The 2nd Annual Women Driving Excellence at the Chicago Auto Show was a full day event held on February 11, 2014 sponsored by Nissan. #WDE14 honored trailblazing women who start, accelerate, fuel and steer others to excellence. This year, eight amazing women – Karyn Calabrese (restaurateur and author), Mary Couzin (CEO and Founder of Chicago Toy and Game), Jory DesJardins, Elisa Camahort Page and Lisa Stone (BlogHer founders), Susanna Jung (president and CEO of Price Futures Group), Sherren Leigh (CEO of Today’s Chicago Woman magazine) and Natalie Martinez (NBC Chicago reporter) received recognition for their outstanding efforts.

Attendees were also entertained by the performance from Phantom of The Opera, Lion & Ribbon Dance from the St. Therese Chinese Catholic School, Andrea Metcalf, and Miss Lori. The #ChicagonistaLIVE show broadcasted live  in collaboration with the Chicago Tribune and brought in guests: Kurt Schiele, Chicago Auto Show Co-Chairman, Olympian Nancy Swider-Peltz, Jr., Atrium Wealth Advisors Ron Mark and Dan Wachs, and Valerie Beck of the Chicago Chocolate Tours.

Photographs by Pam Katz Photography and you can check out the rest of http://www.flickr.com/photos/womendrivingexcellence

Full #ChicagonistaLIVE show:

NBCChicago‘s Feature on #WDE14