5th Annual Gala raises quarter million!

On February 11th, 250+ supporters attended our 5th Annual Gala Benefit at the beautiful St. Regis Hotel Ballroom and Yerba Buena Terrace. Guests enjoyed wine donated by ONEHOPE and Moreno BHLV.  Attendees were also able to place bids on an array of silent auction items using new BidPal handheld devices that evening.

The dinner program included a spoken word poem by Wanda Holland Greene (Head of The Hamlin School), music and personal stories of life in post-apartheid South Africa by the graduates of LEAP School, and an energetic live auction.

A Fund-A-Need auction at the end of the program contributed to the record-setting $250,000 raised in total to send educators to South Africa in June-August 2012 — and bring South African student teacher interns to the U.S.  Your contributions helped us double the amount raised at last year’s gala.

Special thanks to Co-Chairs, Danielle Boutros and William J.B. Brady III, plus Honorary Co-Chairs Jacqueline and David Sacks. The evening’s sponsors included Danielle and George Boutros, William J.B. Brady III, Sarah and Jason DiLullo, Lauren and Andrew Kowal, Karen and Robert Kahn, and Qatalyst Partners. Centric/Black Entertainment Television and Butler Construction sponsored the BidPal electronic bidding devices, and Tiffany’s sponsored the evening’s raffle.

 

Global Education Panel Event

with Jonathan Jansen

On Saturday, February 4th, Teach With Africa hosted our first ever Education Panel Event at Drew School’s beautiful new auditorium.  The panel focused on ideas for transforming education globally and was highlighted by a keynote speech by Dr. Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor of Free State University in South Africa.  Dr. Jansen’s speech “Learning, Living, Loving Together… Hard Lessons from Educational Change in South Africa” captivated the audience of 100+ educators, students, and community members with thought-provoking questions for self-reflection.  Special thanks to the incredible Dr. Joel Samoff, Professor of African Studies at Stanford University, who graciously served as Event Chair and Moderator.  Our distinguished panel included:

* John Gilmour, Founder and Director, LEAP Science and Maths Schools, South Africa
* Wanda Holland Greene, Head of The Hamlin School, San Francisco, CA
* Dr. Edward Kujawa, Dean, School of Education, Dominican Univ. of CA
* Dr. Amina Mama, Professor and Dir/Women and Gender Studies Program, UC Davis
* Dr. William Worger, Professor of History, UCLA

Read panelist bios here.  Teach With Africa is inspired by the success of this benchmark event and we look forward to continuing to provide thought leadership through this type of engagement.