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On Wednesday, October 16, the Dominican
Women’s Development Center,
the largest
independent Dominican founded organization in the United
States, held their 31st Anniversary Gala at the
New York Hilton, where they honored actress,
dancer and performer, Amara
La Negra with
the Outstanding Artist Award.
Mistress of
Ceremony, Damaris Diaz, of Univision opened the gala
with this year’s theme “Standing Shoulder to Shoulder to End
all Violence Against Women” a re-affirmation of one of the
most critical aspects of the feminist movement and one the
Dominican Women’s Development Center has embraced from the
start. The gala raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to
help fund the centers diverse programs for Latina
women and families of
the Washington
Heights community.
Gala Chair Jean
Shafiroff introduced Rosita
Romero, DWDC’s Executive
Director, who received a standing ovation for her 28 years
of service to the Washington Heights community. Mrs. Romero
gave a moving speech and asked guests to observe a moment of
silence for women such as Gladys Ricart who was killed by a
former boyfriend on her wedding day. Following her speech,
she played a moving video from the Brides March Against
Domestic Violence, which takes place annually to commemorate
Gladys and all victims of domestic violence.
The nights honorees included Hope M. Field,
The Coca Cola Company, who was presented with the Corporate
Engagement Award; Dr. Carmen Garcia Albarran, Private
Practice Pediatrician with the Outstanding Medical
Practitioners Award; Karima Khawja, Univision,
was presented with the Outstanding Media & Marketing
Award; and Alana Cantillo, Charter Communications was
presented with the Outstanding
Communications Award.
An auction was then held where people bid on
luxury handbags including one by Oscar de la Renta,
vacations and artwork, and signed baseballs by baseball
greats Carlos Beltran and Bernie
Williams. Amara La Negra closed the gala with a heart
stopping performance which had the entire room on the dance
floor.
The Gala Chairs were Jean Shafiroff and Dr.
Casilda Balmaceda. The
Gala Co-Chairs were Martin Pena, Jannetta Malloy, Sabine
Poisson and Gillian Harding. Benefit Committee
Members were Luz Bermudez, Petra Cruz, Fermin Espinosa,
Josefa Ruiz, Maritza Santiago, Nathalie Tejada, Carolina
Encarnacion and Rosita Romero.
The corporate
sponsors for this year’s gala included MirRam Group, Hispanic
Federation, New-York Presbyterian, Columbus
University Medical Center, The Coca-Cola Company, Liberty
Beverages, Inca Kola, Goya, Charter
Communications, Somos, United Federation of
Teachers, UPS, ADP, Univision, Healthfirst, Consulting
Just For You and Cibao Pharmacy.
About the
Dominican Women’s Development Center
The
mission of DWDC is to empower all women and communities to
advance gender equality and social justice. Since 1998 and
with an uncompromised resolve, the DWDC has made tremendous
strides to fulfil its mission to empower all women and
communities to advance gender equality and social justice.
Fueled by an unrelenting quest to see families and
individuals realize their potential, the DWDC has been a
compassionate source of hope and inspiration to countless
women, children and households through programs and services
that restore their dignity and self-esteem while encouraging
the pursuit of possibilities far beyond their personal
circumstance and socioeconomic conditions.
At their
annual events, the DWDC is able to showcase some of the
lives they are privileged to shape, and equally ecstatic
about recognizing individuals who share our passion for
service as well as honoring our selfless organization
partners without whom the mission of changing lives cannot
be achieved.
Thirty
years is not just a DWDC milestone: it is the perfect
embodiment of a collective community accomplishment. The
DWDC believes in treating all people with dignity and
respect, that promoting gender equality is fundamental to
social justice, that all people have the right to
opportunities and resources that support them in reaching
their full potential. They believe in practicing holistic,
culturally sensitive, inclusive and innovative community
engagement. They are committed to serving all communities
regardless of background gender, race, ethnicity, economic
status, age, religion, culture, sexual orientation, or other
identities, and believe in the power of advocacy for
ourselves and their communities.
To continue to donate to Dominican Women’s
Development Center’s go to
www.dwdc.org/donate |