18th Annual Dr. Donald H. Smith Distinguished Lecture presents Susan L. Taylor, Founder & CEO, National CARES Mentoring Movement and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence Magazine. Ms. Taylor was the first and only African American Woman to be recognized by the Magazine Publishers of America with the Henry Johnson Fisher Award—the industry's highest honor—and the first to be inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame. She is the recipient of the NAACP President's Award for visionary leadership and has honorary degrees from more than a dozen colleges and universities.