Michelle Obama Hosts Star-Studded Girls Night Out (And Mentor Dinner) At The White House
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 10:57PMFirst Lady Michelle Obama hosted a star-studded dinner at The White House this evening to help raise awareness of the importance of mentoring.
She invited 120 female students from Washington, D.C.-area high schools, as well as 40 female celebrities -- including Hilary Swank, Rashida Jones, Geena Davis and Michelle Kwan.
The East Room was decorated in shades pink and red. It featured 17 round tables topped with fuchsia tablecloths, red and pink rose centerpieces and floral-printed Johnson china.
George Stephanopoulos' comedienne wife Ali Wentworth -- a.k.a. Jerry's girlfriend Sheila in the famous "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld -- emcee'd the event; and violinist Miri Ben-Ari and actress Anna Deveare Smith performed for FLOTUS' guests.
If that's not a fun girls night out ... we don't know what is!
So, how does a gal get an invite to The White House? The White House requested that local high schools recommend a diverse cross-section of female students. One hundred of the gals were local juniors and seniors; and about 20 of the girls were mentees from FLOTUS' mentoring program, and five were from Girls, Inc.
Kelly Ann Collins
COMPLETE LIST OF CELEBRITY GUEST MENTORS: Miri Ben-Ari, Grammy Award-winning violinist; General Dana Born, Dean of Faculty, United States Air Force Academy; Ambassador Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary; Geena Davis, Oscar Award-winning actress; Dominique Dawes, Olympic gold medalist; Louise Erdrich, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Judith Jamison, award-winning dancer; Rashida Jones, actress and board member to the International Peace Games; Michelle Kwan, world renowned figure skater and Public Diplomacy Ambassador; Nina Lederman, Senior Vice President at Lifetime Networks; Ledisi, Grammy- nominated recording artist; Lisa Leslie, Olympic Gold medalist and former WNBA professional basketball player; Vanessa Minnillo, actress, model, television host and former Miss Teen USA; Ellen Ochoa, astronaut and current Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center; Abbe Raven, President and CEO of A&E Television Networks; Tracee Ellis Ross, award-winning actress; Anna Deavere Smith, award-winning playwright and professor of Performance Studies at NYU; Hilary Swank, two-time Academy Award Winning actress; Kerry Washington, award-winning actress and member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities; Ali Wentworth, comedienne, actress, correspondent and author; Sherrie Westin, Chief Marketing Officer for Sesame Workshop; and Alfre Woodard, award-winning, film, stage and TV actress -- as well as the Administration's Valerie Jarrett, Melody Barnes, Kathleen Sebelius, Jen Psaki, Tina Tchen, Jocelyn Frye and Brooke Anderson.
