| |
The
IBOAI is proud to support the
U.S.
Dream Academy, which raised more than $600,000 at its
8th annual “Power of a Dream Gala” on May 21. IBOs with the
support of
Amway Global and the
IBOAI
contributed $77,000! The IBOAI sponsored a table and
MarkerMan
Productions sponsored two at the Gala, which raises
funds for its nationally recognized non-profit after-school
program dedicated to breaking the cycle of incarceration and
poverty through an academic, social, and emotional
skill-building curriculum for children.
The U.S. Dream Academy serves more than 1,000 children of
incarcerated parents – and other youth who have fallen
behind in school – at its learning centers in
10 communities with high imprisonment and poverty rates:
Baltimore, East Orange, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles,
Memphis, Orlando,
|
The U.S. DreamKids – The Dream Academy Choir, composed of children enrolled in the Academy Centers across the
U.S. – entertain with song.
|
|
| |
Philadelphia,
Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC (two learning centers).
The U.S. Dream Academy’s goal is to double the number of
at-risk youth they serve by 2012.
|
|
| |
Wintley Phipps, U.S. Dream Academy Founder and CEO, thanks his guests for helping him turn dreams into a reality.
|
Several IBOs attended the Gala, among them Steve and Marcia
Victor, Joe and Kelli Victor, Jere and Rochelle Dutt, Lee
and Cindy Hurst, and James and April Rudo. They joined big
names from entertainment and politics for a very special
evening.
Among the stars headlining the gala were Academy
Award-winning actor
Lou Gossett, Jr., Academy Award-nominated actress
(Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Taraji P. Henson,
Essence Magazine Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus and National CARES Mentoring Movement founder
Susan L. Taylor, MTV Award-winning comedian-actor
Chris Tucker, and Grammy Award-winning vocalist-producer
BeBe Winans.
Gala co-chairs U.S. Senators
John Ensign of Nevada and
Mark L. Pryor of Arkansas, along with Congresswomen
Maxine Waters and
Diane Watson of California and
Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and former Secretary of
Defense
William Cohen
|
|
| |
and his wife
Janet Langhart Cohen, were among the 500 attendees who
joined U.S. Dream Academy President and CEO
Wintley Phipps to honor three individuals who have shown
by example the positive results of following your dreams and
serving as role models for at-risk youth:
-
Actor Lou Gossett, Jr. was the recipient of the
U.S. Dream Academy’s 2009 Legacy Award.
-
Actress and Washington, D.C., native Taraji P.
Henson was presented with the 2009 President’s
Award.
-
LDS Business College dean of academic outreach
Keith Poelman was honored as 2009 Mentor of the
Year for his volunteer service at the U.S. Dream
Academy’s learning center in Salt Lake City.
|
|
| |
Chris Tucker and WJLA (ABC, Washington) television news
anchor
Cynné Simpson emceed the program that featured moving
musical performances by Wintley Phipps, BeBe Winans, and the
U.S. Dream Academy “DreamKids Choir” comprised of children
from Washington, DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia who are
benefiting from its after-school programs.
Essence Magazine Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Susan L. Taylor
provided a powerful keynote speech that focused on reasons
she started the
National CARES Mentoring Movement, which is
a massive campaign to recruit one million able and stable
Black adult mentors to work with at-risk youth across the
United States. Ms. Taylor called for urgent action by every
individual and government at all levels to save children who
are most at risk of a life of incarceration and poverty.
The U.S. Dream Academy’s proven-effective after-school
program combines academic tutoring, one-to-one
|
Arriving at the Ritz Carlton Hotel for the Gala are IBOs Jere and Rochelle Dutt, Lee and Cindy Hurst, Marcia and Steve Victor, Kelli and Joe Victor, and April and James Rudo.
|
|
| |
mentoring and
character development, to help at-risk youth develop
positive dreams for their futures and to show them career
paths and life choices that will give them
fulfilling and productive lives.
|
|
| |
IBOs fill tables sponsored by the IBOAI and MarkerMan Productions.
|
"We know that a child who dreams big can change the world,"
said U.S. Dream Academy Executive Director
C. Diane Wallace Booker. “That is why our first priority
is to raise children's self esteem, and to provide mentors
who shower our children with love and positive reinforcement
and encourage them to live out their dreams while finding
their own voice and path in life."
For more information about the U.S. Dream Academy and how to
support its life-changing and lifesaving after-school
programs, please visit:
www.usdreamacademy.org.
The U.S. Dream Academy’s 8th annual “Power of a Dream Gala”
was supported by national sponsors USA Funds,
Amway
Global and the Good Things Happen Foundation, and by
many other organizations and individuals who are listed on
the
U.S. Dream Academy website.
|
|
| |
IBOs Steve and Marcia Victor meet actress Taraji P. Henson (center), winner of the U.S. Dream Academy’s President’s Award.
|
IBOs Kelli and Joe Victor meet actor Louis Gossett, Jr. (center),
winner of the U.S. Dream Academy’s Legacy Award.
|
|
| |
IBOs Lee and Cindy Hurst meet comedian- actor Chris
Tucker
(center), co-emcee for the Gala.
|
IBOs Marcia and Steve Victor attend the Gala with IBOs Bill and
Diane Ming, who serves on the U.S. Dream Academy Board of Directors.
|
|
|
