Tarana Burke, Founder and Leader of the Me Too Movement, presented awards to actress and activist Alyssa Milano and Sony/ATV recording artists and songwriters Haley & Michaels at The New York Women’s Foundation annual Radical Generosity Gala, at the Plaza hotel. Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and the co-founders of media company Level Forward, Abigail E. Disney, Adrienne Becker, Rachel Gould and Angie G. Wang, were also honored for their leadership and contributions to empowering women.
Jean Shafiroff and Lola C. West co-chaired. Shafiroff historically hosts at least one event leading up to the gala to support The Foundation’s work: investing in women’s leadership, businesses and community-led solutions to empower women and their families.
Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of The Foundation, said, “The 2018 Radical Generosity honorees have distinguished themselves in their respective careers as fighters for social justice. We celebrate them for their courage, commitment, conscience and passion, for not accepting the status quo, and for envisioning what could be. Their words and actions have moved us closer to a more equitable world for women, girls and their communities in need. I thank them for their contributions, and also our gala co-chairs Jean Shafiroff and Lola C. West, whose generosity and tireless work on behalf of The New York Women’s Foundation makes our philanthropy possible.”
Actress and activist Alyssa Milano helped propel the spread of the #metoo hashtag, with a simple tweet, one year ago, asking women to come forward if they had been sexually harassed or assaulted In addition. Nashville-based country duo Haley & Michaels, performed their original composition, Me Too, at the gala.
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Gala Co-Chairs Jean Shafiroff and Lola C. West with Me Too Movement Founder and Leader Tarana Burke. (Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/PMC) |
Notable guests included: Kwanza R. Butler, Co-Chair of The Foundation’s Board of Directors; Ted Bunch, Co-Founder of A Call To Men; Anne Delaney, Founder of the Starry Night Fund; Lilliam Barrios-Paoli Ph.D., Sr. Advisor to the President of Hunter College and Former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services; Margarita Guzmán, Executive Director of Violence Intervention Program; Grainne McNamara, U.S. Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mari Malek, model, actor and Founder of Stand for Education; Jillian Mercado, American fashion model and advocate for people with disabilities; Ashley Ford, writer and host of Brooklyn-based news & culture TV show 112BK; U.S. Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney; NYS Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright; NYC Council Member Helen Rosenthal; and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
Oliveira announced of the first grant recipients of the Fund to Support the Me Too Movement and Allies by Ms. Oliveira will receive a total of $840,000.
For more information about The New York Women’s Foundation, visit www.nywf.org.
