WOMEN’S VOICES FUND 

Denver 

News: A mere 24 hours after the Denver Art Museum’s fashion-forward Luncheon by Design, where some 400 guests got all dolled up to celebrate the legacy of designer-to-the-stars Bob Mackie, 650 supporters of the Women’s Voices Fund put on their fanciest chapeaux and headed over to Seawell Ballroom for the 19^th Hattitude Luncheon. 

Jennifer Dechtman, a past president of the former Denver Center Alliance and a top performer with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, chaired the fundraiser for the fifth consecutive year.  

Hattitude 2026 coincided with Dechtman’s “50-something” birthday, so it was a no-brainer for the guests to sing “Happy Birthday” when she was introduced by Janice Sinden, president and chief executive officer of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. 

Sinden also pointed out that Hattitude’s popularity can be measured in several ways: by the ever-increasing number of guests, by how quickly tickets sell out and by the fact that several on the 24-member host committee have served every year since the beginning. 

They include Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons, Pam Sletten, Paul Jerez, Lynnette Morrison and Denise Snyder, owner of Mariel, a boutique in Cherry Creek North that is a popular shopping destination for Hattitude-appropriate hats. 

Sinden also shared that at its 2026 Icon Awards gala, the Colorado Event Alliance chose the Hattitude Luncheon as the winner of Best Event for a Corporation, Nonprofit, or Association with a budget under $200,000. 

The highlight of the day is the hat parade, where one person from each table is selected to walk the runway before a panel of judges who will award prizes in eight categories, including Big and Bold, I Made It Myself, Wildly Whimsical, Thoroughly Theatrical, and Best in Show. 

The latter award went to Chris Denny, a LIV Sotheby’s colleague of Jennifer Dechtman, whose Monarch butterfly-inspired fascinator had generated quite a bit of attention both on and off the runway. 

Several nonprofit leaders were among the guests: Opera Colorado’s chief executive, Barbara Lynne Jamison; Donna McGinnis, who succeeded the late Brian Vogt as CEO of Denver Botanic Gardens; Candice Jones, chief advancement officer for Colorado Ballet; Cleo Parker Robinson, founder of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance; and Andrea Albo, executive director of the SCFD, with SCFD board member Tamra Ward. 

Others supporting the cause were Annabel Victoria Bowlen; Suzanne Arkle, president/CEO of ZANN, a management consulting firm; Lynn Gangone, former president/CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and a member of the Denver Scholarship Foundation board; Ruth Krebs, chair of the DCPA board of trustees who has spent 30 years in data networking and telecom for international Fortune 100 companies; honorary DCPA trustee Margot Gilbert Frank; Susan Daggett, whose husband, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is running for governor of Colorado; Hattitude auction chair Robin Heppler-Seay; and CBS Colorado news anchor Dillon Thomas, who served as master of ceremonies. 

About the organization: The Women’s Voices Fund at Denver Center for the Performing Arts was the first initiative of its kind in the United States when it was founded some 20 years ago. Funded by donors and money raised at the annual Hattitude Luncheon, the Women’s Voices Fund works to elevate women in theater. Since its start, its 40 projects have supported 35 female playwrights, 24 female directors and hosted 19 world premieres.   

Website: denvercenter.org 

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