Join us on Thursday, April 27th at the Howard Theater in Washington, DC as we celebrate 20 years of youth changemakers and honor inspiring leaders in social change!
LearnServe’s 2023 Anniversary Gala: Celebrating 20 Years of Changemakers will showcase the vision, leadership, and impact of LearnServe students and alumni, and celebrate the community that has supported them along the way. Whether you’re new to LearnServe or whether we’ve walked together over the past two decades, we hope you’ll join us as we recognize this important milestone and reflect together on what LearnServe has meant to our students and alumni — and how they, in turn, are changing the world. Throughout the evening, you will have the chance to experience firsthand why LearnServe has meant so much to so many! We know you’ll leave inspired and excited for the next 20 years!
The annual LearnServe Gala is a unique evening, dedicated to celebrating the power of youth to create change, and the transformative power of social entrepreneurship and global education to shape leaders in our community. The event showcases our LearnServe youth changemakers and their bold visions to tackle injustices in their own communities and schools. In addition, we celebrate the contributions of a small group of exceptional social innovators with our Civic Champion Award, Entrepreneurship Award, and Global Perspectives Award.
Can’t make it to the Gala? Make a gift online in honor of LearnSeve’s 20th Anniversary, and we’ll recognize your contribution at the event. All gifts of $500 and above will be recognized in the Gala Program.
Tickets
We’re excited to celebrate with you soon!
Community Member Ticket – $75
Special ticket price designated for LearnServe alums and anyone in our community with a financial need.
Access to Pre-Event Experience
2 VIP Tickets + Pre-event experience, Logo/ name recognized as sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop), Branded shout out on social media
Entrepreneur Sponsorship – $1,500
4 VIP Event Tickets + pre-event experience, Logo/Name recognized as sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop), Quarter-page program ad, Branded shout-out on social media
Community-Builder Sponsorship – $3,000
6 VIP Event Tickets + pre-event experience, Logo/Name recognized as sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop), Half-page program ad, Branded shout-out on Social Media
Innovator Sponsorship – $5,000
8 VIP Event Tickets + pre-event experience, Logo/ name recognized as sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop),Half-page program ad, Feature in the LearnServe Newsletter and on Social Media
Community Partner Sponsorship – $10,000
12 VIP Event Tickets + pre-event experience, Logo/ name recognized as sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop), Full-page program ad, 15-second video at the event, Mention from the Emcee during the program, Feature in the LearnServe Newsletter and on Social Media
Changemaker Sponsorship – $20,000
15 VIP Event Tickets + pre-event experience, Logo/ name recognized as Title Sponsor on all marketing materials (web, social media, emails, event program, & sponsor loop), Introduce an Honoree, Full-page program ad, 30-second video at the event, Mention from the Emcee during the program, Feature in the LearnServe Newsletter and on Social Media
LearnServe Gala Honorees
Entrepreneurship Awardee: Noah Dyson
Noah Dyson is the co-founder of The Love Catalyst, an organization that connects black people to mental health services and fights against the stigma of mental health in the black community. He is the creator and host of TLC Zone, a podcast that creates a space where the black community and allies can have an honest and vulnerable conversation about experiencing a mental health disorder. Noah is also an active researcher & member of the HER Lab, a hub focused on research that illustrates racism as the root cause of health inequities and antiracism as the strategy to move toward health equity. His current research focuses on the disparities between white and black men being treated for mental health disorders. Noah is a current student at Elon University in Elon, NC working toward a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in communications. He serves as the Black Student Union’s Vice President of Community Outreach & Activism. Noah was born and raised in Washington, DC, and graduated from School Without Walls Senior Highschool. He is a proud alumnus of LearnServe.
Civic Champion Awardeees: Anna Bennett and Ricardo Neal
Anna Bennett was a founding partner in the polling firm of Bennett, Petts & Associates where she provided polling, strategy, and message development to political, non-profit, and corporate clients across the nation and globe for over 30 years. She also volunteered her time and expertise with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to support and strengthen emerging democracies around the world. Campaigns & Elections magazine named Bennett one of 74 women changing American politics. The parent of a LearnServe alum, Bennett has been a member of the LearnServe Board since 2019.
