Leadership Gala Information

AAPD Leadership Gala
February 27, 2002

AAPD LEADERSHIP GALA REACHES MILESTONES The first-ever AAPD Leadership Gala was held in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2002. This memorable and highly meaningful event was, first and foremost, the forum for recognizing the Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Award recipients, who are truly the disability community's emerging future leaders, and for honoring in a very public way and in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the lifetime work of this year's Henry B. Betts Award recipient.

But the Leadership Gala also afforded AAPD the opportunity to pay tribute to other esteemed leaders in the disability community, both past and present, like Paul Hearne and Dr. Henry Betts; to bring together a highly diverse constituency to honor and pay tribute to leaders of the disability community; to educate this broad constituency regarding the need to empower all people with disabilities and about AAPD in general; and to incite consistent and positive advocacy among all attendees.

The Honorable Tony Coelho, former Majority Whip of the U. S. House of Representatives, served as master of ceremonies; he provided warm introductions of all award presenters and injected wonderful humor into the evening. At the onset, he introduced The Honorable Claude Allen, Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who read a warm letter from President Bush, who was unable to be present.

The highlights of the event, however, were the award presentations and the stirring and highly-inspiring remarks from all of the award recipients. That's what this evening was all about- honoring, recognizing and bringing national attention to these truly remarkable individuals, each of who has made significant inroads in and contributions to the disability community.

John Kemp, Chair of the AAPD Board of Directors and a founder of AAPD, provided the introduction of the Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Awards segment. As a close, personal friend of Paul Hearne's, it was wonderful to hear John's heartfelt remarks and history of the awards program. Adding increased attention and credibility to these important presentations, members of Congress and the Senate were in attendance, to provide personal introductions of each award recipient and to present the cash awards:

Alicia Contreras received her award from Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA)

Daniel Davis received his award from Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)

Annie Forts received her award from Representative John Sununu (R-NH)

Noah Linn Hendershot received his award from Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)

Kristin Jones received her award from Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

Frances Priester received her award from Senator Richard Durbin (R-IL)

Jerry White received his award from Senator Byron Dorgan (D-SD)

We were delighted that Representative John Baldacci (D-ME); Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ); Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA); and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) were also in attendance.

Then Dr. Henry Betts, in whose name the Henry B. Betts Award is administered, spoke from the heart about this highly-prestigious award, and was joined on the stage by his colleague from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Dr. Elliott Roth. To conclude the evening's awards presentations, Mary Lou Breslin, recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award, was introduced by Representative James Langevin (D-RI), who also presented her with the $50,000 cash prize.

As Lead Sponsor of the Leadership Gala, American Express sent a strong message about the building of lasting partnerships between the business sector and the disability community. Alvenia Rhea Albright, American Express's Director of Diverse Business Partnerships-Global, spoke eloquently about what American Express is already doing in this area and incited the other corporations present to follow suit.

Likewise, at a reception prior to the Leadership Gala sponsored by AOL Time Warner, Raymond Oglethorpe, President of AOL, extended his personal congratulations to all award recipients and spoke to the need for building bridges between the disability and business communities.

Numerous important milestones were reached at the AAPD Leadership Gala, but it is up to all of us to continue the positive atmosphere of the event. Everyone present-- whether award recipients, award presenters, attendees or sponsors-- felt inspired and energized, but we all must now ensure steadfast advocacy toward fulfillment of AAPD's strong mission.

AAPD extends its congratulations to all of the award recipients and sincere gratitude to every single attendee, without whom the Leadership Gala would not have been possible.