On December 17, 2014, Cafe Boulud Palm Beach hosts their first quarterly Food and Wine Tasting Series dinner in conjunction with Domaine Select Wine & Estates and Muses & Visionaries magazine. During this first dinner, four awards will be presented to standout women who have made an impact to society.
Here are the first four honorees:
Loretta Neff
Loretta Neff is the founder of The Elegant Way Foundation®, a nonprofit that provides resources and training in social skills to other charities, missions, and schools.
Loretta received a BA degree in 1989, and was accepted to Thomas Cooley Law School at Michigan State University. She never attended, however, having found her real passion to be philanthropy through teaching business etiquette and the social graces.
While living in Cleveland, Loretta joined a private social club and she was soon invited to teach dinner manners and social graces to children of other members. Referrals led her to a host of other clients, from individuals to Fortune 500 companies. Her fortuitous business expansion prompted her to refer to herself as “an accidental entrepreneur.” A simple postponement of law school became a thriving career—and a driving mission.
Loretta remains committed to the advancement of numerous charities, societies, and educational foundations.
Melissa Sullivan
Born and raised in Philadelphia and Princeton, NJ, Melissa is on the verge of 20 years in Palm Beach County. In 1995, following an internship with the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington DC, she moved south to join the Norton Museum of Art as an Associate Curator. While at the Norton she designed and launched the award winning and nationally acclaimed Norton P.A.C.E. – Progressive Afterschool Arts Community Education.
Melissa left the Norton in 2001 to support the family’s growing agriculture business in the Glades and spend more time with her son Luke, daughter Brooke, and stepsons Robert and Tobin. For almost ten years she also had the great fortune to work on tasks varied and close to her heart, from promoting permaculture projects in Costa Rica to working with contemporary artists in West Palm Beach.
Back to full-time work in 2010, Melissa took on operations in development and communications at the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Today she brings to her position as Director of Advancement for the Palm Beach County Food Bank, her lifelong dedication to eradicating hunger, along with some handy skills in creative marketing, public and media relations, and fashioning dynamic fundraising initiatives.
When she is not at work she is a big fan of great wine, delicious dinners with friends, the misery of hot yoga, and trying to keep up with her children on morning runs.
Dr. Elisabeth McKeen
Elisabeth A. McKeen, MD. is a private practitioner in oncology/cancer genetics at Florida Cancer Specialists in Palm Beach County, Florida.
She attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany Medical College in the biomedical program. Her education continued with an internship and residency in internal medicine and at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. This was followed by a Cancer Epidemiology Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute where she was part of the Families Studies Section of the Clinical Epidemiology Branch. She did her oncology fellowship at Georgetown University.
Dr. McKeen has been practicing in oncology for over thirty years, specializing in breast oncology for the last two decades. She has maintained a lifelong passion for cancer genetics.
Dr. McKeen sees patients on a daily basis, including genetic and high risk patients. She enjoys working and talking with groups in the community about breast cancer issues, include preventative and survivorship issues.
Shirley Cowen
Shirley Cowen has been a part of the Palm Beach community for over twenty-six years. orginally from Philadelphia, she is a volunteer with the Palm Beach Police Auxiliary and Crime Watch. Other memberships include the Palm Beach Cultural Council, Ann Norton Sculpture Garden, The Forum Club, Palm beach Symphony, and the Palm Beach Fellowships of Christians and Jews.
