Tahirih Justice Center held its 9th Annual Fundraising Benefit on September 27, 2006, in honor of courageous women and girls seeking justice from gender-based violence.
Nearly 400 distinguished guests and participants were welcomed with a joyful performance from the children’s choir of Blue Planet Theatre.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R. Kan., gave the evening’s keynote address and Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., presented awards to outstanding Tahirih supporters.
Senator Brownback has worked with Tahirih in combating the exploitation of foreign women by international marriage brokers for several years. He co-sponsored the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) and has consistently demonstrated his commitment to helping combat human rights abuses. His efforts in Congress extend to fighting against human trafficking, global poverty, and violence against women.
Congressman Moran, a strong supporter of Tahirih’s efforts to provide critical legal representation and social service referrals for immigrant women and girls in Virginia, presented four awards;hand painted artwork by children of Tahirih clients;to organizations and individuals who have shown an extraordinary commitment over the years to advancing Tahirih’s mission and to ending violence against women. The awards included the Law Firm of the Year Award to Crowell & Moring, Pushing the Envelope Award to Altria Group, Inc., Pro Bono Award to Buzz Hawley of Van Scoyoc Associates, and Volunteer Service Award to Ivi Kolasi.
The evening concluded with inspiring remarks from Tahirih’s client speaker, Zheela Noori. Zheela is an Afghani journalist who overcame persecution at home and is currently working as a radio journalist and TV producer in Washington, DC. With support from Tahirih and pro bono attorney Stacy Linden of Hogan & Hartson LLP, Zheela was granted asylum in December 2005.
A very special thanks goes out to the evening’s sponsors, silent auction contributors, and individual donors—through their kindness and generosity we were able to raise more money than ever before in support of vulnerable women and girls fleeing violence.
Tahirih is privileged and honored to have the support of the following organizations and individuals. Without them, our work would not be possible.
CHAMPIONS
Altria Group, Inc.
Shell Oil CompanyBENEFACTOR
Chevron
PATRON
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLPSPONSORS
Arnold & Porter LLP
CH2M Hill
Cole, Raywid & Braverman LLP
Eileen Fisher
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
Thomas S. Murphy
Leslie Nickel
Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLCFRIENDS
Lynda Clarizio
Covington & Burling LLP
Crowell & Moring
Laurie Duperier
Hogan & Hartson LLP
Maggio Kattar
Mike Mihalke & Julie Gould
Pederson Immigration Law Group, PC
Viacom, Inc.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLPSUPPORTERS
R.A. Abdoo And Company, LLC
American University, Washington College of Law
Calvert Asset Management
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
CBS Corporation
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
Goodwin Procter
Tony & Kathy Holinger
Illumine, LLC
Marianne Keler
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, PC
Rescare, Inc.
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Andrew J. Young FoundationCONTRIBUTORS
Comcast, Washington DC
Richard and Pamela Hanlon
Steven and Sheila Miller Foundation
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
Whitehead Foundation
Time Warner, Inc.
Benefit Committee
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Honorary Chair
Maye Aghazadeh
LuAnn Bennett
Kathleen Behan
Lynda Clarizio
Laurie Duperier
Karen Hofmeister
Barbara Krumsiek
Michael MacLeod
Hamid Samandari
James J. Sandman
Victoria Sant
