Honorees
Civic Champion Awardee Barbara Harman began her career as a college English professor, landing at Wellesley College in 1977 where she taught literature and writing for 25 years. A graduate of Tufts University with a PhD in English from Brandeis University, she is also the author of three books (Harvard University Press, University of Virginia Press, Garland Publishing).
After completing a study of women in the public sphere in 19th century British fiction, which she wrote over a ten-year period in a very small room in her house, she decided it was time to step out into the public sphere herself. She became Executive Director of the Harman Family Foundation in 2000 and founded the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington in 2003. Barbara has received numerous awards and commendations including, with Jane Harman, the Mayor's Arts Award for Visionary Leadership in the Arts. She was named one of Washington's "most powerful women" by Washingtonian magazine in 2013, 2015, and 2017, and a Washingtonian of the Year in 2016.
Barbara enjoys living half in a bucolic suburb of Boston and half in the busy Penn Quarter/Chinatown neighborhood of DC. She likes to work out, play with a certain very cute granddaughter, discuss TV series with her professor husband, and read long novels. Barbara also likes speaking and writing -- these days, about philanthropy.
Entrepreneurship Awardee Malachi Byrd came to Princeton University, a young D.C. boy full of theories. Through the juxtaposition of his suburban and urban experiences in the DMV area, Malachi discovered his passion for discovering and attacking institutionalized racism in all of the overt and covert ways that they perpetuate. Whether in educational opportunities, healthy food access, or police brutality, he is committed to the battle against anti-Blackness. A long-time rapper and spoken word artist, MalPractice, has always believed in the intersection of art and activism. From the mix of his African-American studies degree and Creative Writing certificate to being selected as Washington D.C.’s inaugural youth poet laureate (2015) to publishing his dually named book and mixtape, Crowning Too Early (2017), he displays in his artwork where his research interests lie: fully interrogating the evaporation of Black childhood. Malachi can’t even pinpoint a particular profession that he is striving for – other than becoming the first Senator of Washington, D.C. (Vote Byrd 2032) – but he knows to whom and where he wants to dedicate his life to uplifting.
Global Perspectives Awardee Ginea Briggs has been a proud member of the School Without Walls (SWW) High School community since the 1997-98 school year. She began teaching at SWW after graduating from Lincoln University (PA) with a BA in English Communications and University of Maryland, College Park with an MA in English. During her years at Lincoln University, Ginea became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
At School Without Walls, she sponsors several groups in the school including the BOMB Squad (the Hip Hop dance team), and the SASS Club (Sister Action, Sister Strength) sponsored by the DC Rape Crisis Center, the National Honor Society. Additionally, she has been a LearnServe Fellows advisor since 2009. In 2009, she also chaperoned her first LearnServe abroad trip to Zambia and repeated the trip in 2010. She was honored to become a trip leader with LearnServe Jamaica in 2011, 2012, and 2014 and again with LearnServe South Africa in 2017. In 2015, Ginea spent four months in Hyderabad, India as a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Recipient. There she studied school communities and their effects on girls and self-esteem.
In her spare time, Ginea enjoys dancing with KanKouran West African Dance Company, reading, and spending time with family and friends.
Gala Co-Chairs
Gala Co-Chair Jim Taylor is Vice President of Leadership Initiatives & Education at BoardSource, a globally recognized nonprofit focused on strengthening nonprofit leadership at the highest level - the board of directors. Jim oversees BoardSource’s efforts to position nonprofit boards to lead on diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Prior to joining BoardSource in December 2018, Jim held several leadership roles in community development and diversity, inclusion, and equity at Fannie Mae, AARP, and Capital One. Jim is from Long Island, New York and earned an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from the University of Virginia.
Gala Co-Chair Elisabeth J. LaMotte, LICSW, is a social worker, author, and founder of the DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center. She has more than 20 years of experience in the social work field. She serves on the Board of Overseers of her graduate school, the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, and is a member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women. She is an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) approved supervisor and supervises marriage and family therapy clinicians. Elisabeth is an active media contributor and has been published in The Washington Post, The National Psychologist, Family Therapy Magazine and The New York Times. Her book, Overcoming Your Parents’ Divorce, was a finalist in the 2008 National Best Books Awards in the relationship category. Elisabeth is the clinical consultant working with a team of entrepreneurs to develop an app that uses strategic film viewing to encourage psychological growth and change. Elisabeth lives in Washington DC with her husband and two teenage daughters. She is engaged in her community, and served for many years on Advisory Board of THEARC and the Board of Directors of Little Folks School.
Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies Aaron Jenkins is the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for The Expectations Project (TEP), a national non-profit organization that organizes faith communities to advocate for quality public education. He is also a former appointee of the Obama Administration. He served as the Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the United States Department of Commerce. In his role, he worked to promote partnerships between business, community and faith-based organizations that foster economic opportunity and job growth. Prior to his work at Commerce, Aaron was the Executive Director of Operation Understanding DC (OUDC), a non-profit organization that specializes in cultural education, leadership development and interfaith dialogue programming for African-American and Jewish high school students. He previously worked on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Aide to then-Senator John F. Kerry. Aaron started his career as a legislative staffer in the District of Columbia City Council. A native Washingtonian, Aaron is an associate minister at New Solid Rock Church Ministries and serves and mentors on the board of the Abramson Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships and mentoring to first generation college students. Photograph by Katarina Mayers.
Special Thanks to our Sponsors and In-Kind Supporters!
Sponsors and in-kind contributors are listed alphabetically by level of support.
CHANGEMAKERS
Social Driver
INNOVATORS
Catherine & Tom Tinsley
Harman Cain Family Foundation
Heather Lucas
LINK Strategic Partners
Philip Eliot & Susan Cunningham
TenSquare
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
DC Counseling & Psychotherapy Center
National Society of Collegiate Scholars
ENTREPRENEURS
Anonymous
Avascent
Jim Taylor
Michael Rankin, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
Nancy Jacobson & Mark Penn
The Gilman Family
INVESTORS
Craig Rocklin
David Selden & Julie Wallick
Givebutter
Susan Fant