Women Make A Difference Luncheon to feature two United Way leaders in medicine, law
United Way’s Women Make a Difference Luncheon returns Wednesday, Oct. 26, with two dynamic community leaders (and United Way volunteers) set to take the stage at the Prisma Welcome Center at Unity Park.
This year’s luncheon, which serves as our Women United affinity group’s annual impact celebration, will feature incoming United Way Board Chair Dr. Saria Saccocio and Vice Chair Dr. Karen Baynes-Dunning in conversation with United Way President and CEO Meghan Barp.
DR. SARIA SACCOCIO
A long-time United Way supporter and 2022 Chair of United Way’s Community Campaign, Dr. Saccocio currently serves as Central Regional Medical Officer for CareMore, the healthcare delivery service line of Elevance Health, having previously led award-winning programs as a Chief Medical Officer for health systems throughout our region. She received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Florida, and her Executive Master of Health Administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In addition to her work through CareMore, she continues to serve patients at the Greenville Free Medical Clinic.
Dr. Saccocio’s civic and community involvement extend beyond United Way through organizations like the South Carolina Hospital Association and the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians. She is an alum of the Women’s Leadership Institute and Diversity Leadership Institute at Furman University.
Read Dr. Saccocio’s United Way story and her hopes for the future of our community here.
DR. KAREN BAYNES-DUNNING
Over the past 25 years, Dr. Karen Baynes-Dunning has served in numerous leadership positions to help improve public policies and services throughout her storied career as a lawyer, judge, social justice activist and advocate for children and families. A former juvenile court judge and past president of the Souther Poverty Law Center, she currently serves as president of Baynes-Dunning Consulting LLC, as well as the federal court-appointed monitor overseeing reform efforts at the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.
After receiving a juris doctorate from the University of California Berkeley School of Law, Dr. Baynes-Dunning practiced antitrust litigation, later becoming the first executive director of the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program and director of program development and management for Atlanta’s Fulton County Juvenile Court. She served on Fulton County’s juvenile court bench from 1998–2002. She has also served as associate director for governmental services and research at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, as a visiting professor at the Emory University School of Law, and as associate professor at the University of Alabama.
She received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Wake Forest University. Read more about Dr. Baynes-Dunning in our 2021 Black History Month feature.
Women United, formerly known as “Women’s Leadership,” is a powerful philanthropic group comprised of corporate leaders and community volunteers passionate about advancing economic mobility for women in Greenville County. In addition to the conversation on leadership with Barp, Saccocio and Baynes-Dunning, attendees of the Women Make a Difference luncheon will hear about the impact of Women United’s Jobs to Careers Scholarship and meet past recipients.
Tickets are $25 each or $250 for a table of 10.