Bonnie McElveen-Hunter

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter is Founder and CEO of Pace Communications, the nation’s largest custom publishing company. In 2001, she was appointed by President Bush to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and during her term led several successful initiatives, including the Women Business Leaders Summit in Helsinki in 2002 for women from the Baltic Region and Russia. In 2003, she initiated Stop Child Trafficking: End Modern-Day Slavery and Children of Karelia. The program helped Finnish and Russian charities assist children at risk from drugs, crime, HIV/AIDS and trafficking. For her outstanding services, the President of Finland awarded Bonnie one of Finland’s highest honors — the Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion. Following her work in Helsinki, Bonnie led a second Women’s Business Leaders Summit in 2004 in Riga, Latvia and most recently a third summit in 2007 in Amman, Jordan for women from Iraq, Palestine, Syria and other Middle Eastern nations. These Summits helped to advance entrepreneurship and encourage businesswomen to launch or expand business opportunities in their native countries. In 2004, Bonnie was appointed Chairman of the Board of the American Red Cross and was reappointed in 2007. In addition, she sits on numerous boards including Rand Corporation, Malaria No More, the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Washington National Opera. She has also served as a member of the International Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity, chaired the Alexis de Tocqueville Society and served on the United Way of America Board as a member of its National Leadership Council. She is a founder of the United Way Billion Dollar National Women’s Leadership Initiative, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Dr. Carl-Christian Rosenbröijer Award, "Woman Entrepreneur of the Year" Award from the National Foundation for Women Legislatures, National Athena Award for business and civic contributions from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and "Trailblazer of the Year" Award from the Women Leaders Forum. In 2007, Bonnie received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Appeal of Conscience Public Service Award. Bonnie is a 1972 graduate of Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She was also awarded the honorary doctor of humane letters from North Carolina State University.