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Black Tie International:
The New York Women's
Foundation's
23rd Annual Celebrating Women Breakfast
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The New York Women’s
Foundation Honors
Mary J. Blige, Eileen Fisher and Margarita Rosa at
23rd
Annual Celebrating
Women®
Breakfast
Cross-Cultural
Alliance of Women
Celebrates 68
Grantee Partners
and Recognizes Work
of Pioneering Women
Breakfast Helps
Foundation Exceed
$1.4 Million
Fundraising Goal
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Ana L. Oliveira –
President & CEO of
NYWF, Margarita Rosa
- Honoree, Mary J.
Blige - Honoree,
Carolyn Buck Luce –
Board Chair at The
New York Women’s
Foundation’s 23rd
Annual Celebrating
Women Breakfast, New
York Hilton Grand
Ballroom, May 13,
2010
Photo by: Amber de
Vos – Patrick
McMullan
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New York, NY
(May 17, 2010) – On May 13, 2010, more than 2,300
women and men gathered for The New York Women’s
Foundation’s® 23rd Annual Celebrating
Women® Breakfast at the Hilton Grand
Ballroom in New York City. This year’s breakfast,
emceed by CNN Anchor and Special Correspondent
Soledad O’Brien, celebrated the accomplishments
of the Foundation’s 68 grantee partners and honored
the work of three trailblazing women: Award-Winning
Singer and Philanthropist Mary J. Blige,
Founder and Chief Creative Officer of EILEEN FISHER,
Inc. Eileen Fisher, and Social Justice
Advocate and Executive Director of Grand Street
Settlement Margarita Rosa. Entrepreneur,
Author, Activist, and Special Guest Kathy LeMay
also shared a few words about her background in
philanthropy. The breakfast helped The New York
Women’s Foundation exceed its $1.4 million
fundraising goal.
Despite the Great
Recession, in 2009 the Foundation increased its
grantmaking by 20 percent. In its Spring 2010
Grant Cycle, The New York Women’s Foundation (NYWF)
awarded $1.48 million to 31 community-based
organizations that serve the needs of women and
families in New York City. For 23 years, The New
York Women’s Foundation (NYWF) has been a steadfast
partner with over 240 community-based organizations
and their dedicated, courageous leaders and will
continue its commitment to supporting efforts that
address women’s economic security in 2010.
“At The New York Women’s Foundation we are going to
be doing more to increase our investment in women
and families in New York,” said Ana Oliveira, NYWF®
President and CEO. “The solutions that
we fund – as we found out – are very possible. They
can happen. So we are going to turn crisis into
opportunity and scale up. Together, with the help of
our grantee partners and loyal supporters,
we will accelerate solutions.”
The
special event kicked off with an invigorating Punjab
harvest dance performance by NYC Bhangra, followed
by videos about the Foundation’s work
and introductions to the amazing women behind it.
Each honoree spoke about her own activism and was
presented with NYWF’s Walking Stick Award made by
young women of the
Youth Empowerment Mission.
The Walking Stick Awards are works of art that are
personally made to capture the strength and beauty
of the
women honored.
Mary J. Blige had tears in her eyes when discussing
the motivation behind her own organization FFAWN,
the Foundation For the Advancement of Women Now. She
admitted that music was a savior from her own
personal struggles and explained how it gave her a
channel to reach out to other women and for them to
help heal each other.
Eileen Fisher, recipient of The New York Women’s
Foundation’s Vision Award, spoke of her journey to
success and her company’s commitment to social
responsibility, including dedication to the
environment and the wellbeing of
women and girls.
“I want to make sure that we don’t forget those
honest workers – millions of them – women and men
who move our world along every day. People like my
mom, Julia Rosa who, through a combination of
affections and coercion, set and kept me on the
‘straight and narrow’ with my eyes on the prize and
the pedal to the metal,” remarked Margarita Rosa,
recipient of the 2010 Celebration Women Award for
championing human rights and social justice. “The
New York Women’s Foundation has a wonderful mission;
it supports, recognizes and honors the struggles,
and celebrates the triumphs of women and girls.”
Bringing
tears to the audience, grantee speakers Antoinette
Coffi-Ahibo of
Communities, Homeowners and
Neighbors Gaining Economic Rights (CHANGER)
and Karry and Kate Calderon of
Row New York
took to the stage to speak about how their lives
have been impacted by the grantee partner
organizations of NYWF.
Antoinette Coffi-Ahibo shared her struggles with the
foreclosure of her home, which she successfully
defended. Antoinette encouraged the audience, “So I
tell you: when something is wrong in your life, you
can’t be embarrassed or afraid of mockery. You have
to let people know so they can help you.”
