Disney on Ice presents Dare to Dream Panel Event at Excel Academy

Disney on Ice presents Dare to Dream Panel Event at Excel Academy

On Thursday, October 20, 2011 a few of DC's most prominent female leaders met with Excel Academy scholars to discuss their careers and the obstacles they've overcome to get to where they are today. The panel was led by Juliette Feld, co-producer of Disney on Ice presents Dare to Dream, and included Laura Evans, Fox 5 news anchor; Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks; Kaye Savage, Founder and CEO of Excel Academy; and Dr. Rhonique Shields-Harris, Executive Director of Public Sector Partnerships and Medical Director of Mobile Health Programs at Children’s National Medical Center. Excel's second and third grade scholars were able to discuss important issues with the panelists, including how to overcome stereotypes, make good decisions, and achieve one's dreams despite the odds. At the end of the panel, the second and third grade scholars were presented with a big Disney on Ice surprise: Princess Tiana, from Disney's The Princess and the Frog, made an appearance and distributed tiaras for each of the scholars to take home. Watch the Fox 5 news clip that aired on TV the evening of the 20th.

Bios of Panelists:

Debra Lee

Debra Lee is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BET Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) and the leading provider of entertainment for the African-American audience and consumers of Black culture globally.

Ms. Lee oversees one of the most influential multiplatform media companies in the world, including several cable television networks, digital offerings, and a home entertainment business. BET Networks is committed to providing its audience with quality entertainment that speaks to where they are in their lives and where they want to go. Under her leadership, Ms. Lee has led the company’s successful reinvigorated brand and successful programming vision that has created hits such as Let’s Stay Together, The Game on BET, Black Girls Rock!, The Mo’Nique Show, the BET Honors, Sunday Best and many more, resulting in consistent increases in viewership and revenue. In addition, Ms. Lee has helped guide BET’s reinvigorated approach, which is built on supporting families, embracing and encouraging their dreams, focusing on the issues that are important to them and presenting the freshest talent and entertainment. In September 2009, Ms. Lee managed the launch of CENTRIC, the 24-hour entertainment network featuring the artists, music, series, movies and reality programming that reflects the lifestyle and sophistication of today’s African-American and multi-cultural adult.  She also oversees the company’s current growth initiatives, including international distribution of the brand in Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to her being named Chairman and CEO, Ms. Lee was President and Chief Operating Officer of BET Networks for almost 10 years, during which she guided the company to consistent increases in viewership, revenue and earnings.  She first joined BET as Vice President and General Counsel in 1986 after serving more than five years as an attorney with Washington, D.C.-based Steptoe & Johnson, a corporate law firm.  Prior to that, she served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Barrington Parker of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment, Debra Lee’s achievements in a 25-plus year career at BET Networks have earned her numerous accolades from across the cable industry, as well as recognition as one of this country’s most respected business executives. Ms. Lee was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, the Washington Business Hall of Fame, and was honored with the Distinguished Leadership Vanguard Award by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. She serves on the corporate board of directors of Revlon, Marriott, Washington Gas & Light, the Ad Council and previously served on the corporate board of Eastman Kodak. Her business acumen and strategic approach to management make Ms. Lee a popular speaker and lecturer on a range of business topics.

Affiliated with a number of professional, civic, and cultural organizations, Ms. Lee is also a member of the national board of directors for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Economic Club of Washington and the Kennedy Center’s Community & Friends Board.  She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for Brown University and also serves on the boards of the Paley Center for Media, the Ad Council, the Grammy Foundation, and was appointed by the White House to the President’s Management Advisory Board and is a member emeritus of the Federal Communications Commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age.

Ms. Lee earned her juris doctorate at Harvard Law School, while simultaneously earning a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.  She graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in Asian politics.

Ms. Lee resides in Washington, D.C., with her two children.

Laura Evans

Award-winning journalist Laura Evans co-anchors the Fox 5 News at 5pm and contributes to the Fox 5 News Edge at 6 and 11, and the Fox 5 News at 10pm. With Laura in the anchor chair, Fox 5 News at 5pm recently won an Emmy for best newscast.

Laura has received a number of honors and awards for her reporting including an Emmy, two Associated Press awards, two Golden Mikes and a Radio and Television News Directors Association award for Best News Series. In June, 2005, Washingtonian Magazine named Laura one of the rising stars in local television news.

Laura has reported on a wide variety of stories from coast to coast: from earthquakes, wildfires and the O.J. Simpson Murder trial in California, to the 9/11 attacks, the 2002 sniper attacks and politics in Washington.

Before joining Fox 5 in 1999, Laura served as morning anchor at KEYT in Santa Barbara, California and as KEYT's Ventura County Bureau Chief. She started her career in Eureka, California as reporter and anchor for KIEM's 11pm newscast.

Laura is devoted to a number of local and national charities, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Make a Wish Foundation.

Laura earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in American Studies and Spanish from the University of San Diego and studied at the University of Madrid in Spain. Laura and her husband, Mike, have two daughters, Sienna and Drew, and a son, Lucas.

Kaye Savage

Kaye Savage began her career as a certified special education teacher working with low-income students in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Her passion to make a difference led to policy research work at the Urban Institute and later into the public service arena concentrating on local and federal government programs targeting urban economically distressed communities.

Kaye worked in the White House on the Historical Black College and Universities (HBCUs) Initiative. Most recently, she served the Program Manager for the District of Columbia Family Education Network, a special parent training initiative of Fight for Children. She has also worked as the National Director for the 21st Century School Fund and as special Project Manager on a staff augmentation contract in the Office of Facilities Management of the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Kaye began her college education at Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and completed her undergraduate work with high honors at Howard University where she also earned a Master’s of Science degree with distinction with a concentration in developmental psychology. Kaye was an Intergovernmental Fellow during her tenure at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and earned her MPA from the University of Southern California.

Kaye is a Building Excellent Schools Fellow and member of the Board of Trustees for the National Coalition of Girls Schools.

Dr. Rhonique Shields-Harris

Rhonique Harris is a board certified pediatrician working in the District of Columbia for thirteen years.

She is an alumnus of the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine. Dr. Harris has also earned a Masters of Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix. She completed her pediatric internship and residency at Georgetown University Medical Center and served as chief resident in pediatrics.

Currently, she is the executive director of public sector partnerships and medical director of Mobile Health Programs at Children’s National Medical Center. Dr. Harris is assistant professor of clinical pediatrics for the George Washington School of Medicine.