactful way than ever before,” said National President Ethel Isaacs Williams.
Prima ballerina Misty Copeland, “Grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee, justice reform activist and author Kemba Smith, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women Shavon Arline-Bradley, and Senior Pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, are among the National Assembly’s featured guests, speakers and honorees.
The event will also recognize those who have made their mark in the areas where The Links, Incorporated concentrates its service. Co-Founders Awards will be presented to Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School of Business, Sandra Evers-Manly, creator of the Black Hollywood Education Resources Center, Admiral Michelle Howard, the first woman promoted to the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy, Baroness Patricia Scotland, the first woman to hold the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations and Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams, the first black woman to lead a health science center in Texas—the University of North Texas Health Science at Fort Worth.
Media personalities CBS Saturday Morning Co-Host Michelle Miller, MSNBC The Weekend Co-Host Symone- Sanders-Townsend and NBC Today Show Co-Host Sheinelle Jones will also lend their talents as moderators of select events over the course of the conference.
The Assembly also marks the 45th anniversary of The Links Foundation, Incorporated. Grammy Award-winning Jazz Artist Gregory Porter will perform at The Links Foundation, Incorporated 45th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit Concert. Proceeds from that event will support The Foundation’s work. The Foundation is the entity which funds much of The Links’ philanthropy and has gifted more than $27 million to date.
Members, who will travel from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the United Kingdom, will also take part in business sessions, panel discussions, informative workshops and a community service project during the five-day event. Assembly attendees are also projected to have a significant economic impact on the area’s shops and restaurants.
About The Links, Incorporated
The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The premier women’s organization consist of more than 17,000 members who contribute more than 1 million documented hours of community service annually – strengthening their communities and enhancing the nation. The organization is the recipient of awards from the UN Association of New York and the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation for its premier programs, as well as the Golden Torch Award for Corporate Community Service from the National Society of Black Engineers. For more information, visit www.linksinc.org
About The Links Foundation, Incorporated
Since 1979 The Links Foundation, Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) corporation, has donated more than $27 million to noteworthy charitable causes that impact lives and change communities for the better. Grants of scale support projects or institutions that are of regional, national, and/or international significance. The Foundation’s $1 million Legacy Grant recipients include the United Negro College Fund; the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; The National Civil Rights Museum; the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC); St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; and the Obama Presidential Center.
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