Ricardo O. Neal is the President & Chief Executive Officer of We Will All Rise “All Rise.” In this role, he guides the organization’s decision-making, strategy development, fundraising, and fiscal management. He leads the organization’s work in creating targeted initiatives that invest in the social and academic trajectories of young men of color. Over the past 25 years, Ricardo served in various leadership and governance roles within the education, philanthropy, and public advocacy sectors and has led community change work nationally and internationally. Ricardo earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Boston University School of Social Work. Ricardo has helped cities and school districts develop programs and strategies to improve students’ and families’ life outcomes in high-need communities. Born in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Ricardo lives in Baltimore, MD, with his wife and two children.
Global Perspectives Awardee: Domingo Alonso
Domingo Alonso is founder and lead coordinator of the Centro Cultural Comunitario Santa Ana, a community center and youth leadership development organization based in the Santa Ana neighborhood of Asuncion, Paraguay. The Centro Cultural Comunitario has been a LearnServe partner since 2006, and Domingo serves as lead coordinator for LearnServe’s programming in Paraguay. Domingo has worked with nearly 300 LearnServe students over the past 17 years! In his full-time capacity, Domingo is Department Head at Empresa Nuestra Señora de Asuncion, a Paraguay-based transportation firm. In his free time, Domingo has worked closely with Peace Corps volunteers in Paraguay, teaches Sunday school, and has served as a mentor, partner, and collaborator to countless volunteers and community organizations in Santa Ana.
LearnServe Gala Chair
Jason Downs taps into his experience managing one of the premier attorney general offices in the country and his reputation as a top-notch trial attorney to help clients engage with government enforcement agencies. As co-chair of both the State Attorneys General practice group and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) group at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, he serves as lead counsel for clients facing enforcement action, takes a creative approach to educating the state AG community on behalf of clients and helps businesses understand the authority of state attorneys general. Jason also provides strategic advice on parallel civil and criminal investigations as well as civil rights audits. His work includes helping Fortune 500 companies mitigate risk and improve equity in hiring and managing employees, and impact on consumers and the community.
As chief deputy AG, Jason managed all legal matters brought on behalf of, or against, the District of Columbia and oversaw enforcement actions involving local and multistate anticompetitive, unfair and deceptive trade practices. Prior to that, he served as general counsel at the Office of the Attorney General. He also spent seven years at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, serving as lead counsel on 26 felony jury trials against federal prosecutors.
Jason serves as trial advocacy workshop faculty at Harvard Law School and is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. He’s also fluent in Spanish.
Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies Aaron “AJ” Jenkins is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Partner for North Star Strategies LLC, an equity consulting practice that provides services in public policy and root cause analysis, strategic planning, and training. He has over two decades of experience in advocacy, community organizing, racial justice, interfaith and cross-cultural dialogue and education and unconscious bias training. He is a servant leader and advocate who has worked in the non-profit, local, state and federal sectors.
A fourth generation Washingtonian, Aaron is an associate minister at New Solid Rock Church Ministries. As a first-generation college student, K-12 and collegiate education is extremely important to Aaron. He honors this commitment by serving as the President of the Abramson Scholarship Foundation (ASF). Based in Washington, DC, the ASF is a non-profit organization that provides critical scholarships and comprehensive mentoring to first generation college students from the District of Columbia Public and Public Charter Schools. He is a graduate of Williams College with a BA in Political Science.
Special Thanks to our Sponsors
Listed in alphabetical order.
Changemakers
David Selden & Julie Wallick
S&R Evermay
Community Partners
Dean & Chanda Garfield
Netflix
Social Driver
Innovators
Philip Eliot & Susan Cunningham
The Headfirst Companies
Howard University
Deborah Levine & Marc Cohen
Marty & Andrea Kalin
LINK Strategic Partners
Anita Rechler & Matthew Rechler
Catherine & Tom Tinsley
Community Builders
Anna Bennett & John Buckley
Entrepreneurs
Adam Shapiro Public Relations
DC Counseling & Psychotherapy Center
Franklin Capital Strategies
Janeen & Neil Green
JapanQuest
Greg and Nadine Mort
Kichocheo
Otis Elevators
PrepMatters
TenSquare
Gretchen Zucker
Investors
Mark Blumenthal
Bullis School
Clutch
Raiza Cruz Lisboa
Wendy Davis
Fenton
Tim Graf
Deborah Greene & Patrick Akers
Richard Hall
Ricki Henschel
Brian Hurley & Julie Anbender
Richard Mathes
Ricardo Neal
NFP
Craig Rocklin
Washington International School
Wells Collective
