Past WWIG Banquet Speakers

2013 – Laura Schwartz, speaker, author of Eat, Drink & Succeed and television commentator, served as the White House Director of Events to former President Bill Clinton
2012 – Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary to former President George W. Bush from 2007-2009
2011 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend , Maryland's first woman Lt. Governor
2010 – Karen Hughes, Ambassador, former Counselor to President George W Bush and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
2009 – Donna Brazile, Democratic political strategist, commentator, adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, and the Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee
2008 – Jenna Bush, International and child rights advocate & best-selling author
2007 – Elizabeth Edwards, Attorney and best-selling author
2006 – Christine Todd Whitman, New Jersey’s first female Governor
2005 – Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, former U.S. Senator, and former First Lady
2004 – Mary Matalin, former counselor to President Bush & Vice President Cheney
2003 – The Capitol Steps, musical political satire
2002 – Linda Wertheimer, award-winning broadcaster for National Public Radio
2001 – Catherine Crier, award-winning journalist for Court TV
2000 – Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist and author
1999 – Pat Schroeder, former Colorado congresswoman
1998 – Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas
1997 – Lynne Cheney, former Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and author
1996 – Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for President Bill Clinton
1995 – Dr. Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
1994 – Ann Compton, award-winning journalist for ABC
1993 – Janet Steiger, former Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission
1992 – Molly Ivins, award-winning syndicated columnist and best-selling author
1991 – Peggy Noonan, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, author, and former speechwriter to President Reagan
1990 – Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize Winning syndicated columnist for the Boston Globe
1989 – Marie Davis Gadsden, Administrator for National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. 1988 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin. Presidential Citation as one of the top women in the U.S. Government service.
1988 – Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former Chancellor of UW-Madison