Local Inspiration

Michelle Bell
President and CEO

1st Choice Government Solutions
8121 Georgia Ave, Suite 700
Silver Spring, MD 20910
http://www.1stchoicegov.com

Michelle A. Bell, PHR, is President and CEO of 1st Choice Government Solutions, headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, with offices in Baltimore, MD, Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC. 1st Choice provides nationwide services in program and project management support, staff augmentation, organizational development and training, document, data and records management to state and federal government agencies as well as commercial businesses.

Since founding 1st Choice in 2000, Michelle has been the driving force behind the company’s growth, especially within the federal market, where sales have tripled over the last two years. Her focus on developing strategic partnerships, creative marketing and sound fiscal management has escalated the company’s reputation within government agencies.

Michelle is active in the business community as an advocate for minority- and women-owned businesses. She is also a member of the board with the Maryland/District of Columbia Minority Supplier Development Council, where she serves as Chairperson of the Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee. Michelle is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), American Association of University Women (AAUW), National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), National Association of Female Executives (NAFE), and National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).

Michelle believes in giving back to the community as noted in her generosity to the N Street Village Women’s Shelter, donating a truckload of food to residents. Another community event 1st Choice hosts yearly, Project H.O.P.E (Helping Other People Eat), has provided thousands of families a warm meal every Thanksgiving for the past 10 years. Also, a firm believer in a solid education, Michelle offers scholarships to students of 1st Choice employees.

 

A Message From The Creator

If You Stand For Nothing You Will Fall For Anything!!!!

“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform. Those who are really in earnest are willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathies with despised ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.” 
—Susan B. Anthony

Women In The News

Hormel Foods CFO to Be Honored at CFO Magazine’s 2012 Women in Finance Awards

AUSTIN, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) announced today that Jody H. Feragen, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Hormel Foods, has been nominated for the CFO magazine Women in Finance Awards. The awards will be presented Tuesday, May 15, at the CFO Women in Finance Conference in New York City

Feragen joined Hormel Foods in 2000 as treasurer, assuming the title of vice president and treasurer in 2001. She was promoted to vice president of finance and treasurer in 2005 and was named senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2007. She was promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2010.

“This nomination is an honor, and I appreciate CFO magazine providing an opportunity to recognize women in leadership roles throughout business,” Feragen said.

CFO magazine’s first-ever Women in Finance Awards will honor all of the women CFOs of the Fortune 500 and the Global 500 for their achievements in reaching the CFO seat at the world’s largest companies – an amazing success, as there are only 65 women CFOs out of the entire group. The awards ceremony will be from noon to 2:00 p.m., preceded by a morning conference focusing on essential skills for succeeding in the C-suite and beyond, effective mentoring and persuasive communications. For more information on the event, go to www.cfo.com/wif.

About Hormel Foods
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring branded, value-added products to the global marketplace. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Maplecroft Climate Innovation Indexes, Global 1000 Sustainable Performance Leaders and was again named one of “The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine in 2011. The company enjoys a strong reputation among consumers, retail grocers, foodservice and industrial customers for products highly regarded for quality, taste, nutrition, convenience and value. For more information, visit http://www.hormelfoods.com.

Inspirational Woman Of The Day

Emine Saner

The Guardian March 7, 2011

Article History

Hawa Abdi

One of Somalia’s first female gynaecologists, Hawa Abdi now uses her own money to run a small hospital treating everything from war injuries to malnutrition and disease

In 1983 Abdi, one of Somalia’s first female gynaecologists, opened a small clinic for women and children on her family farm. When the country descended into civil war in 1991 she opened to all and now the camp near Mogadishu is home to around 90,000 people. , mostly displaced women and children seeking refuge and treatment for everything from war injuries to malnutrition and disease.

When Islamist militants invaded the camp, they took Abdi hostage for a week, saying women should not be allowed to be in control of such a place. “I may be a woman, but I’m a doctor,” she said. “What have you done for society?”

As aid agencies have abandoned the dangerous country, Abdi runs her small hospital, often with the help of her daughters Deqo and Amina, who are also doctors, on her own savings anddonations. She also helps provide food and clean water, runs a school and literacy classes for women and campaigns against female genital mutilation. This woman, with her education and one-time family wealth, could easily have left her lawless country but she chose to stay: “We women in Somalia are trying to be leaders in our community.”

Inspiration Of Motherhood and Womanhood

“Women’s rights in essence is really a movement for freedom, a movement for equality, for the dignity of all women, for those who work outside the home and those who dedicate themselves with more altruism than any profession I know to being wives and mothers, cooks and chauffeurs, and child psychologists and loving human beings.”

Inspiration Of Style

The VOGUE Festival will be a unique event where you will see and hear some of the biggest names in the fashion industry, including international designers, models, photographers, broadcasters and journalists. 

The festival is already set to be the “largest gathering of fashion talent ever seen in London.”Confirmed speakers include: Christopher Bailey, David Bailey, Dolce & Gabbana, Tom Ford,Stella McCartney, Mary Portas, Natalia Vodianova, Diane von Furstenberg and Matthew Williamson. In addition, a special Fashion Question Time event will see some of London’s most exciting  designers – Holly Fulton [^], Henry Holland [^], Roksanda Ilincic [^], Christopher Kane [^],Mary Katrantzou [^] and Nicholas Kirkwood [^] – answering questions from the floor.

Individual tickets for the festival, held in association with Vertu, are available for the morning and the afternoon sessions of each day. Each half-day ticket allows you to see three talks and panel discussions, as well as experience a wide range of additional events – makeovers, photoshoots, trend talks and fashion films. There will also be a limited-edition T-shirt, designed for the festival by Mulberry.