The Boca Raton Rotary club announced that Yvonne Boice will be honored with the prestigious OPAL Award in January. The award recognizes Outstanding People and Leaders, and Yvonne has certainly earned both of those titles.
As both a businesswoman and philanthropist, Boice has made a significant impact on the local community championing arts, culture, education and women’s rights. Honing her passion at the local level, she then created her presence on the national and international stages, becoming an invaluable guiding force for charitable organizations and an inspiring advocate for women in business.
A New York University graduate with a B.S. degree in marketing, Boice ran two successful enterprises — The Shoppes at Village Pointe and Fugazy International Travel. In recent years, she represented the United States at high-profile women’s international business conferences in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Vietnam and Bolivia.
For the past five years, Boice has been the chairperson of Palm Beach State College’s annual STEAM fundraising luncheon. She served as the chair for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is chair emeritus for the Palm Beach International Film Festival.
She has received numerous honors including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Palm Beach Chapter) Outstanding Philanthropist Award, the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce Diamond Award, the League for Educational Awareness of the Holocaust (LEAH) Bridge Builder Award, the Soroptimist International Lifetime Achievement Award, the Women’s Majority Network in Washington, D.C. Amazing American Woman Award and the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Leadership Award.
Boice received honorary doctorates from Franklin Pierce University and Daemen College. She serves as vice president of the Trust of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a member of The LeMieux Center for Public Policy Advisory Board.
