Bank of America Women's Leadership Series [SOLD OUT]
VIEW EVENT DETAILSWomen in Journalism: Ann Curry
UPDATE: Tonight’s program with Ann Curry will go on as planned, despite the City of Houston water main break. We have made appropriate arrangements and we look forward to welcoming our guests.
This event has sold out. Tickets will not be sold at the door. A wait list has been created pending availability of additional seating. Patrons can be added to the wait list by calling Guest Services at 713.496.9901.
Since its beginnings, the world of professional journalism has been a male-dominated industry, and women entering the field was a rarity. Due to significant strides in gender parity beginning 50 years ago, this dynamic has gradually changed. Women now dominate journalism schools, comprising more than two-thirds of graduates with degrees in journalism and mass communications; however, despite these advances, our modern-day newsrooms continue to tell a different tale. The media industry currently is composed of just one-third women — a number that only decreases for women of color.
Ann Curry is an internationally recognized journalist with a long tenure at NBC News and a history of exclusive and news-breaking interviews. She has traveled the world to report on some of the key stories of our time, including wars, nuclear tensions, humanitarian and natural disasters, and human interest stories, elevating previously unheard voices as well as interviewing some of the most influential figures across the globe.
Join Asia Society Texas Center for a conversation with Ann Curry on women in the workplace, what it is like reporting while female, and examining how women's roles in journalism have transformed over the past 50 years.
About the Speaker
Ann Curry is an award-winning journalist and photojournalist and former NBC News Network anchor and international correspondent. She has reported on conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Darfur, Congo, the Central African Republic, Serbia, Lebanon, and Israel; on nuclear tensions from North Korea and Iran; and on numerous humanitarian disasters, including the tsunamis in Southeast Asia and Japan, and the massive 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where her appeal via Twitter is credited for helping to speed the arrival of humanitarian planes. She has contributed groundbreaking journalism on Climate Change, interviewing scientists and native peoples, documenting glacial melt in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and on Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as documenting the deepening drought in the American West. Ann is also known for her focused reporting from inside Iran, giving voice to its women, human rights activists and young people, including Green Revolution activists. She also first broke the news of Iran's interest in negotiating a nuclear agreement with the outside world. For her stories Ann has also traveled to the South Pole, South Africa and Botswana, Somalia and Kenya, as well to Syria, Chad, Liberia and Pakistan, among other places.
Ann has conducted a long list of exclusive and news breaking interviews, which have included Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, President Ahmadinejad, President Khatami and Foreign Minister Zarif; Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and First Lady Asma al-Assad; Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, President Asif Ali Zardari and President Musharraf; Turkey's President Erdogan; Saddam Hussein's close advisor and Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, Sudan's President Omar Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir; Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Chad's President Idriss Deby; as well as U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Walker Bush, and Barack Obama and U.S. Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and First Lady Laura Bush, the Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund Hillary, George Clooney, Maya Angelou, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among many others.
She has also reported and executive produced a twelve hour documentary series about transformative world events on PBS, is a featured writer for National Geographic Magazine, and is the anchor and executive producer of the live series “Chasing the Cure” on the Turner Networks, an initiative to connect misdiagnosed and undiagnosed patients with top doctors worldwide.
Ann has won 7 national news Emmys and numerous Edward R. Murrow awards, Gracie Allen Awards, and National Headliner Awards. The NAACP has honored her with an Excellence in Reporting award. Women in Communications has awarded her a Matrix. Ann has also been given numerous humanitarian awards, including from Refugees International, Americares and Save the Children. One award she especially prizes is a Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for her dedication to reporting about genocide.
About the Moderator
ABC’s award-winning journalist Melanie Lawson currently serves as co-anchor of Live at 5, and Channel 13's midday show, Eyewitness News at 11am. Melanie has covered virtually every city, state, and national election during her career. She has traveled to Cuba, Panama, and Africa, among other places. She has won numerous awards for her reporting, including an Emmy for her coverage of President Clinton's visit to South Africa, the only local reporter in the nation to make that trip. Melanie has interviewed a wide range of notables, including three U.S. Presidents, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, poet Maya Angelou, Grammy Award winners Destiny's Child, and former heavyweight champion boxer George Foreman, among many others. She received her undergraduate degree in Politics from Princeton University, and a joint degree in Law and Journalism from Columbia University. She is admitted to both the Texas and New York State Bars.
About the Women's Leadership Series
The Women's Leadership Series (WLS) celebrates influential, diverse women making a substantive impact in both the business and culture arenas, locally and globally.
Previous programs:
Asia Society Launches the 2019–2020 Bank of America Women's Leadership Series with Former PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi
Asia Society Concludes 2018-2019 Bank of America Women's Leadership Series Season with Focus on Women in Entertainment
Bank of America Women’s Leadership Series Spotlights Local Energy Executives, Importance of STEM Education
Bank of America Women’s Leadership Series Kicks Off 2018-2019 Season with Celebrated Female Asian Chefs
Asia Society Concludes 2017-2018 Women's Leadership Series with Women in Fashion Evening
Technology Trailblazers on the Business of Innovation
Third Year of Women’s Leadership Series Begins with Medical Innovators
Former UK First Lady Leads Dialogue on Women’s Education
Women's Leadership Panel Addresses Female Representation in the C-Suite
Former Secretary of Labor Credits "Strong Families, Education, and Hard Work" for Success
Local Leaders Share Personal and Professional Successes at Inaugural Women's Leadership Program
The Women's Leadership Series Steering committee is chaired by Dr. Anne Chao. Members include Nancy C. Allen, Dr. Dina Alsowayel, Lisa Barksdale, Rania Daniel, Kathy Goossen, Dr. Ellen Gritz, Dr. Michelle Herrera, Richa Himani, Brigitte Kalai, Mandy Kao, Shirley Kwan, Sultana Mangalji, Niloufar Molavi, Davana Petree, Vani Rao, Sue Sim, and Y. Ping Sun.
Title Sponsor
Presenting Sponsors
Anne and Albert Chao
Nancy Pollok Guinee
Lead Sponsors
Nancy C. Allen
Michelle and Hector Herrera
Brigitte Kalai
Additional Support
Kathy and Marty Goossen
Mandy and William Kao
Shirley and Peter Kwan
Sultana and Moez Mangalji
Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron
Sue and Randy Sim
Sahana and Kishore Sundararajan
Event Details
1370 Southmore Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77019
713.496.9901