Mitzi Perdue

Businesswoman (Perdue Chicken, Sheraton Hotels, CERES Farms), Philanthropist, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate

Mitzi Perdue holds a BA with honors from Harvard University and an MPA from George Washington University.

She is a past president of the 40,000-member American Agri-Women and was one of the U.S. Delegates to the United Nations Conference on Women in Nairobi. She’s also a former syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard and her column, The Environment and You, was the most widely-syndicated environmental column in the country. Her television series, Country Magazine, was syndicated to 76 stations.

Mitzi combines the vast experiences of three long-time family businesses. Her father Ernest Henderson co-founded the Sheraton Hotel Chain and her late husband Frank Perdue was the second generation in the poultry company that today operates in more than 50 countries. She’s the founder of CERES Farms, the now second-generation family-owned vineyards that sell wine grapes to wineries such as Mondavi, Kendall Jackson, Bogle, Folie a Deux, and Toasted Head.

She became part of anti-human trafficking efforts after hearing a talk on how we can rescue and rehabilitate victims of trafficking. She wanted to make a serious donation to help, but realized that would mean cutting back on other charities she was committed to. As she sat in the audience, she asked herself, “What charity could I cut back on?”

But then she had an idea. She could raise money by auctioning something she owned, a 17th century De Medici desk, and she could donate the proceeds to anti-trafficking efforts.

That was the beginning of Win This Fight. Today many dozens of others who care about human trafficking will be converting high-value tangible assets into cash through an anti-trafficking auction at Sotheby’s in January of 2021. They get to determine which anti-trafficking charity benefits from their donation.

Mitzi is the author of more than 1600 newspaper and magazine articles on topics including family businesses, philanthropy, biotechnology, genetic engineering and women’s health. She has written several books and most recently, co-authored with Mark Victor Hansen the book, How to Be Up in Down Times: 40 Tips for Surviving and Thriving During the Pandemic.

Mitzi Perdue

Businesswoman (Perdue Chicken, Sheraton Hotels, CERES Farms), Philanthropist, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate