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(L-R) New York Women’s Foundation President and CEO Ana Oliveira, CWB honorees Roberta Kaplan, Alicia Garza, Catherine Gund and Opal Tometi attend The New York Women’s Foundation Celebrating Women Breakfast at Marriott Marquis Hotel. Photo courtesy of Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for the New York Women’s Foundation.
The annual New York Women’s Foundation Celebrating Women ® Breakfast was held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The organization has successfully supported over 80 community-based, women-led, non-profit organizations, and has raised $6 million in grants for these programs.
The New York Woman’s Foundation (NYWF) welcomed guests of honor Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, who founded #BlackLivesMatter, a social media campaign which seeks to broaden the conversation surrounding state violence and anti-black racism.
Also honored was documentary filmmaker and social justice advocate, Catherine Gund, best known for her film Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity. In addition Supreme Court litigator, Roberta Kaplan, was also recognized for her social activism and noteworthy achievements which have influenced the lives of girls and women around the world.
Other notable guests included Randi Zinn, founder of Beyond Mom, Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, filmmaker and philanthropist, Abigail Disney, journalist and philanthropist, Soledad O’Brien, actress, Ryan Hawke, and philanthropist, Agnes Gund.
Women’s Foundation President and CEO Ana Oliveira speaks onstage. Photo courtesy of Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Women’s Foundation
Catherine Gund told the crowd, “I’m driven by an unrelenting desire for them to live in a world that nurtures each person, that recognizes diverse strengths, that welcomes everyone’s contribution—a world that begs for that cacophony and then rejoices in it. They—all of you, all of us deserve to live in such a world.”
At the breakfast NYWF announced a new initiative, Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color in NYC. The fund’s mission is unlocking the full power of girls of color in NYC.
“We are in NYC at a very important moment. As you know we have been brave enough to tackle racism in our elected dialogue and we are also tackling economic inequality,” said Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of NYWF, speaking about the NYWF mission. “Typically those issues are paralyzing issues and we say you know both we feel guilty or powerless and it is so important to dismantle both and that we look at solutions.”
Plans are already in the works for next year’s event and it promises to ignite the women’s leadership movement, in even bigger ways.