This year, Vicki Vowell, CEO of multimedia company Vowell Inc., will celebrate her 29th year as a magazine publisher as she returns to her hometown of Harrison, Arkansas to accept the 2017 Ozarks Ambassador Award at the North Arkansas College Foundation’s annual Evening on the Plaza Dinner.

Vowell was chosen for this award in recognition of her outstanding success as a publisher. “The selection committee was impressed with Ms. Vowell because of her many achievements,” says Dr. Randy Esters, president of Northark. “Her leadership and volunteer efforts serve as a positive example to teach others about giving back to the community and are evidence of her passion for helping others.”

Her ambitions were evident early on, when she wrote in Ken Reeves’ high school yearbook, “One day I’ll have my own magazine.” Aside from the niche publications under Vowell Inc., AY Magazine (About You), a lifestyle magazine, and Arkansas Money & Politics (Arkansas’ premier business and political website, in 2001, Vowell founded AY Magazine’s “Runway for a Cause,” a luncheon/fashion show in which survivors of breast cancer walk the runway in the season’s high fashion. The luncheon has been one of the state’s largest fundraising events, and in its first 10 years, it raised more than $1 million for local breast-cancer organizations. The Association of Fundraising Professionals has named “Runway for a Cause” an Outstanding Volunteer Organization.

Vowell also serves the community as a member of the Little Rock Executive’s Association. She is on the board of Baptist Health Foundation, and she is a member of the CARTI Foundation, the Mayor’s Commission on Tourism, and Women and Children First. She is a past member of the boards of Curran Hall and CareLink. She has received the Phyllis Brandon Philanthropist Journalistic Award and was featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette “High Profile” in September 2009.

Evening on the Plaza will also recognize Northark’s Distinguished Alumnus, Dr. Marcus Jones. Tickets to attend the event are $40 per person. For more information, contact Dr. Rodney Arnold at rarnold@northark.edu or call (870) 391-3229.