Community Partners of Dallas (CPD) celebrated its 19th annual Chick Lit Luncheon, presented by Dr. Robert and Lara Tafel, on March 28, at the Hilton Anatole.
Luncheon co-chairs Alison Malone and Kelley Schadt, with honorary chair Kameron Westcott, were joined by 1,100 attendees at the event, which featured a conversation with NBC5’s Laura Harris and award-winning anchor and journalist Hoda Kotb.
Co-chair Alison Malone joined Community Partners of Dallas president and CEO Joanne Clarke at the podium. Malone share her and her husband Mike’s personal journey as foster parents of four little girls, aged 10 weeks to two years.
As guests enjoyed a lunch of a chicken Waldorf salad and apricot chocolate opera cake, CPD vice president of development and communications Samantha Eppler introduced three-time Emmy and Associated Press award-winning journalist NBC5’s Laura Harris, who welcomed Kotb to the Chick Lit “living room.”
The conversation included Kotb’s post-retirement “minivan life” and her journey to adopting her two daughters — the significance behind their names, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine — not lost on the audience.
Kotb talked lessons learned from the stories she’s covered as a journalist, her time on the “Today Show,” and how she knew it was time to retire, and about her love of New Orleans and writing a song, “Wednesdays,” with singer-songwriter Walker Hayes, who she tried to FaceTime. While he didn’t answer the impromptu dial, Kotb’s former co-host Jenna Bush Hager did, and the two had a spontaneous FaceTime conversation onstage.
There couldn’t have been a more suitable moderator, as Harris posed a lightening round of relatable queries to Kotb. Audience members reveled in the fun-filled responses including Kotb’s happy place being, “Lately in my bed with my kids,” the best compliment she’s ever received being, “I met your mom, and I love her,” and if she were to get stuck in an elevator with someone, it would be Kelly Clarkson.
“She would sing to me!” Kotb beamed.
Next year’s Chick Lit Luncheon will be held on March 27, 2026.
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