Jean Shafiroff hosted her annual luncheon/symposium at Le Cirque in support of the New York Women’s Foundation, which will have its gala on Monday, October 2, at the Plaza. This year’s topic was criminal justice and prison reform.
Hon. Jonathan Lippman, Chairman of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform and Greg Berman, Director of the Center for Court Innovation, told the room what kind of changes are needed. Ana Oliveira, President & CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation, who served on Judge Lippman’s commission, said that we have an opportunity to promote justice and to create a city that does not leave anyone behind, by investing in women-led, community-based organizations that are agents of change.
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Penny Grant. (Photo: Amber De Vos/PMC) |
The goal: to create a criminal justice system in New York that is effective and humane, one that is smart on crime, that protects public safety while treating the accused and the incarcerated — many of whom suffer from mental illness — with decency. The Commission’s report advocated for the closing of Rikers among other systemic reforms.
Shafiroff told the room a disproportionate number of the incarcerated are mentally ill and poor, but no one is disposable. Young people who land in Rikers often never recover. It is the Foundation’s belief that empowering women — the basis of a family — empowers their children, their families and our collective futures.
The honorees for The New York Women’s Foundation 2017 gala are Judge Lippman, who was the Chief Judge of New York State and the New York Court of Appeals; Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Dr. Angela Diaz, Professor and Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center; and Verna Eggleston, head of the Women’s Economic Development initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Attendees included New York State Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, Mary McCormick, President of the Fund for the City of New York, Marco Maccioni, son of restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, Rachel Hirschfeld, animal rights activist and lawyer, and Bonnie Comley, three-time Tony Award winning producer. Other notables include Elizabeth Shafiroff, Natalie Ross, Dawne Marie Grannum, Christine Schott Ledes, Penny Grant, Paola Bacchini, Janna Bullock, Randi Schatz and Flo Anthony.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nywf.org.
