Les Femmes du Monde Honors Carmaleta Whiteley Felton
Long time Les Femmes du Monde supporter and community leader Carmaleta Whiteley Felton was celebrated as the Les Femmes du Monde 2017 Woman of the Year at the gala dinner held at the Dallas Country Club on Nov. 1, 2017.
Les Femmes du Monde president Sharon Ballew welcomed guests and gave a brief history of Les Femmes du Monde, which was founded in 1961 as a fundraising committee on behalf of the Dallas Council on World Affairs, now the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. In 1987, Les Femmes became its own nonprofit organization. In 1995, Children’s Medical Center (now Children’s Health) was added as a second beneficiary. Since its inception in 1961 Les Femmes du Monde has given over $670,000 to Children’s Health and $2 million to the World Affairs Council.
After a lovely tribute video showcasing many of Dallas’ top business and community leaders, Sharon presented Carmaleta with the Woman of the Year Award saying, “This year’s honoree is dedicated to the causes she has chaired and has a deep commitment to inspire and help others. She has chaired over 15 events including AWARE, KidneyTexas, Dallas Children’s Theater Gala, The Mad Hatter’s Tea, The Leukemia Society St. Valentine’s Day Luncheon, The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Fashion Show and Luncheon, and most recently, she co-chaired The Pat and Emmitt Smith Gala with her husband, Otis Felton. She has served on 15 nonprofit boards and raised millions of dollars for nonprofits. She was on the cover of Grand Luxe Magazine in 2008. In 2011, she was named in D Magazine’s Dallas Dozen as one of the important people in Dallas and most recently was Paper City’s Bomb Girl. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome this year’s Woman of the Year, Carmaleta Whiteley.”
After a resounding round of applause, Carmaleta said, “I am truly humbled and honored to be named the 2017 Woman of the Year and so grateful to the committee of Les Femmes du Monde. I am following in the footsteps of so many amazing women who have given so much and are truly my heroes.”
