The Sundance Institute and Zions Bank honored women who guided Utah through 2020 at the 8th annual Sundance Women’s Leadership Celebration on Jan 30, 2021.
This year’s honorees were recognized for leading Utah through a particularly difficult year as the Beehive State grappled with a global pandemic, a national reckoning on race, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, and a hurricane-force windstorm.
Collectively, the eight women honored helped save lives, protect jobs, sustain public education, heal the deep racial divide, feed families in crisis, and support cultural arts.
“Who could have known, as we gathered for last year’s event, what unknowns, what challenges would arise and impact every aspect of our lives – our health, our economies, our families, and our humanity,” said Zions Bank president a CEO Scott Anderson.
Along with paying tribute to local heroes, the virtual event honored Rita Moreno with a lifetime achievement award for shattering barriers over her 70-year film career.
The "West Side Story" star is the subject of a new documentary titled, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was screened the Jan. 30 event honoring women.“
We thank our honorees for their bravery and leadership over the past year,” Anderson said. “And as we celebrate remarkable women in Utah, we send a special thanks to thousands of women who are frontline health care workers providing critical care across the state.”
The honorees are: