Working women were the stars of the show at the Top Ten Working Women of the Year awards gala Friday night.

The event was a fundraiser for A Working Woman in Need Inc., a local organization that helps women gain professional development skills and meaningful employment.

Successful women need each other to move ahead, said Brynn Grant, executive director of The Creative Coast Alliance and vice president of marketing for the Savannah Economic Development Authority.

Grant was the keynote speaker at the gala.

"No one gets where they are alone," she said. "The good that we do is always multiplied.

"There will be obstacles. There's no reason to get mad at it. ... It can't keep us from moving ahead and achieving that higher vision, that greater good."

Robin Meade, anchor of Morning Express with Robin Meade on Headline News, a CNN network, was the event's master of ceremonies.

Nearly 150 attended the event at the Hyatt Regency Savannah.

"I'm so pleased. There's so many distinguished people that came to support what we do," said Sarahlyn U. Argrow, founder and CEO of A Working Woman in Need Inc.

The Top Ten Working Women of the Year awards gala, presented by A Working Woman In Need, Inc. and Celia Dunn Sotheby’s International Realty, was held Friday at the Hyatt Regency Savannah.

The organization recognized outstanding women leaders in a variety of fields who show exemplary service in their community.

The Top Ten Working Women of the Year:

Medical:
Amy Haywood Hughes, Managing Partner, Hughes Public Affairs

In 2007, Amy Hughes and her husband Lee formed the partnership of Hughes Public Affairs combining their joint interests in sound governmental policy and their 37 years of experience working with Georgia government.

The firm’s clients include: Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah College of Art & Design, Memorial Health, Chatham County, CSX, Waste Management, Herty Advanced Materials Development Center, the Matthew Reardon Center, The Beehive Foundation and Underground Atlanta.

Prior to joining Hughes Public Affairs, Hughes served as vice president of government affairs for Memorial Health. For eight years, she served as the voice of Memorial Health to local, state and federal elected officials, providing them with information to make informed decisions about legislative and regulatory health care issues. She also started a comprehensive arts initiative called Gallery One to fill the walls and the halls of the hospital with hundreds of original, colorful, multicultural works of art. Hughes also served as Vice President of Existing Industry and Government Affairs for the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. At the Chamber, she handled legislative advocacy for the business community and served as executive director of the Savannah Area Manufacturers Council. She also served as the statewide Chairperson of Georgians for Manufacturing. Before moving to Savannah in 1994, Hughes worked at the State Capitol as a lobbyist for the law firm Powell, Goldstein, Frazier & Murphy, a radio reporter, and as assistant press secretary to Lt. Governor Pierre Howard. Hughes serves as President of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Coastal Georgia affiliate, raising funds for breast cancer screening, research, treatment and education. She serves on the Bethesda Home for Boys Board of Governors, served as 2005 President of the Rape Crisis Center and served as a citizen advocate for eight years through Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy. Hughes represented Rotary on a Group Study Team to Poland and The Ukraine visiting businesses and health care facilities. She traveled as an Ambassador to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia on a similar Good Will initiative. Georgia Trend magazine named Hughes one of Georgia’s “40 Under 40 Best and Brightest Georgians” in 2007. She was named one of Savannah’s “40 Under 40” by the Business Report and Journal and she participated in Leadership Georgia and Leadership Savannah. Hughes graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She recently earned an MBA from Mercer University with a 4.0 grade point average. Hughes and her husband Lee reside on Isle of Hope with their three sons Jennings, William and Harrison.