The New York Women’s Foundation® Celebrates THE 24th ANNUAL
Celebrating Women® Breakfast
The New York Women’s Foundation® (NYWF) Celebrating Women® Breakfast returned for its 24th year to honor NoVo Foundation President Jennifer Buffett with the Vision Award (awarded to a strategic philanthropist whose contributions are focused on women and girls). Also honored were NPR’s Latino USA Anchor & Editor Maria Hinojosa as well as Human Rights Advocate & Artist Faith Ringgold with the Celebrating Women® Award (awarded to women whose significant achievements have influenced the lives of – and provided a role model for – women and girls). Led by ABC Eyewitness News’ Sade Baderinwa as Emcee, the event’s Co-Chairs were Susan R. Cullman, Tuhina De O’Connor and Regan A. Solmo.
As guests gathered together to celebrate women on this poignant morning, NYWF President Ana Oliveira expressed her sincere gratitude for all of the “incredible grantee leaders and partners in the room.” She continued by saying that it is vital “to see and create a city that models to the world, a paradigm of abundance…that when women and girls [are supported to] do well, families do well…and cities do well.” Ms. Oliveira then recognized the members of the NYWF team, stating that “all of the current board members are a fierce, cross-cultural alliance of leaders.”
The Breakfast also celebrated the partnership and wonderful impact that these collaborations have made on the future of New York. Co-Chair Tuhina De O’ Connor stepped onto the podium and thanked their partner government officials who were there. Among them were State New York County District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr., Chancellor Dennis Walcott, Commissioners Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Robert Doar, Patricia Gatling, Jeanne Mullgrav, Fatima Shama and Anne Sutherland Fuchs. She also thanked Manhattan Deputy Borough President, Rosemond Pierre-Louis, also present.
Co-Chair Regan A. Solmo, also thanked all the supporters for making the Breakfast a success. She especially thanked Sullivan & Cromwell, Ernst & Young, Bloomberg, The Loreen Arbus Foundation, Morgan Stanley, Time Warner, Tishman Speyer, and many other local corporations and individual donors for their generous contributions.
As the Breakfast continued, Jennifer Buffett, President of the NoVo Foundation and this year’s recipient of the Vision Award, took the stage and expressed her gratitude to the New York Women’s Foundation for their commitment to the powerful changes [they] make happen for women and girls.” She concluded her speech by vowing to “take this amazing responsibility and opportunity to raise up the women and girls in the world.” Celebrating Women® Award recipient Maria Hinojosa also gave a speech and was able to garner laughter from the audience with her charm, boldly stating: “the New York Women’s Foundation makes us believe in ourselves.” Also a recipient of the Celebrating Women® Award, Faith Ringgold, reminded guests about the value of diligence expressing that “you have to work twice as hard to get half as far,” and reassured them that “[this award] next to [her will] keep [her] going.”
The NoVo Foundation provided guests with a copy of Rachel Lloyd’s Girls Like Us, in the context of the Campaign to end Sexual Violence for Children for New York State, an initiative and focus of the New York Women’s Foundation.
Over the past twenty-four years, NYWF will have given $28 million in grants to over 271 nonprofit organizations, improving the lives of five million women and girls in New York City. 74% of the nonprofit organizations that NYWF has supported over the years are successfully thriving. In 2009, NYWF responded to the economic crisis by launching RISE-NYC!, a partnership initiative that increased its grant-making by more than 20%.
For further information about the Celebrating Women® Breakfast, please visit www.NYWFBreakfast.org.
For further information about The New York Women’s Foundation®, please visit www.nywf.org.
All photos below by photographer Amber de Vos of Patrick McMullen Company
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