This article and these photos (of past events) were submitted by LEAP’s Rachel Kline Brown:
Are you concerned about issues of race in America and want to discuss them with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author? Or would you prefer to discuss solutions to problems in developing countries with a renowned international economist?
Or perhaps you would rather listen to a world-class pianist and composer while eating a delicious meal. All of these are options and many more because it is time for the 24th annual LEAP Year Event!
Your attending one of these fascinating dinners will support LEAP, the New Haven educational and enrichment agency for children and teens. The annual fundraiser takes place this year on the evening of Thursday, February 28th (with some additional dinners on Saturday, March 2nd).
The evening starts with a cocktail reception and book signing at Hopkins School, where LEAP will honor Stephen Wizner, who has been committed to ensuring high quality legal services for low-income families and been a LEAP board member for decades. The reception will be followed by dinner at one of 27 beautiful homes and scrumptious restaurants in and around New Haven. Each of the dinners is hosted by a local family or business and includes a guest of honor. The guests of honor are world renowned experts and talents who will kick off discussion in their field of expertise.
You pick the dinner you want to attend, the hosts provide a delicious meal, and the guests of honor lead the conversation. 100 percent of the ticket proceeds go to LEAP, which serves over 1,200 children and teens from low-income New Haven neighborhoods each year. Tickets for a dinner including the reception are $150 and for the reception alone are $50. The deadline for buying tickets is February 18th.
Here are a few of the guests of honor at different dinners this year:
• Katie Rae, CEO and President of MIT’s startup accelerator “The Engine.”
• Dr. Emily Wang, director of the Health Justice Lab at Yale Medicine and co-founder of the Transitions Clinic Network.
• Pulitzer-Prize winning Yale Law professor James Forman Jr., discussing his experience teaching behind prison walls.
• Michael Zacchea, Director of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities at UConn.
• Jake Halpern, writer of the Pulitzer-prize graphic novel “Welcome to the New World.”
• Dwayne Betts & Nicholas Dawidoff, award-winning writers that will discuss criminal justice reform in creative literature and nonfiction.
You can review the full list of dinners and buy tickets here. Dinners sell out quickly so reserve your seat today!
