Join the Better Business Bureau for the 2024 BBB® Torch Awards for Ethics Award Ceremony that will be held at Oakland University's Oakland Center in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Wednesday, October 23, at 11am EST, to honor this year's finalists and award winners.  

By attending this event, you will have the opportunity to: Hear from our keynote speaker, Laketa L. Henderson, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Michigan District Office as she shares her inspiring story and discusses how the SBA helps companies thrive in Michigan's ever-evolving marketplace. 

Have a good time following along as CBS News Detroit morning anchor, Sandra Ali emcees this year’s luncheon. Sandra is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has made several regular network appearances on the Fox News channel, CNN and CNN Headline News. 

Network: Connect with like-minded individuals who share a passion for ethical business practices. This is also a great chance to meet BBB staff members and ask any questions you might have.  

Celebrate Excellence: Join us in recognizing and applauding the outstanding efforts of businesses and charities that have made a significant impact on our community through their ethical conduct. 

Enjoy catered lunch: A buffet-style lunch will be provided during the event so be sure to come hungry! Food options include beef, chicken, garden salad, green beans, roasted potatoes and an assortment of freshly baked cookies.  

Individual tickets are available for $65 each. Proceeds benefit the BBB Educational Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charitable arm of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Our Educational Foundation is dedicated to promoting marketplace trust and ethical business practices through community interaction and the exchange of information. Through our community outreach efforts, BBB speaks with more than 2,000 unique individuals each year through free presentations, workshops and community partner events.

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About Laketa L. Henderson

District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Michigan District Office

Laketa L. Henderson is the District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Michigan District Office.  She directs the Michigan District team in implementing the SBA’s strategic goals to strengthen and increase the small business ecosystem through continued relationship building with a network of organizations, to reach the small business community and those underserved to ensure equitable delivery of needed services.  Laketa has been with the SBA since August 2011, when she joined the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office as a Business Opportunity Specialist.

Throughout her SBA career she has specialized in government contracting with our 8(a) Business development program. She is passionate about small business and providing them the needed resources to thrive and be successful because they are the lifeblood of our communities. Prior to joining SBA, Laketa worked in automotive manufacturing with General Motors, Toyota Motors Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI) and Hyundai Motors Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA), where she specialized in paint coating and corrosion protection and prior to that she served in the United States Army.

About Sandra Ali

CBS News Detroit Morning Anchor

Sandra Ali is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has made several regular network appearances on the Fox News channel, CNN, AND CNN Headline News. She earned her first job in television, at WTAJ, the CBS affiliate, in Altoona, Pennsylvania. After two years it was time to move on to the Motor City to WJBK to anchor the top-rated weekend editions of "Fox 2 News at 6" and "Fox 2 News at 10" as well as report for Fox 2 News. 

Ali won the Associated Press award for Best Hard News Reporter in 2002, as well as Michigan's Association of Broadcasters' award for Best Breaking News Reporter in 2003. 

Ali also landed major interviews at the time with then Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Queen of Jordan and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, all while in Detroit. Sandra joined WLWT, the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio in August 2004 as the station's main anchor, anchoring the station's 5, 6 and 11p.m. newscasts. After spending 6 years as a primary anchor, Sandra and her family moved back to Detroit and NBC affiliate, WDIV. Sandra spent 13 years at WDIV, anchoring the station’s 6 and 11 p.m. weekend newscasts, substituting during the week, plus working as a franchise reporter as part of the station’s special projects unit.   

While at WDIV, Sandra covered several major national stories, like the 2018 demonstrations in Washington DC after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, and again in 2022 in Uvalde, Texas when students from metro Detroit travelled to support children who survived the mass shooting at Robb elementary school. 

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ABOUT BBB
The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands and charities they can trust for more than 110 years. In 2023, people turned to BBB more than 218 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.3 million businesses, and 80,000 times for BBB charity reports on about 12,000 charities, for free at BBB.org. Local, independent BBBs provide services free to the public, and can be found across the United States and Canada, including the BBB Serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Visit BBB.org/Detroit or call (866) 788-5706 for more information.