Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas is excited to announce that First Lady Susan Hutchinson will be honored as the 2015 “Arkansas Woman of Inspiration.” The honor will be presented at a luncheon in the Walley Allen Ballroom, Salon D of Statehouse Convention Center on the morning of October 23rd, 2015 and all proceeds will be used to support Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas and their pursuit in implementing more centers and to provide funding for existing centers across our state. This inaugural event will continue on yearly with a new honoree each year and will serve as a substantial fundraiser for Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas.
At the Woman of Inspiration event, an award will also be presented to an adult who has overcome the trauma of abuse to help the mission of Children’s Advocacy Centers. The 2015 event will be chaired by Shayla Copas of Shayla Copas Interiors and Sara Massana of Martin-Wilbourn Partners.
Children's advocacy centers help children and their families deal with the aftermath of child abuse. A child advocacy center is a safe, child friendly environment where law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, victim advocacy, medical and mental health professionals can share information and develop effective, coordinated strategies sensitive to the needs of each unique case and child.
First Lady Susan Hutchinson brings to the Governor’s Mansion a lifetime of experience advocating for and working with children.
The former schoolteacher has spent the past several years on the board of the Child Advocacy Center of Benton County — one of 14 non-profit Children’s Advocacy Centers around the state that work with abused children. Among other initiatives, Mrs. Hutchinson hopes to see the establishment of more Children’s Advocacy Centers in Arkansas, perhaps one per county.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Susan grew up “as blue-collar as you can get” as the second of seven children. She was the valedictorian of Fulton High School with designs on being a doctor once she attended college at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Instead, after graduation she taught biology and algebra in Memphis, where she maintained a relationship with an ambitious Arkansas man she met in college named Asa Hutchinson.
The Governor and First Lady have now been married for 41 years. They have four children, five grandchildren and a 5-year-old rescue cat named Snowflake.
