INSPIRED Event

INSPIRED is the foundation's annual fundraising and educational event presenting powerful women speaking on meaningful topics. INSPIRED is our opportunity to learn from the wisdom and experience of these remarkable women. Past speakers have included athletes, journalists, astronauts, first responders, authors, and civil rights activists including Dr. Mae Jemison, Dr. Tererai Trent, Dolores Huerta, and Dr. Angela Davis.

2021 INSPIRED Event - save the date

friday, september 10, 2021

Plan to join us at this powerful virtual experience where we'll recognize women who have been first responders as we mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

more information coming soon!
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If you are interested in serving on the Chrysalis Inspired Event Committee, 
please reach out to Lynn Knudsen. Meetings will begin in May 2021.

Past INSPIRED Events

2020 inspired event: sunny hostin

friday october 20, 2020
virtual event emceed by Sabrina Ahmed

Sunny Hostin’s own story as a self-described Afro-Latina lawyer frames her perspective on life, family, career, and society. Known for her informed analysis of the law as well as her emotional intelligence, she believes she is not a role model but a “possibility model.”  

Hostin is a 3-time Emmy Award winner and has co-hosted ABC’s popular talk show The View since 2016. 

Originally from the South Bronx in New York, Hostin graduated from Notre Dame Law School and became an attorney for the United States Department of Justice. Moving into a position as a federal prosecutor, she received the Special Achievement Award by Attorney General Janet Reno for her prosecution of child sexual predators. 

Hostin’s work as a legal correspondent for ABC’s Good Morning America and for the ABC News Special The President and the People provided her an opportunity to report on some of the most compelling stories of the past decade including the civil unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore, the Bernie Madoff and Bill Cosby scandals, and the George Zimmerman trial. 

A gifted storyteller, Hostin hosted, and executive produced a 6-episode documentary series, Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin on Investigation Discovery. 

2019 inspired event: dolores huerta

friday september 20, 2019
hilton des moines downtown 
 
If you joined Chrysalis for the 2019 INSPIRED Event, you had the opportunity to meet a “living legend” – Dolores Huerta. Then 89 years old, Huerta’s passion intensified as she spoke to nearly 500 guests at the luncheon event on September 20.
 
Dolores Huerta urged each of us to follow our own values and uphold what we believe is right. This is where people find their power, she shared, in changing not only their own lives but changing their communities and society. 
 
Huerta's advice for each of us? Don’t wait to be invited - step up and become an activist. This is how change happens and why Huerta noted “people who get involved in activism live so many experiences that they otherwise wouldn’t…peoples’ lives are so enriched.”
 
Throughout history are countless stories of activism: people working together toward a shared purpose to actively create change together. Women instinctively do this well – bringing people together, amplifying their voices, and working for good in the world around us. Speaking up, teaching a life lesson, promoting an idea, writing a letter to the editor, and intentionally choosing how to spend our money (such as not buying goods produced by companies that exploit workers) are exercises of activism that create and sustain movements, and movements lead to change.
 
“Leadership is a choice one makes,” Huerta shares. “When you choose to give time and resources to participate in community work, this is what makes you a leader.”
 
Today’s issues violence and conflict can overwhelm us, but we cannot stop our activism and our commitment to making this world a better place. Following the lead of a trailblazer like Dolores Huerta is one way we can continue to work toward long-term change.
 
View event photos here

screen DOLORES

rebel.
activist. feminist. mother.

view the trailer

chrysalis was proud to partner with drake university's women's and gender studies department to host a screening of the documentary, "Dolores: Rebel. Activist. Feminist. Mother."

over 100 students, staff, and friends gathered to view the 2017 film co-produced by musician Carlos Santana and actor Benjamin Bratt. the film was directed by Peter Bratt, award-winning screenwriter and independent filmmaker.

as co-founder of the first farm workers unions, dolores huerta is one of the most important, yet least well known, activists in united states' history.