Partnership with Children’s annual Inspiration Gala celebrates the importance of mental health and healing-based arts education in preparing New York City’s children to succeed in school, society, and life. The joyous evening welcomes over 500 guests, who work across a variety of industries, and honors inspiring corporate leaders for their outstanding personal and professional accomplishments and for serving as champions of our young people.
The following notable individuals are the esteemed honorees of the Inspiration Galas over the last decade:
PREVIOUS HONOREES
2024
Raj Dhanda
Partner and Global Head of Wealth Management, Ares Management
Nancy Hall
CEO, Mindshare North America
Dr. Richard Park
Founder and former CEO of CityMD and Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ascend Partners
2023
Holly O’Neil
President, Retail Banking, Bank of America
Catherine Sullivan
CEO, PHD
2021
Susan Schiekofer
Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM North America
2019
Katy Knox
President, Bank of America, Private Bank
Luke Kigel
Senior Director, Global Head of Media & Connections, Johnson & Johnson
2018
Jacki Kelley
Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Bloomberg LP
Helen Lin
President, Digital Investment and Global Partnerships, Publicis Media
2017
Terry Laughlin
Vice Chairman, Head of Global Wealth and Investment Management, Bank of America
2016
Andy Saperstein
Co-Head of Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley
David Cohen
President, MAGNA GLOBAL
2015
Mark Dowley
Chief Strategy Officer, Mac Andrews & Forbes Holdings, LLC
Marianne Gambelli
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Horizon Media
Kenneth Mortenson
Managing Director, Oppenheimer Capital
Anne Vanderbilt Award for Achievement
2014
Bridget O’Connor
Bank of America
Christine Merrifield
MediaVest
INSPIRATION AWARD WINNERS
Through the annual event, PWC also often honors icons and trailblazers who have used their platform to champion the needs of young people, advocate for mental health, and promote the healing power of the arts. Recent Inspiration Award winners include:
Robert “Kool” Bell
Co-Founder of Kool and the Gang
Melba Moore
Tony-Award Winning Singer and Actress
Jeppe Hein
World-Renowned Artist
Isabel Wilkerson
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Author
ABOUT US
About PWC:
Since 1908, Partnership with Children (PWC) has strengthened the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of children in New York City to succeed in school, society, and life. For 117 years, we have provided a safety net to generations of New Yorkers and responded to some of our city’s greatest challenges. Today, our work focuses on the mental health needs of our young people. We place licensed clinical social workers, youth development specialists, and teaching artists in schools to provide young people, grades K-12, growing up in poverty with trauma-informed mental health counseling, community-based programming, and healing-based arts education. Through this approach, our students build the skills necessary to break cycles of poverty and become advocates for their communities. Last year, PWC’s work impacted over 22,000 children and families across 47 NYC public schools. To learn more about our history and the scope of our work click here.