NEW YORK — The 47th annual Outstanding Mother Awards, which honored five leaders across beauty, agriculture and food, retail and finance on Thursday, raised a record $1.2 million for No Kid Hungry.

The National Mother’s Day committee selects women who successfully balance influential careers with the daily demands and rewards of motherhood, family and community.

This year’s honorees were Kecia Steelman, president and chief executive officer of Ulta Beauty; Lori Singer, president of Parlux Ltd.; Lizanne Kindler, executive chair and CEO of KnitWell Group; and Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O’Lakes, and Jill Schurtz, executive director and chief investment officer, Minnesota State Board of Investment. This is the first time in the awards’ history when two mothers who are married to each other, Schurtz and Ford, were honored.

The luncheon, which moved this year to 583 Park Avenue from the Pierre Hotel, was again hosted by Joanna Coles, chief content officer of The Daily Beast. One new aspect of the luncheon was individual videos featuring the honorees’ children, who all spoke lovingly about their mothers.

Proceeds from this year’s luncheon benefited No Kid Hungry, a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty around the world. It was pointed out that today, one in five children live with hunger, which is nearly 14 million children in the U.S.

The luncheon also featured a live auction that included a New York City dining experience, and stays at the Baccarat Hotel in New York, Four Seasons Resort in Nevis, Four Seasons in New York, The Ranch Hudson Valley, and an Azamara cruise, with a shopping spree at one of KnitWell Group’s retailers. Some lots included gift certificates to Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom.

In accepting her award, KnitWell’s Kindler said growing up in a blue collar suburb of Copenhagen, she originally thought she would go “all-in” in her career and not have kids. But then she met her “fabulous husband Thomas,” who convinced her she could have a family and a career. “Today I am incredibly grateful for the fact that I am both a mother and have an amazing career [whose brands include Talbots, Ann Taylor and Loft], and I don’t really have words to describe how appreciative I am of the love and support and partnership that Thomas gives me every day in achieving that.”

She added, “I’m not sure if it’s nature or nurture, but I do think women have tremendous capacity to take on incredible amounts of responsibility, and there’s no doubt…that sometimes it’s hard to juggle it all.”

Parlux’s Singer spoke lovingly of her two sons, the younger of whom is severely autistic and has no verbal skills. Quoting “Finding Nemo,” she said, “When the world throws us a challenge, just keep swimming.” That quote has proven to be very meaningful to Singer. During the pandemic, she discovered how much her younger son Dylan, who was also extremely over-weight, loved to swim. They moved out of the city to near her brother’s house, which had a pool. Dylan, who is now 23, would spend seven to eight hours a day in the pool, and ended up losing 40 pounds and his overall health improved. They eventually ended up buying a home with an indoor pool and Dylan has since lost a total of 85 pounds. “He has just kept swimming,” she said.

“But as I stand before you today receiving this very special honor, I can’t help but think of all the amazing people swimming alongside me. They say it takes a village, I say it takes an Olympic-sized swimming pool,” said Singer.

Schurtz and Ford, who are the mothers of three children, decided that Schurtz would do the speaking for the couple. “Thanks to all our friends and colleagues who made it here today to support this great cause, recognizing that Beth and I are in a rather unique situation for this event, and that we had to decide which one of us should speak.” She said they did “rock, paper, scissors, shoot,” and AI told her to lead with paper, and she lost.

“Experiencing life’s journeys with these three kids has expanded our hearts, our communities and our field of vision and as two working moms raising three kids, we hope it’s made us more thoughtful leaders for our young colleagues who are starting their own parenting journeys and figuring out how to balance the demands of work and life,” she said.

The final honoree was Ulta’s Steelman, who has a blended family of five children. She said there is no more important job in the world than being a parent. “I’ve had many big jobs throughout my career, positions that have held major responsibilities, including my current role as CEO of Ulta. However, none of these roles could hold a candle to the magnitude of being a mother. It’s a position where you’re simply not replaceable. You were made for these humans, and they were made for you.”