A day to celebrate, empower, and activate
Thank you for joining us for this year’s Chicks Who Give a Hoot LIVE event!
Together, we celebrated the power of women, shared inspiring stories, and strengthened our community. If you’d like to be part of what’s next, we invite you to join the waitlist for next year and be the first to know when details are announced.
this event was brought to you by
A day to celebrate, empower, and activate
Thank you for joining us for this year’s Chicks Who Give a Hoot LIVE event!
Together, we celebrated the power of women, shared inspiring stories, and strengthened our community. If you’d like to be part of what’s next, we invite you to join the waitlist for next year and be the first to know when details are announced.
this event was brought to you by
Event Highlights
Event Emcee: Sarah Gilliland
Sarah is the founding attorney of Rising Brand Legal, an entrepreneur at heart, and a longtime advocate for purpose-driven work. She has built and sold a multi–seven-figure business, practiced law for over 15 years, and created The Legal Shoppe™ to make legal protection more accessible for small business owners. After serving as emcee for last year’s event, Sarah returns to the stage—bringing clarity, warmth, and a deep commitment to impact and community.
Connect with Sarah:
Instagram
Spoken Word Poetry Performance with Crissy Saint
Crissy Saint is an award-winning spoken word poet and slam champion with 20 years of performance experience, using language as a catalyst for truth, healing, and collective power. She is also a female entrepreneur who builds and scales 7-figure social-impact businesses, weaving purpose, courage, and community into everything she creates.
Connect with Crissy:
Instagram
Keynote: Sara Chambers, President of Chicks Who Give a Hoot, Founder of Elly and Nora Creative, and bestseller author
Do It Fat
Sara Chambers is a brand strategist, speaker, and creative director who has spent years helping entrepreneurs step into visibility and claim authority. Alongside her professional work, she has faced the same body shame that keeps countless women from showing up fully.
With Do It Fat, Sara combines her expertise in branding with her personal experience to deliver an unapologetic guide for women who are done waiting until they feel “ready” to live their boldest lives.
Connect with Sara:
Instagram
Website
Elly and Nora Creative
Book: Do It Fat
Keynote: Brianna Calero, Founder of Pastel Creative and Fractional CMO
The Power of One
Brianna Calero is the founder of Pastel Creative and a Fractional CMO known for her connection driven approach to marketing that listens first, builds trust, and resonates before asking for anything. Through her Revenue Architecture framework, she helps founders design systems where marketing, sales, and customer success work together to support intentional and sustainable growth. Before entering marketing, Brianna spent more than a decade in social work supporting crisis nurseries and therapeutic foster care programs, an experience that continues to shape how she approaches people, communication, and leadership today.
In The Power of One, Brianna explored how meaningful change often begins with a single moment, decision, or person choosing to act. Through stories and real world examples, she shows how one voice, one idea, or one courageous step can create ripple effects far beyond what we expect. This talk helps women recognize the influence they already hold and walk away with a stronger sense of personal agency, clarity around how individual choices shape communities, and confidence to act when their leadership is needed.
Live Podcast Recording Featuring Nonprofit Leaders
Impact in Action: Empowering Nonprofits for the Future
In this special live recording of the Chicks Who Give a Hoot podcast, nonprofit leaders shared powerful insights on creating meaningful change in our communities.
Panelists:
Allyse Hazeltine of Azura Literacy
Allyse Hazeltine is the Executive Director of Azura Literacy, a children’s literacy initiative in Mesa, AZ. She has directed the program for 5 years, expanding and designing programming to provide greater access to high-quality literacy support for struggling readers in low-income and foster homes. Allyse has always been passionate about working in education and serving under-resourced communities. Prior to directing Azura Literacy, Allyse worked as an elementary teacher and reading interventionist in Title I schools in Tucson, Scottsdale, and Mesa.
Blake Zickafoose of Valley of the Sun YMCA
Blake Zickafoose is a tenacious nonprofit executive who has been serving communities through the YMCA since 2013 across three different states. Blake is known for her values-first leadership style, operational excellence, and deep commitment to community engagement. She brings a proven track record of transforming workplace culture, implementing best practices, and fostering inclusive, mission-driven environments where teams and individuals thrive. Her passion for social justice drives her work – meeting communities where they are, expanding access, and creating spaces where everyone belongs.
Hannah Cobley of Lighthouse For Hope
Hannah Cobley is the Founder and Executive Director of Lighthouse For Hope, a Phoenix-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting families navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders. Inspired by her own fight with cancer, Hannah founded Lighthouse with a simple vision: to ensure no family faces their fight alone. What began as a deeply personal mission has grown into a trusted organization providing both emotional and financial support to some of the most vulnerable families in Arizona and beyond.
Afternoon Keynote: Alexandra Bradberry, Founder of The Sparkle Bar
More Than Makeup: Building Confidence, Careers, and Community
Makeup is often seen as an accessory. For many women, it can be a lifeline.
Alex of The Sparkle Bar shared the story behind a business built on confidence, education, and access. In partnership with Dress for Success Phoenix, The Sparkle Bar is creating pathways for women reentering society after incarceration to build careers in makeup artistry — an industry where skill, creativity, and entrepreneurship can thrive outside traditional hiring systems.
This talk explored the values at the heart of The Sparkle Bar, the importance of honoring beauty from the inside out, and why creating opportunity for disenfranchised women isn’t charity — it’s smart, values-driven business. Attendees walked away with a deeper understanding of how alignment, intention, and belief in women’s potential can create lasting change.
