DON'T MISS THIS YEAR'S EVENT ON MARCH 6, 2024!
The Odessa Chamber of Commerce is proud to host the third annual SheCan International Women's Day Conference. The conference will be hosted at the Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Wednesday, March 6th, 2024.
For Questions, Please Contact Carla Hartwig at CarlaH@odessachamber.com or (432)333-7854.
SheCan Women's Conference Will Return in...
Meet This Year's Honoree
Betsy Triplett-Hurt
Community Trailblazer
Betsy Ann Triplett-Hurt was born in Hillsboro, but a short five years later, her family moved to Wink, Texas where she graduated from high school. The small town girl made her way to her beloved Texas Tech University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications. She immediately went to work for the CBS affiliate, KOSA-TV in Odessa as an assignments editor and then became the first female news reporter for the station. Another first for women, when Betsy moved over to KWES-TV, the NBC affiliate as the first female News Director for the area until she left that post in 1983 when she married the love of her life, longtime rancher James Ratliff “Buzz” Hurt on Christmas Day of that same year.
Over the past 40 years, Betsy has given her time and treasure to benefit so many. She has volunteered or served in leadership capacities in virtually all facets of the community from the to the Sesquicentennial Wagon Train co-chair and 20/20 Foresight long range planning committee to serving on the Board of Directors for Odessa Rape Crisis Center, Odessa Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health.
Betsy has led the way for many more firsts. She was a charter member of many organizations including Heritage Holiday, Main Street Odessa, Pink the Basin, La Entrada Al Pacifico Rural Rail District and Medical Center Health System Foundation.
Betsy served as President or Chair of the Odessa Cultural Council, Art Institute of the Permian Basin, Permian Basin Fair & Expo, Permian Basin Area Foundation and Texas Lyceum Association.
She has served Texas Tech University and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in a variety of ways, including the Odessa Development Board, the TTU Foundation Board and the Public Arts Committee. In 1993, she was appointed by Governor Ann Richards to the Texas Boad of Health where she served for four years.
She has served the city of Odessa on many committees including the Comprehensive Plan, Sign Ordinance Committee, Zoning Board of Adjustment and was the first female to be appointed a member of the Odessa Development Corporation where she served for six years, and was also the first and only female to serve as chair of ODC.
Betsy has also received many honors for her commitment and service to Odessa and Ector County. She has been recognized as the Odessa Cultural Council Volunteer of the Year, First Lady of Odessa by Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, W. D. Noel Volunteer of the Year, Community Statesman for Humanities by Heritage of Odessa, Woman of Distinction by Permian Basin Girl Scout Council as well as for the state of Texas, Dean’s Distinguished Service Award by the TTU School of Medicine, Road Hand Award by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Volunteer of the Year Award for Pink the Basin. Another first for Betsy, she was the first female Chair of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and in 1997, she and Buzz shared the Citizen of the Year award.
Betsy’s most recent volunteer efforts have been with the Wesley United Methodist Community Group, which is affiliated with St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Midland. She also serves as a member of the Llano Estacado chapter of Texas Master Naturalist and that beauty can be seen all over the ranch that she spends so much time nurturing.
Ratliff Ranch, has been in his family for more than 100 years, beginning in 1903. For the last 40 years, Betsy says she was blessed to live with Buzz on the land that he loved so much. They worked in partnership in Eureka Prospecting Company and Eureka Operating Company, oil and gas exploration and operating companies managing oil and gas wells primarily on Ratliff Ranch. They
also ran cattle through Z-Hat cattle company. With the passing of Buzz in November 2023, Betsy says it is now her honor to continue his stewardship of the ranch, now in partnership with his children and grandchildren.
Betsy is an incredible example for all of us to follow. She pours herself into others and isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves to do the work required to make things better.
Meet This Year's Speakers
Vicki Hollub
CEO of Occidental Petroleum, Inc.
Vicki Hollub is President and Chief Executive Officer of Oxy. She has been a member of Oxy’s Board of Directors since 2015.
During her more than 40-year career with Oxy, Vicki has held a variety of management and technical positions with responsibilities on three continents, including roles in the United States, Russia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Most recently, she served as Oxy’s President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the company’s oil and gas, chemical and midstream operations.
