The BIBO Awards to Honor Chicago Area Women

The BIBO Awards to Honor Chicago Area Women

Honorees include Dr. Rita McGill, Rebecca Wallenfelsz, Sophia Ruffolo, Leslie Ferris Yerger & Mary L. Datcher


CHICAGO, IL – July 22, 2024 – Traci S. Campbell, Founder and Executive Director of The BIBO (Beauty In Beauty Out) Foundation announce “The Next Chapter” fundraiser on Saturday, August 10, 2024, at the Red Door Meeting Place, 1519 Roosevelt Rd., Broadview, IL 60155 from 6pm to 11pm. The fundraiser tickets are $100 via: [https://tinyurl.com/The-BIBO-Foundation] with proceeds benefiting the organization’s mission of financially supporting young women, from disadvantaged backgrounds for academic and entrepreneurial success.


The BIBO “The Next Chapter” fundraising event, which brings back the BIBO Awards, celebrate female excellence, while supporting the next generation of young women scholars and entrepreneurs. Guests will enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, beverages, the awards presentations, networking, and a party atmosphere to celebrate the accomplished women who are making a difference in the lives of others in the Chicagoland area and beyond.

Past recipients of the BIBO awards includes, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roz Varon, Iris Y Martinez, Honorable Sandra G. Ramos, Candace Jordan, Kameelah Williams aka Meelah, Cheryl Truesdale, Barbara Niven, Yeniffer Behrens-Mendoza, and Diane Dinkins Carr, among others. With the return of the awards, founder Traci S. Campbell said, “With BIBO, we are striving to cultivate a community of women who desire to work together, and that includes past and current honorees, to help us foster a strong foundation for the next generation of women.”

This year’s honorees are Dr. Rita McGill, a specialist in renal disease for over 30 years, who donated her left kidney to a patient she had never met in 2014. Rebecca Wallenfelsz and Sophia Ruffolo for their work with femmebought, Inc., an organization that empowers and supports women entrepreneurs, with community hubs in Chicago, Toronto, and Tel Aviv. Leslie Ferris Yerger, author, TEDx speaker and founder of My Density Matters, was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in November 2017 after an ‘all clear’ mammogram and ultrasound. Mary L. Datcher, CEO of Global Mixx Music & Film, is a trailblazer, who for the past 29 years has worked tirelessly as a journalist, marketing specialist, public relations, and political consultant. And Mary Smith, owner and director of Smith & Thomas Funeral Home, the only African American woman to own three funeral homes in the Chicago area for the past 37 years.

BIBO will also introduce the inaugural McKnight Scholarship, named in honor of Campbell’s late mother, Marie McKnight. Deserving recipients are Jalyn Dixon (Academic) who has a 5.2 GPA and will attend Northwestern University, fall 2024, and Ayona’lee Tidwell (Entrepreneurial), CEO of Eleven Design Studio, a visual designer who is clear in her mission to become a global leader in the industry.

Sponsors for the 2024 BIBO Foundation awards are American Family Insurance, Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce, femmebought, Inc., State Rep. William Davis, Vision Salon, Possible Woman Magazine, Beards and Bellas, Joker’s Que Sauce, LLC, Edward Jones, Compass Realty, Kletch Solutions and JAM98 Radio.

Founded in 2016, The BIBO Foundation [https://thebibofoundation.org/] focuses on the mental and emotional health of young women. BIBO’s programs align young women with successful businesswomen, and female entrepreneurs that provide leadership on their paths in their collegiate and or commercial endeavors.

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