Fireside Chat with Carrie Eutizi, Sexual Violence Response Coordinator of Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence
We were joined for a powerful fireside chat with Carrie Eutizi of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV)—a statewide organization working to prevent violence, support survivors, and create systems rooted in safety, equity, and accountability.
Carrie is a born-Tucsonan and graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Minor in Psychology. Carrie comes from a wide background of social work within marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals with experiences of domestic, sexual, or hate-crime violence, HIV community care, supporting chronically houseless individuals, working with individuals who have behavioral health diagnoses, active substance users, current sex workers, and more. Carrie’s passion is to promote progressive and inclusive change within current systems of advocacy while assisting survivors to navigate a difficult, icy system, with warmth, compassion, and empowerment.
Grant Recipient Announcement: “Celebrating a Visionary Business”
We are thrilled to announce that The Midwife Life, founded by Dr. Diane Ortega, DNP, CNM, is the recipient of this year’s Chicks Who Give a Hoot Branding Grant!
Chosen for their remarkable vision, impact, and dedication, The Midwife Life will receive a full brand strategy and visual identity package valued at $15,000 from Elly and Nora Creative.
This award celebrates Dr. Diane’s commitment to building a business that aligns purpose with impact, and we can’t wait to see how this grant empowers her journey.
Creative Activation Workshop: Charith Denson, Co-founder of The Monastery
Reflect and Create: Connecting with the Day’s Impact
In this guided reflection session, Charith Denson, Co-founder of The Monastery, will lead you through a creative process to reflect on the powerful moments of the day. Using prompts and questions, you’ll explore what resonated most and how it can shape your business and life.
With tools inspired by The Monastery’s creative approach, you’ll express your thoughts through imagery, symbols, or words—no artistic skills required.
Happy Hour by Greenwood Brewing
After an inspiring day at Chicks Who Give a Hoot LIVE, the experience continued with our Happy Hour—the perfect space to unwind, connect, and deepen conversations. 
All guests enjoyed:
Craft beer from Greenwood Brewing
Intimate networking with speakers + fellow changemakers
Our Nonprofit Partners This Year
supported by the generosity and partnership of
Azura Literacy is a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Arizona’s under-resourced communities by improving children’s reading skills and overall literacy. They offer a free, high-impact virtual tutoring program where trained volunteers work one-on-one with elementary students to help them become proficient readers. The organization focuses on individualized support, increasing access to books, and empowering students with the confidence and skills they need for academic success and future opportunities.
Winding Road Reading partners with families to remove shame from reading challenges and create a supportive path toward stronger skills, growing confidence, and real joy in reading. Their work is rooted in research and designed to meet each learner where they are, so they can move forward together.
supported by the generosity and partnership of
The Valley of the Sun YMCA is a nonprofit organization rooted in Christian principles that has served communities across Arizona since 1892. Its mission is to build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all through programs focused on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. The YMCA provides a wide range of services including childcare, health and fitness programs, youth sports, camps, and community engagement initiatives designed to strengthen individuals and families.
Acacia Natural Medicine combines naturopathic and chiropractic expertise with personalized therapies—including dry needling, medical weight loss, cupping, hormone replacement therapy, PRP, prolotherapy, laser therapy, PEMF, and massage—to help you thrive, not just survive. Trusted by the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, and Chicago White Sox, Acacia Natural Medicine sets the standard for integrative health care in Scottsdale, Arizona.
supported by the generosity and partnership of
Lighthouse For Hope is a nonprofit founded by a childhood cancer survivor to support families navigating the challenges of pediatric cancer and life-threatening blood disorders. The organization offers both emotional and financial assistance to help families manage daily needs, reduce stress, and find community during difficult journeys. Through compassionate, personalized support and programs like retreats and holiday assistance, Lighthouse For Hope strives to bring hope, relief, and connection to children and families facing serious illness.
Cactus Blossom Financial LLC empowers entrepreneurs with reliable, affordable virtual bookkeeping services, helping them navigate the complexities of financial management with confidence and clarity. Dedicated to supporting business growth, the team at Cactus Blossom Financial provides the financial foundation that allows entrepreneurs to focus on their passions while achieving their goals. Inspired by the resilience and resourcefulness of the businesses they serve, they partner with clients to foster adaptability, independence, and long-term success.
More Photos from the Event
audience feedback
The Chicks Who Give a Hoot event was an incredibly inspiring and thoughtfully curated experience. From the moment I walked in, it was clear this was more than just an event- it was a community of women committed to lifting each other up in meaningful, tangible ways. Being selected as a recipient of the $15,000 branding grant with Elly and Nora Creative is something I am deeply grateful for. As an entrepreneur building a purpose-driven brand, this level of support is not only impactful, it’s transformational. What stood out most was the genuine spirit of generosity and connection in the room. Chicks Who Give a Hoot is creating something truly special, and I’m honored to have been part of it.
Diane
CWGAH LIVE 2026 Attendee
This was such a lovely event filled with kind and generous humans. It was thoughtfully curated and I really enjoyed meeting the speakers and participants. There were so many opportunities to engage!
Jessica
CWGAH LIVE 2026 Attendee
This event was made possible by our incredible sponsors
Let's do it again next year!
Rock Your Values in Style!
Our Cool to Care (2025) and Bloom Where You’re Planted (2026) shirts are more than just event merch. They are wearable statements designed to keep the CWGAH energy going wherever you are.
Comfortable, intentional, and made to stand out. Grab yours while they are still available.