Happenings

In honor of Women’s History Month, First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin welcomed Virginia’s 2024 Women in Business Awardees and Inside Business honorees to the Executive Mansion.

Special guests included Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle Sears, Poet Laureate Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Cabinet Secretaries, and Joan Johns Cobbs—sister of civil rights icon Barbara Johns.

The event also featured “HOPE,” a powerful art exhibit by women at Chesterfield County Jail.

Two hundred and forty-four years after a 23-year-old Marquis de Lafayette joined General George Washington to defeat the British, the Executive Mansion played host to a ‘Lafayette Day’ celebration that included the First Lady, Governor Glenn Youngkin, dignitaries, friends, and members of the American Friends of Lafayette. Acknowledging the impact of this French hero, guests were serenaded by soprano Laura Heydt with tunes admonishing his role in Virginia, and America’s, history.

As “Guest of the Nation,” Lafayette returned to Richmond on his 1824 Farewell Tour and dined at the Executive Mansion with then Governor James Pleasants. For over two centuries, the Executive Mansion has been a place of gathering, where history and hospitality meet.

The Governor and First Lady kicked off Black History Month at the Executive Mansion, featuring special performances by The Hampton University Concert Choir and Miss Virginia, Carlehr Swanson. Black history is Virginia history. We honor the past and continue the work for a brighter future.

Governor Glenn Youngkin and First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin welcomed state legislators, their families, and staff to the Executive Mansion to kick off the 2025 General Assembly session. These gatherings promote fellowship and camaraderie, offering a relaxed setting to foster shared purpose and mutual respect as lawmakers begin their work for all Virginians.