Vicki previously was Senior Executive Vice President, Oxy, and President, Oxy Oil and Gas, where she was responsible for operations in the U.S., the Middle East region and Latin America. Prior to that, she held a variety of leadership positions, including Executive Vice President, Oxy, and President, Oxy Oil and Gas, Americas; Vice President, Oxy, and Executive Vice President, U.S. Operations, Oxy Oil and Gas; Executive Vice President, California Operations; and President and General Manager of the company’s Permian Basin operations. Vicki started her career at Cities Service, which was acquired by Oxy.
Vicki serves on the boards of Lockheed Martin and the American Petroleum Institute. She is chair of the World Economic Forum’s Oil and Gas Community and a member of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. A graduate of the University of Alabama, Vicki holds a Bachelor of Science in Mineral Engineering. She was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Engineering 2016 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows.
Tracee Bentley
President & CEO of Permian Strategic Partnership
Tracee Bentley is the President and CEO of Permian Strategic Partnership, a collaboration between local communities and nineteen oil and gas companies operating in the Permian Basin.
Before joining PSP as its first CEO, Bentley was the Executive Director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, a division of the American Petroleum Institute, focusing on state and local policy and supporting the development of Colorado’s energy resources. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Colorado State University.
Sara Kate Billingsley
District Judge/Sara Kate's Kitchen
Sara Kate Billingsley is the Presiding Judge of the 446th District Court of Ector County, and serves as the first female District Judge in Ector County. Sara is licensed to practice law in the states of Texas and New Mexico. Judge Billingsley hears family law cases where her primary focus has landed on protecting Ector County kiddos and helping them with their new-home reality.
Ms. Billingsley is a member of the State Bar of Texas; the State Bar of New Mexico; Texas Young Lawyers Association; New Mexico Young Lawyers Association; the Ector County Bar Association serving two years as its Treasurer and two years as its President; and is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. She currently serves on the board of directors for Odessa Arts, the President’s Advisory Council for the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and the Advisory Council for Young Professionals of Odessa.
Sara Kate has received the Women of Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest, the OU Under 40 Award in its inaugural class from the Young Professionals of Odessa, the Hometown Hero Award from The Salvation Army of Odessa, and her most favorite award- “Best Director” from her cast of Charlotte’s Web in 2022.
Judge Billingsley currently teaches racial profiling and constitutional law at the Odessa College Police Academy; has the privilege of teaching new judges at the College for New Judges hosted by the Texas Centers for the Judiciary; delivers ethics presentations to the Texas Court Reporters Association; and instructs Texas District and County Clerks on the matters of family law and protective orders for the Texas Association of Counties and CDCAT.
Sondra Eoff
Eofficial Enterprises
Sondra Eoff is co-owner of OP Partner, Inc. and Eofficial Enterprises, Inc., the company that spearhead the Marriott Building project in Downtown Odessa and serves as the catalyst to revitalization for that area. Until July 2015, she worked as the CEO/Co-Owner of Odessa Pumps and Equipment, a corporation specializing in sales and service of industrial, oilfield, and municipal pumps with eleven branches in Texas and New Mexico. Her previous career was a 14-year stint at Odessa Regional Medical Center in various positions ending as the Assistant Vice President.
To the many of those who know Sondra, what stands out about her is that her spirit and generosity has no bounds. Her investment into the community goes far deeper than dollars, and her commitment to the betterment of Odessa is clear within all her actions.
Sondra is also highly active within her church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. Sondra says her philosophy can be summed up in a quote from her hero, Mother Teresa, “God does not call us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful.”
Sondra and her husband, Toby have been happily married for 40 years. Together, they have two sons, Jerrod and Reece.
Cathy George
C.G. & Co.
Cathy George has been working in the staffing industry for over 30 years. She launched her own business in 1988, C.G. & Company in Odessa, Texas. In the early 1990's Cathy expanded her business to include a temporary division and started brokering for Professional Employer Organization (PEO)/employee leasing. During this time, she also became active in the Permian Basin Association of Personnel Consultants (PBAPC), serving as the President for two terms. She earned her Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) credentials in 1993, which enabled Cathy to become Education Chair of the PBAPC. In 1994, Cathy expanded the office to include a worldwide Executive Recruiting division. C. G. & Company opened an office in Dallas in 1997 followed by an Austin office in June 2000. She was nominated to the board and soon elected President of the Texas Association of Personnel Consultants. Cathy has also served on the board as District IX Director (Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana) for the National Association of Personnel Services. Cathy makes time available to speak to businesses, social and school groups to present the importance of proactive career planning, talent acquisition, and the human resource issues that affect the organization in today's business climate. Cathy currently sits on the University of Texas Permian Basin Presidents Advisory Board, Southwest Heritage Credit Union Board as the Secretary and a member of the Loan Committee. Cathy has been on the Board of
Odessa Links Homeless Coalition for over 15 years, as well as volunteers her time to different non-profit organizations in her community.
Tatum Hubbard
UTPB Chief of Staff & Miss Texas 1998
Tatum Hubbard is Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Communications & Marketing at The University of Texas Permian Basin.
She graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in Political Science and Communications. She is responsible for branding, marketing, messaging, internal and external communication at UT Permian Basin. During her tenure, she has organized and planned a presidential investiture, launched a new website, managed digital and traditional marketing campaigns, improved signage across campus, and led the branding efforts in two newly constructed academic buildings.
A lifelong west Texan, Tatum anchored the 6 and 10 o'clock news for CBS 7 for 18 years before beginning her career in higher education. Tatum has won numerous Associated Press awards for reporting and was named as Best Anchor by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters. Tatum was named as a Community Statesman for Media by the Heritage of Odessa Foundation and she received the Texas Media award from the American Cancer Society for the work she did following her mother's courageous battle with breast cancer.
Tatum and her husband Brad are parents to two beautiful daughters.
Regina Stock
Mrs. America 2023
Regina Stock is a native West Texan who was born and raised in the Permian Basin. Regina and her husband Robert have four children that range in ages 3-8. Regina is a paramedical tattoo artist and CEO of InkRx Paramedical Tattoo Company. She won the title of Mrs. Texas America last April and was crowned Mrs. America 2023 in August. She went on to place Top 6 at Mrs. World. Regina shares her love of pageantry as a pageant mentor in the Permian Basin. Regina became an inspirational speaker after being diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer shortly after winning Mrs. America. She is now a cancer survivor and hopes to inspire and empower others by sharing her story.
Chandler Foreman
KMID-TV Ch.2 & Miss Texas 2019
Chandler joined the ABC Big 2, and Fox 24, teams in June of 2023 as a Morning Anchor.
She is a graduate from the University of North Texas with a degree in Broadcast Media and a minor in Communication. At UNT, Chandler was a part of UNT’s NTtv (North Texas Television), where she was the entertainment anchor for Let’s Talk North Texas and North Texas Now.
Chandler is a Houston-native where she attended HSPVA, a high school for performing and visual arts where she studied music as a flautist. She was also a part of the Houston Youth Symphony and first chair region band.
Though she’s a new Odessa resident, she is no stranger to the city. In 2019, she was crowned Miss Texas where she traveled the Lonestar state encouraging our youth, performing and serving our Texas communities.
When she’s not on-air, you can find Chandler working out, playing her flute at events and discovering local eats and coffee shops!
Dr. Deitrick Gorman
America's Relaxation Doctor
Dr. Deitrick L. Gorman is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, a Master’s degree from Indiana University and attended medical school at Rowan University in Stratford, New Jersey where she earned her Doctorate. She went back to her hometown of Fort Wayne to complete her Family Medicine residency.
Out of residency, she was recruited to Pecos, TX where she practiced Family medicine full scope including pediatrics, adults, inpatient, outpatient, and women’s health for 13 years. In addition to providing excellent and compassionate medical care, Dr. Gorman served as the first female chief of staff and neonatal medical director. She also participated for more than 10 years in the annual breast cancer awareness event at her hospital. Currently she is practicing Family medicine, part time, while she pursues her other passions.
She has always been a woman who believes in service to others. After experiencing her own personal trials ,Dr. Deitrick came to the decision to shift her efforts to bringing awareness to and helping people who experience the effects of unmanaged chronic stress.
