AMERICUS — The Boys and Girls Club of Americus/Sumter County Inc. has announced the keynote speaker for the upcoming 19th Annual Steak & Stake Charity Fundraiser on Tuesday, July 25 at Georgia Southwestern State University Success Center Storm Dome.
Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives will give the keynote address. She represents District 89.
Abrams serves as a member of the Appropriations, Ethics, Judiciary Non-Civil and Ways & Means committees. She was first sworn into office in January 2007. An attorney, Abrams is the first woman to lead in either party in the Georgia General Assembly.
According to her bio on the Georgia House of Representatives’ website, she is co-founder and acts as senior vice president of NOWaccount Network Corporation, a financial services firm. She also co-founded Nourish Inc., a beverage company with a focus on infants and toddlers, and as other entrepreneurial ventures. She was former Deputy City Attorney for the City of Atlanta. Prior to her tenure at the city, she was special tax counsel at Sutherland with a focus on tax-exempt organizations, health care and public finance.
She was the 2012 recipient of the prestigious John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, which honors an elected official under 40 whose work demonstrates the impact of elective public service as a way to address public challenges. She’s been recognized nationally as one of “12 Ris
ing Legislators to Watch” by Governing magazine and one of the “100 Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend for 2012 and 2013. She has been honored as a Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, as Public Servant of the Year by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Outstanding Public Service by the Latin American Association, Champion for Georgia Cities by the Georgia Municipal Association, as Legislator of the Year by the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce, as well as many other recognitions. She has published articles on issues of public policy, taxation and nonprofit organizations, including pieces with The Christian Science Monitor, Yale Law and Policy Review, U.S. News and World Reports and the  Huffington Post.
Abrams received her law degree from the Yale Law School. She graduated from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin with a master’s in public policy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (political science, economics and sociology) from Spelman College, magna cum laude.
Dinner at the Steak & Stake will begin at 6 p.m. with the program immediately following.
Performances by the club’s youth will be featured. Joining hosts will be the former United States President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter, a keynote speaker, and other state and local dignitaries.
Tickets are on sale at $75 each and corporate sponsorship levels are available. Contact Shirley Green-Reese at 229.938.3300, Andrea Sartiano at 229.331.0217 or Susan Ruckman at 229.942.6618 to request your tickets or corporate sponsorship for this event. You may also purchase your tickets online with a credit card at www.bgcsumter.org.