Events
YWCA Greater Charleston Announces 2021 MLK Celebration Theme and Summit Keynote Speaker
Press Release
The capstone event of Charleston’s 10-day Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, the largest and longest-running event of its kind in South Carolina, will be headlined next month by noted philanthropist and business leader Anita Zucker (right).
The annual tribute’s theme will be “Restore the Dream. Repair our World.”
The MLK Annual Business and Professional Summit, formerly called the MLK Business and Professional Breakfast, will cap the 10-day tribute. Held at 7:30 am on Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 for a limited audience of 50 in a socially distanced format at the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Camden Room, 375 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403 as well as virtually, the event will feature Zucker as keynote speaker and City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg as honorary chair.
Zucker, who currently serves as chair and chief executive officer of The InterTech Group, Inc., is an advocate for education and a passionate philanthropist. The recipient of the 2019 Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award, 2019 James L. Fisher Distinguished Service Award, and 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, among many other honors, she has served on boards throughout South Carolina and beyond.
Her philanthropic, advocacy, and community work includes leadership and membership positions on the boards and leadership committees of the College of Charleston, Addlestone Hebrew Academy, Porter Gaud, Ashley Hall, the MUSC Foundation, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, the MUSC Neurosciences Department, Clemson University, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Trident Technical College, Tri-County Cradle to Career Collaborative, Charleston Promise Neighborhood, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, the Coastal Community Foundation, Spoleto, and the Gaillard Management Corporation, among others. She proudly serves as a trustee at the University of Florida and as chair of the University of Florida Foundation.
The summit is again expected to be attended by hundreds of Charleston’s business, civic, and clergy leaders; at the 2020 event, nearly 700 ticket-holders packed a large ballroom and overflow space at the Charleston Gaillard Center.
Organizations can sign up now to sponsor the 2021 MLK Celebration online at ywcagc.org/mlk or by emailing johnb@ywca-charlestonsc.org. Virtual attendance of the 2021 MLK Annual Business & Professional Summit will be complimentary. Registration information will be available in early January at ywcagc.org.