All Stars Project, Inc. Raises over $2M at National Gala

Published by Christina DiChiara

On April 18 at Lincoln Center, Gabrielle Kurlander, All Stars Project President and CEO, led an evening of inspiration during the All Stars Project 2016 National Gala: Giving America a Chance to Grow. The event honored the tremendous contributions of executives from American corporate and educational institutions including EY, MetLife, Hunt Consolidated, PWC and Washington College. Over $2M was raised in support of All Stars Afterschool Development programs.

450 guests from the business and philanthropic community attended the event, which highlighted the Development School for Youth program – this summer, All Stars Project will be placing a record number of 500 young people in internships at 150 companies across the country. Gala attendees and participants were also treated to a special hip-hop performance from a dynamic cast of alumni and youth leaders from the All Stars Talent Show Network.

The gala program also featured Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids, where the 2015 IACP and CISCO Community Policing Award was presented to All Stars and the NYPD by Domingo Herraiz, Director of Programs, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for their partnership. The award was accepted on behalf of the organizations by Dr. Lenora Fulani, Director, Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids and Co-founder, All Stars Project, Inc. and Chief Joanne Jaffe, Community Affairs Bureau, NYPD. Ron Davis, Director, COPS Office, Department of Justice and George Gascon, District Attorney, City of San Francisco also made remarks in support of the program.

Special guest speakers also included Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and President of Washington College, Sheila Bair, President, Washington College, who was among the honorees, and Chuck Chaplin, EVP, MBIA.

“This year’s Gala theme, ‘Giving America a Chance to Grow,’ is inspired by the All Stars Project’s groundbreaking discovery that development through performance is key to the growth of individuals and our society as a whole, a discovery that has allowed us to transform inner-city communities across the country,” said Gabrielle Kurlander, President and CEO, All Stars Project. “All Stars brings inner-city youth together with business and cultural leaders, academics, police officers and other caring adults, to create new kinds of relationships and environments where everyone grows. These partnerships for growth are what define the field of Afterschool Development and what America needs to move forward.”

All Stars’ innovative approach to afterschool has been championed and shaped by thousands of individual donors and hundreds of corporate partners, whose commitment has helped the All Stars Project achieve record success. Also honored at the gala was Lisa C. Lim, Partner, EY; Kathleen Michael, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Elizabeth Nieto, Global Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, MetLife; the Hon. Jeanne L. Phillips, Senior VP, Corporate Affairs & International Relations, Hunt Consolidated, Inc.; Fabiola Kramsky, Founder/CEO, TuNexo DE; Pamela A. Lewis,VP/Youth Programs, Center of Youth Program Expertise, ASP Director, ASP of Bridgeport; Julie Myers Wood, CEO, Guidepost Solutions, LLC; Cathy R. Salit, CEO, Performance of a Lifetime; and Mark E. Davidson, Senior Counsel, Proskauer Rose, LLP.