Being a physician, she understands the detrimental effects of unmanaged stress as well as the physical and mental health benefits of managing chronic stressors. She has dedicated herself to helping these individuals learn how to incorporate relaxation in order to live a more healthy, productive and fulfilled life. She is a speaker and 5 times best- selling author. She is set to launch her own Health &Wellness Company in March 2024.
Dr. Deitrick is a Pisces, dog lover, pencil collector and smoothie maker! She has a down-to-earth personality and loves to laugh.
Mary Blain & Terry Hurt
rOming Yoga
Mary Blain and Terry Hurt are partners a rOming Yoga, along with Becky Battershell.
Mary received her 200 HR training from rOMing Yoga Teacher Training Program prior to becoming a part-owner. Growing up, Mary said she was aware of her spiritual needs. Mary is curious and a seeker. Originally from Venezuela, South America, Mary came to her new country, the USA, in 1999. After moving, Mary said she had a great amount of anxiety and depression so she started meditating and during that journey, she learned about yoga. Mary says yoga has changed her life, her physical abilities, her surroundings, and it has had a ripple effect on those around her in the most positive, amazing ways. Mary is certified in Thai Yoga Massage, a Certified Sound bath practitioner, and a Certified Yin Yoga teacher.
Terry Hurt’s yoga journey began in 2016. She believes all come to yoga seeking something. Everyone wants to improve their quality of life. She began yoga to add more flexibility to her body, but she says yoga is so much more than movement. Terry says the surprising thing about yoga is how it calms your mind and brings you to a place of acceptance. Terry says she found yoga at a time in her life when she needed that. Yoga become an important part of her daily life. After studying and practicing yoga for about four years, Terry began her teacher training in September of 2019 at Midland Yoga Works and received her 200 Hour certificate in May of 2020. Terry is Certified in Thai Yoga Massage, a Certified Sound bath practitioner, a Prenatal Postpartum Yoga Certification, and a Certified Yin Yoga teacher.
Nona Jones
Innovator | Author | Speaker | Survivor
Nona Jones is a rare combination of preacher, business executive, author, and
entrepreneur. She currently serves as Global Ambassador for YouVersion, publicly
championing its family of 715M+ downloaded Bible Apps. Her corporate leadership experience includes serving as Chief Content & Partnerships Officer at YouVersion, Head of Global Faith Partnerships at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, and Chief External Affairs Officer for a multi-state school for at-risk girls.
Nona is the bestselling author of Killing Comparison and Success from the Inside
Out. She will release her highly-anticipated new book, The Gift of Rejection, in
October 2024. She has been profiled by ESSENCE Magazine as an “Under 40 Woman
to Watch” and Florida Trend Magazine as one of Florida’s “30-Something All Stars.”
She is a graduate of Leadership Florida and the Presidential Leadership Scholars
Program, a joint initiative of President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton.
Nona’s community and civic engagement includes The Links, Incorporated, Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority and Jack & Jill. She serves on the boards of Christianity Today
Magazine and Gloo. She holds a Bachelor of Communication and Master of Business
Administration from the University of Florida where she has been recognized as an
Outstanding Young Alumnus. She has completed graduate studies at the Harvard
Law School Program on Negotiation.
She and her husband, Pastor Tim, lead Open Door Church in Gainesville, FL and are
the proud parents of two boys, Timothy, Jr. and Isaac and one Goldendoodle girl,
Shiloh.
PRESENTING SPONSOR:
EVENT SPONSOR:
WELCOME BAG SPONSOR:
BOOK SPONSORS:
BREAKFAST SPONSOR:
NETWORKING SPONSORS:
EVENT VENDORS:
Cycle Bar
Dr. Deitrick Gorman
KT Executive Services
Maribea
Nellie Wood Boutique
Oxy
Samaritain Counseling Center
SignatureCare ER
Vital Care Urgent Care
West Texas Desert Hawks
Women's Health Partners of the Permian Basin
WTX Stretch
A HUGE thank you to our 2023-2024 Platinum Sponsors! This select group of pro-Odessa businesses sponsor every program and event all year long, gaining high awareness through signage and verbal name recognition from the podium. They also save by being a Platinum Sponsor instead of buying a table and tickets to each individual event. We couldn’t do it without their generous support!
Interested in becoming a Platinum Sponsor? Learn more here!
