WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) celebrated its 30th anniversary at its Annual Awards Gala, presenting Vivek Ramaswamy with the Gentlemen of Distinction Award, Diana Davis Spencer with the newly-renamed Diana Davis Spencer Lifetime Achievement Award, Tulsi Gabbard with the Resilience Award, and Kimberley Strassel with the Barbara K. Olson Woman of Valor Award. The event was sold out with 500 in attendance at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
The night began with remarks from Ramaswamy, author of Woke, Inc. and co-founder of Strive Asset Management, who received the Gentleman of Distinction Award for his role in exposing how wokeism has taken hold of corporate America. “To me, the best measure of the health of a democracy, especially American democracy, isn’t the number of ballots that are cast every November, it is the percentage of people who feel free to say what they actually think in public,” Ramaswamy said. He joins Sen. Tim Scott, Mike Rowe, Steve Forbes, and Larry Kudlow as honorees of this award.
[VIVEK RAMASWAMY ACCEPTANCE REMARKS]
[VIVEK RAMASWAMY ACCEPTANCE VIDEO]
IWF honored Diana Davis Spencer, executive chairman of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, with the Lifetime Achievement Award and announced it will be renamed as the Diana Davis Spencer Lifetime Achievement Award. Spencer, who has been a longtime champion of IWF, added, “Ralph Waldo Emerson advised ‘do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’ That’s IWF.”
[DIANA DAVIS SPENCER ACCEPTANCE REMARKS]
[DIANA DAVIS SPENCER ACCEPTANCE VIDEO]
Fresh off her announcement that she would be leaving the Democratic party, Tulsi Gabbard, former U.S. Representative (D-HI) and original co-sponsor of the Protect Women’s Sports Act, received the Resilience Award for her work standing up for female athletes.
“It is the height of hypocrisy for those who claim to be feminists, for the Democratic Party, who claims to be champions for women over decades, fighting for the rights of women, fighting for equality, fighting for that level and fair playing field across our society,” Gabbard said. “It is the height of hypocrisy for these very same people to deny that there is such a thing as a woman.”
[TULSI GABBARD ACCEPTANCE REMARKS]
[TULSI GABBARD ACCEPTANCE VIDEO]
The final awardee of the night was Kimberley Strassel, editorial board member at The Wall Street Journal, who was presented with the Barbara K. Olson Woman of Valor Award for her hard-hitting journalism. Strassel became the 18th woman to receive this award, with past honorees including Janice Dean, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
In her speech, Strassel said, “The actual definition of valor, and I looked it up…it’s a person whose strength of mind or spirit enables them to encounter danger or threats with great resolve. That is the definition of the Independent Women’s Forum, and that is the definition of everyone who is sitting in this room, and I applaud you all.”
[KIMBERLEY STRASSEL ACCEPTANCE REMARKS]
[KIMBERLEY STRASSEL ACCEPTANCE VIDEO]
To read Vivek Ramaswamy’s remarks, click HERE.
To read Diana Davis Spencer’s remarks, click HERE.
To read Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks, click HERE.
To read Kimberley Strassel’s remarks, click HERE.