Rebecca “Becky” Halstead, retired Brigadier General, United States Army, and the first female graduate of West Point, United States Military Academy will be the keynote speaker at Westchester’s premier networking event, In the Company of Women. Hosted by the YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester, the benefit luncheon will be held on May 9, 2014 from 11 am to 2 pm at the Hilton Westchester, New York. The event draws nearly 600 people and is open to the public.
General Halstead is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy and achieved an historic milestone as the first female graduate of West Point to be promoted to General Officer. She was the Senior Commanding General for logistics in Iraq, and was the first female in U.S. history to command in combat at the strategic level.
In this capacity, she was responsible for leading over 200 combined military and civilian multi-disciplined units and providing supplies, maintenance, transportation and distribution support to over 250,000 personnel serving in Iraq.
Truly an inspiration and embodiment of the YWCA spirit, Becky earned the demanding degrees of a B.S. in Engineering from West Point, M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and an M.S. in Advanced Military Studies from the Army Command and General Staff College.
“We are delighted that General Halstead is delivering our event’s keynote remarks and honored to recognize her outstanding accomplishments at the In the Company of Woman on May 9th,”said Maria L. Imperial, CEO of the YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester.
Becky’s numerous achievements include the 2007 National Women’s History Project Award for “Generations of Women Moving History Forward”, and serving as the Commissioner on the President’s Military Leadership Diversity Commission. In 2011, her leadership model was a focus of a Harvard Business School case study. After she retired from the Army, Becky founded her own leader consultancy company, STEADFAST Leadership, LLC, where she specializes in inspirational speaking and leader coaching and advising.
In the Company of Women Honorees for 2014 include: Ruth Mahoney, PresidentKeyBank Hudson Valley/Metro NY District as Corporate Champion; Kevin Plunkett, Westchester Deputy County Executive the Community Champion; and E. Barbara Wiggins, retired Lt. Colonel, US Army as the YWCA spirit Award Champion.
The event Co-chairs are Lisa Caesar, Executive Director, Corporate & Investment Bank, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Eileen Simon, Chief Franchise Integrity Officer, MasterCard. Kenneth Theobalds, Vice President of Government & Regulatory Affairs, Entergy serves as the Honorary Chair.
For more information, contact the YWCA Development Director at (914) 949-6227 x147 or via email: events@ywcawpcw.org.
