The SLS Beverly Hills hotel hosted its Third Annual International Women’s Day Celebration on Tuesday March 5 with a full day’s programming event billed as A Five Star Celebration, and what a celebration it was!
The day began with a Sweat & Workout with celebrity trainer Latreal Mitchell featured on Khloe Kardashian’s Revenge Body. It was followed by a Pilates workout with Nicole Stuart, celebrity trainer and co-author of Total Body Beautiful. The hotel’s Ciel Spa provided shower and changing facilities.
A pop-up working lounge was set up in the speakeasy Wasp in a Wig to recharge and refresh. Hutchins Portraits provided professional headshots with a red carpet photographer, and Glamsquad Touchups provided complimentary hair and make-up. An all day Shopping Bazaar offered a range of beauty, fashion & wellness items from female business owners.
Then it was time to move on to panel discussions with industry leaders across entertainment, media, law, technology.
Presented by the African American Film Critics Association, The Lady Directors Panel was moderated by Carla Renata. Featured panelists included Kelly Park of The Neighborhood, Jess Wu Calder of Blindspotting, and Nailah Jefferson of Donyale Luna and Nicki Micheaux of Summer of Violence.
The Women in Law Panel focused on the importance of community engagement. Moderated by Vinca Jarrett, featured panelists included Laura Farber from Hahn & Hahn, Chiquita Banks from BESLA, Adrienne Alexander from Every Contract You Need, Nyanza Shaw from Fremantle and Heidy Vaquerano from Fox Rothschild.
Lunch in the rooftop pool area with panoramic city views highlighted clean cuisine.
Then, a panel discussion titled Kicking Open the Door Creating and Maintaining the Pipeline was moderated by Tamara Houston. Featured panelists include Vinca Jarrett, Entertainment Attorney, Michelle Sneed, A Few Good Women, Angela Lee, Rupa Dash, World Woman Foundation and Melissa Cardenas, Wealth Management.
The day’s final panel discussion titled AI and the Metaverse explored our role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Moderated by Deanna Barnert, featured panelists included Sneha Deo, Microsoft, Jenni Ogden, EyeQ Ventures, Shira Lazar, What’s Trending and Joanna Popper, CAA.
The evening festivities moved to the hotel’s Garden Room for a red carpet entrance and networking over cocktails, passed appetizers and a dessert station along with live entertainment and fun photography.
The evening program hosted by Producer-Director Aida Rodriguez and SiriusXM Julia Cunningham included a fireside chat and a discussion led by Lorenza Munoz titled DEI and Affirmative Action are Gone, What’s Next?
The day closed with an award ceremony honoring director Dyan Cannon. Past honorees have included Maggie Gyllenhaal and Mary Lou Belli.
Nadine Vondermann Director of Sales & Marketing at the SLS who launched the annual event said it has become her passion project, attributing that to her years of living in the Middle East.
