North Dakota Air National Guard Base, N.D. -- Tech. Sgt. Shelly Fink, a recruiter in the 119th Force Support Squadron, was honored at the 9th Annual Leading Ladies Luncheon hosted by the North Dakota Women’s Business Center (NDWBC) at the Holiday Inn, Fargo, N.D., March 30, 2021.
Fink was one of five women presented an ‘honoree’ trophy at the luncheon, with all five spending about 45 minutes participating in a conversational speaking event facilitated by host Robbie Daniels, local radio personality on FM 107.9 The FOX.
“It was inspiring to see what is being done by women in our community, and to represent the Hooligans on that stage,” said Fink.
About 200 people attended the luncheon featuring the candid question and answer event on the stage, timed to correspond with Women’s History Month in March.
The NDWBC is an organization focused on helping women advance their careers, businesses and leadership skills. They fall under the national umbrella of the Small Business Administration (SBA) government agency.
“We can help women thrive in business through inspiration along with free and confidential business advice, and we can offer resources, training and connections to help them succeed,” said Christy Dauer, the NDWBC program director.
The theme of the event was ‘resilient women’ and the five honorees were chosen for their resilient qualities and accomplishments.
The women were nominated anonymously by their peers, friends, family, or coworkers, and selected by a third party committee. Their identities were hidden from the committee during the selection process for objectivity.
“Shelly is a fantastic human, with all that she has accomplished in the military and in her life. This event was really about honoring her and the other honorees on the stage, and about being real. We wanted an authentic conversation with these inspirational women here today,” said Dauer.
Fink shared stories about her military service and deployments, and talked about her experience recruiting young women, and men.
“The young women I recruit are going into historically male dominated careers and absolutely killing it! They load bombs, they fight fires, they protect the base and they are pushing us forward in more ways than one. I am so proud of them, and the path that they are paving for our next generation of Airmen,” said Fink.