ITWomen Annual Scholarship Fundraiser
The ITWomen CIO Celebrity Poker Tournament & Casino Night Gala is one of the most popular charitable events in the IT community in South Florida, raising funds for scholarships and ITWomen Inspire programs. ITWomen holds its annual fundraiser in November.
Funds for four-year, renewable scholarships raised at the gala are awarded the following June to young women selected from South Florida high schools. These outstanding and deserving young women are pursuing degrees in Technology and Engineering in the STEM academic fields.
THE EVENING PROGRAM
6:00 – 7:00 pm
- Pre-Tournament CIO Welcome Cocktail Reception.
- Opening acknowledgements – special recognition: ITWomen president Claire Marrero.
7 – 9 pm
- Gourmet Buffet stations throughout the evening.
- Dessert stations throughout the evening.
- Poker Tournament played until a grand prize winner emerges. CIOs play alongside our sponsor partners & donors at the tournament tables.
- Casino floor games. Attendees purchase chips to play casino-like games such as Blackjack or roulette for various prizes, while others prefer to watch the Tournament to see who is left at the tables at the end of the evening.
- Prizes awarded to top Tournament and Casino winners.
EXCLUSIVE ADMISSION
There are four ways to gain admission to the ITWomen CIO Celebrity Poker Tournament & Casino Night:
- Sponsor Partner (Sustaining, Terabyte, Gigabyte, Megabyte, Kilobyte)
- Scholarship Donor – Tournament Seat
- Invited Celebrity CIO/CISO/VP
- CIO team members
The Partners
ITWomen Sponsor Partners, Tournament Players are the heart of our fundraiser, making scholarships possible for our outstanding young women. Partners receive a host of benefits, including a certain number of admission tickets depending on their partnership level.
Scholarship Donor-Players
A seat at the tournament tables is gained through Sponsorships. Tournament players compete with each other and the CIOs in Texas Hold’em Poker games. The Honorary CIO Poker Players vie to win a grand prize and other luxury prizes. Typically, @ Twenty CIOs play alongside 6-8 Honorary Sponsor Players at the tables.
The CIOs
The CIOs invited to play in the Tournament play a starring role as the “Celebrities” of the fundraiser. They represent a variety of enterprise company from varied industries. The opportunity to meet the CIOs is one of the draws for many of our corporate sponsors and scholarship donors, from the SW, IT Solutions & Services vendor community. The majority of the invited CIOs are based locally, but some fly in from out-of-state to support the ITWomen scholarship program. The CIOs’ companies are promoted publicly in ITWomen communications, such as sponsor invitations, the ITWomen website and social media leading up to the event.
The CIO Support Teams
Some CIOs like to make the evening a team building event and invite employees (and/or spouses) to enjoy the casino night and cheer them on in the tournament.
Please contact Claire@itwomen.org for available table options and sponsor opportunities.