Twin sisters Kate and Karry Calderon captivated the
audience. “We’re seniors in high school, but getting
here was not as simple as it sounds. Life has been
difficult. Our father did not live with us. Our
mother was the single parent of four children. Our
older sister was diagnosed with an incurable
disease…and we have to constantly worry about how
we’re going to pay our bills.”
“In fall 2007 we were introduced to Row New York and
competitive rowing. Rowing is a mental sport… If I
can row in the rain in 40 degrees; I can stay up a
little longer and finish this project. I can do the
20th push-up. I can ace this test. I can
leg press 540 pounds. We think to ourselves, “It’s
not all bad.”…this makes us the luckiest people in
the world,” said Karry and Kate Calderon who will be
freshmen this fall at Bryn Mawr and Queens College,
respectively. “At Row New York we pull for each
other. It’s like, ‘Your strength is my strength.’
Row New York helped us to see a little further into
the future. Now we know exactly what we want. To go
fast; to win. To not give up. To be precise. To
excel in college. To row together.”
In addition, Kathy LeMay shared her own experience
of growing up on government assistance and spoke to
a vision inside of her that didn’t quite match her
surroundings but inspired her to never give up. She
said that she is often asked if she is a fundraiser.
“Yes, if by that you mean I’m a wealth
re-distributor, in service of my soul, then yes,”
she quipped. She urged attendees to tap into their
philanthropic side by saying, “We are the
philanthropists we have been waiting for. There
isn’t anyone else coming. If not us, then who?”
Other distinguished guests in attendance included
Ambassador Ruben Beltran, Consul General of Mexico
in New York City; State Senator Andrea
Stewart-Cousins; Secretary of State Lorraine
Cortes-Vazquez; and New York City Council Speaker
Christine Quinn, Chair of The New York Women’s
Foundation Board of Directors Carolyn Buck Luce;
Board Members and Co-Chairs of the 2010 Celebrating
Women Breakfast Sayu Bhojwani and Susan Cullman,
among others.
The 2010 grantee
partners celebrated at the breakfast included:
ACCION New York
Adhikaar for Human Rights
and Social Justice
African Hope Committee
Agenda for Children
Tomorrow
Audre Lorde Project
Barnard Center for
Research on Women
Brooklyn Workforce
Innovations
Brooklyn Young Mothers'
Collective
Brotherhood/Sister Sol
BuildOn
Cause Effective
Center for Family Life in
Sunset Park
Center for New York City
Neighborhoods
CHANGER
Correctional Association
of New York
Cypress Hills Child Care
Corporation
Day One
Families for Freedom
FIERCE
Figure Skating in Harlem
Foundation for the
Advancement of Women Now
Girls Incorporated of New
York City
Good Old Lower East Side
Grace Outreach
Grameen America
Greenhope Services for
Women
GritTV
Hot Bread Kitchen
Hour Children
Housing Plus Solutions
Legal Momentum
Local Development
Corporation of East New York
Love Heals: The Alison
Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education
Make the Road New York
Mt. Sinai Sexual Assault
and Violence Intervention Program
National Mobilization
Against Sweatshops
Northwest Bronx Community
and Clergy Coalition
ParentJobNet
Queers for Economic
Justice
Red Hook Initiative
ReServe
Restaurant Opportunities
Center of New York
Ridgewood Bushwick Senior
Citizens Council
RightRides for Women's
Safety
Row New York
Sadie Nash Leadership
Project
Sakhi for South Asian
Women
Sauti Yetu Center for
African Women
Service Women's Action
Network
Sisterhood Mobilized for
AIDS/HIV Research and Treatment
St. Vincent's
Services
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
TAMKEEN: The Center for
Arab American Empowerment
Taproot Foundation
Turning Point for Women
and Families
Upwardly Global
Urban Justice Center -
Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project
VAMOS Unidos
Voces Latinas
Voices UnBroken
Westchester Square
Partnership
Women for Afghan Women
Women's Center for
Education and Career Advancement
Women's HIV Collaborative
of New York
Women's Housing and
Economic Development Corp
Young Women of Color
HIV/AIDS Coalition
Young Women's Christian
Association of Queens
About The New York
Women’s Foundation (NYWF®)
The New York
Women’s Foundation is a voice for women and a force
for change. We are a cross-cultural alliance of
women catalyzing partnerships and leveraging human
and financial capital to achieve sustained economic
security and justice for women and girls. With
fierce determination, we mobilize hearts, minds and
resources to create an equitable and just future for
women, families and communities in New York City.
Please visit
www.nywf.org
for
more information.
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