In a salute to trailblazers who have championed the cause of women and minorities in the building and construction industry, The Women Builders Council (WBC) celebrated its second annual Champion Awards dinner on recently at The Times Center on West 41st St. Mary Alice Williams, former co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today and a former anchor and news division VP on CNN emcee'd the event. The honorees were: Michelle Paige Paterson, first lady of New York; Amanda Burden, chair, NYC City Planning Commission; Faye Wattleton, president, Center for the Advancement of Women and trustee, Columbia University; Eric Dinallo, superintendent, New York Insurance Department; Lynn Schubert, president, Surety & Fidelity Association of America; Anne Malloy-Trenkle, N.Y. state liaison, Helmets to Hardhats; Deborah Wathen-Finn, senior vice president, Ch2 Hill Companies Ltd.; and Emilia Nuccio, vice president, Homes for America Holdings. Founded in 2004, the mission of the Women Builders Council is to seek and implement solutions to the challenges, obstacles and concerns of emerging women business enterprises in the building industry by providing economic development, procurement, training, technical assistance and advocacy to foster and sustain the growth of Women Owned Enterprises. The Women Builders Council will provide regional strength to impact public policies, allowing for change to enhance growth of small W/MBE firms. The Council will reach beyond mentoring to assist women businesses in achieving the highest standard of success possible.