A Legacy of Service
and Innovation
The Inspirational Journey of Shawn Smith -CEO, Chair, Founder – Hattie Mae and PALS Foundation
The Sister-to-Sister Promise: On October 26, 1999, I made a deathbed promise to my sister known as the “Sister-to-Sister” promise. My sister, Thealious T. (Tree) Smith was 33 years young, a mother of two children, a U.S. Retired Veteran - U.S. Army, and the personal assistant to the late and former Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright. On September 27, 1999, doctors at Johns Hopkins hospital gave “Tree” two to four weeks to live. She was diagnosed with Glioblastomas Multiforme Level IV, a rare brain tumor at the tender age of 33. One month later to the date, on October 27, 1999, Tree died just as she lived-peacefully. From this sister-to-sister promise was born the animated characters Hattie Mae and PALS, and the mission of the Hattie Mae and PALS Foundation. Our Development Project: The Foundation is in the midst of designing the world’s first Food Science, STEM, Education, Entertainment center for children ages two to 12 called the EnVision Center. The project will be in Loudoun County in the state of Virgina. The center will focus on eradicating childhood obesity by teaching and entertaining children to choose healthy food choices via our aminated characters “Hattie Mae and PALS.” The name PALS is an acronym for P ractical A ppetite L earning S kills. We are developing a national destination for young children and are expecting two million visitors a year from around the world. Our design team consists of the best family entertainment designers formerly of Disney, LEGOLAND, and Universal Studios. Our creative designer is Bran Ferren , Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Applied Minds.
Shawn Smith receiving an award at the Honor Society of the American Culinary Federation.
He is the former President of Research & Development and Creative Technology for the Walt Disney Company. Ferren is a named inventor on approximately 1,000 issued and pending US and international patents. Allen D. Moyer, President & CEO at ADMI : Allen is formerly the Executive Vice President of Project Development for Disney’s Imagineering globally, as well as similar roles at Apple Computer, Sony, and many others. Lastly, our Lead Architect, Chris Hudson , a former Senior VP of Huitt- Zollars Firm, has a specialty in family theme parks. Hudson is our lead and main advisor to the development team. We also have a host of other individuals who specialize in design and development fields for children such as Dr. Stuart Brown with the National Institute of Play; Vern Swaback ; now retired who was the last architect apprentice for Frank Lloyd Wright; Moody Nolan , the largest African American architect firm in America and The Producers Group, LLC led by Bob Chambers .
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