They showed style. They showed grace. But more important, attendees of the 8th Annual Lupus Handbag Luncheon and Silent Auction showed awe for Women of Achievement honorees Claudia Cividino and Alison Lee.

Alison began battling lupus as a teenager. She worked in marketing for the beauty industry until, after enduring a lupus-related kidney transplant and cancer triggered by the transplant drugs, she realized that her health had become her full-time job.

With her cancer gone and her lupus at bay, she is deeply grateful and reflective. “I’m recognizing that achievement comes in different forms,” Alison says. “I may not have built a career or have a fancy title, but I’ve fought and I’m continuing to fight a battle against lupus.”

Our second Woman of Achievement, Claudia Cividino, oversees operations in the U.S., Canada, and South America for Bally, the 165-year-old Swiss luxury brand for footwear, fashion, and accessories.

Claudia, an active lupus advocate, revealed at the luncheon what she had never shared with her colleagues— she too suffers from lupus.