Thursday, October 28, 2021

Preshow: 6:45 p.m. Central
Program: 7:00 p.m. Central

Click here to watch the live stream, bid on auction items, make a donation, and more!

Event Chairs:
Cynthia and Chad Mabry

Vice Chair: 
Rebecca Seidl 

Auction Chair: 
Michelle Gray 

BUY SPONSORSHIPS DONATE

Please join us for our Houston Tahirih Justice Center annual event: Journey to Justice: Hope & Healing. 

As we come together virtually on this evening, let us join in the hope and healing that honors the resiliency of immigrant survivors of gender-based violence on their journey to justice after an especially difficult year. ⁠ 

Check here for event’s updates that include registration details, sponsor benefits, special guests, silent auction items, and more! In the meantime, please see below for more information about our sponsors and host committee, and opportunities to support the event and the immigrant survivors of gender-based violence that we serve.  

To sponsor the event, please download the 2021 Houston Sponsorship Form, and to support the auction, please download the 2021 Auction Form. To request additional information, please send your questions to HoustonEvents@tahirih.org.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS & BENEFITS

To sponsor the event, please download the 2021 Houston Sponsorship Form. To request additional information, please send your questions to HoustonEvents@tahirih.org. 

Presenting Sponsor
$100,000 

• Exclusive “Presented By” Naming Rights 
• 30 second spot in virtual event PSA message
• Recognition and quote in Gala press release* 
• Mention on Tahirih Social Media* 
• Mention in Press Release*
• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation* 
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage 
• Annual Impact Report 
• Fully tax-deductible  

Diamond  
$50,000  

• 30 second spot in virtual event PSA message 
• Recognition and quote in Gala press release*
• Mention on Tahirih Social Media* 
• Mention in Press Release* 
• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation* 
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage
• Annual Impact Report 
• Fully tax-deductible 

Platinum  
$25,000  

• 15 Second spot in virtual program PSA message
• Recognition and quote in Gala press release* 
• Mention on Tahirih Social Media* 
• Mention in Press Release* 
• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation*
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage 
• Annual Impact Report  
• Fully tax-deductible 

Gold 
$15,000  

• Mention on Tahirih Social Media* 
• Mention in Press Release* 
• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation* 
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage
• Annual Impact Report  
• Fully tax-deductible 

Silver 
$10,000  

• Mention in Press Release*
• Mention on Tahirih Social Media* 
• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation* 
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage 
• Annual Impact Report
• Fully tax-deductible 

Copper   
$5,000  

• Recognition in Digital Invitation* 
• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation* 
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage
• Annual Impact Report  
• Fully tax-deductible 

Bronze   
$3,000 

• Name in Digital Program and On-Screen Presentation*
• Name and Link on Benefit Webpage 
• Annual Impact Report  
• Fully tax-deductible 

SPONSORS

Diamond
Laura and John Arnold 

Platinum

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Houston 
Baker Botts LLP Houston
Anne and Albert Chao
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Houston
Diana Strassman and Jeff Smisek 

Gold

CenterPoint Energy  
Latham & Watkins LLP Houston 
Mayer Brown LLP Houston 

Silver

Baker & McKenzie LLP
Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
The Marek Family
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP TX
Porter Hedges LLP Houston
Vinson & Elkins LLP 

Copper 

Dr. Dina Al-Sowayel and Tony Chase
Aon Houston
Tahirih Baker, M.D.
Coffin Renner
DLA Piper LLP Houston
Eversheds Sutherland LLP Houston
Gonzalez Olivieri LLC
Haynes and Boone, LLP
Holland & Knight
Monica Karuturi and Kumaran Sathyamoorthy
Locke Lord
LyondellBasell
Cynthia and Chad Mabry
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Gary and Louise Moss
Phillips 66 Legal Department
Reed Smith LLP Houston

Rebecca Seidl
Shell
Morgan and David Shin
Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP Houston
Sidley Austin LLP Houston
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Houston
Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
Edith and Robert Zinn 

Bronze
Hicks Davis Wynn, PC
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Houston
Christine and Craig LaFollette
McKool
Paul Hastings LLP
Paul Lee, DDS
Ann and Tim Stout
Jennifer Tomsen and Chris Jermaine
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP Houston
W&T Offshore, Inc.
Taleia Wilson and Charlotte Bidard 

GALA HOST COMMITTEE

Cynthia and Chad Mabry, Event Chairs 

Carina and Brooks Antweil  

Kelly and Harry Beaudry  

Liza Evans 

Lauren and Bobby Hunt  

Dawn Jenkins and Aaron Power 

Jennifer Johnson  

Meg and Preston Kamin 

Monica Karuturi 

Chris LaFollette 

Rebecca Seidl 

Scott Seidl  

Morgan and David Shin  

Maryam Tabatabai and Ehsan Tabesh

Jennifer Tomsen  

Solana and Enoch Varner  

Natara Williams 

Taleia Wilson 

Gala Auction Committee

Michelle Gray, Auction Chair 

Celina Joachim 

Arielle Masson 

Morgan Shin 

Natara Williams

FEATURING

Event Host 
Melanie Lawson 
Anchor, ABC12 Houston 

Award-winning journalist Melanie Lawson is a proud Houstonian and a product of Houston schools. 
 
Journalism has always been in Melanie’s blood. She started first as a full-time general assignments reporter at Channel 13, then went on to become the co-anchor of Live at 5 and Channel 13’s midday show, Eyewitness News at 11am. Melanie also hosts a weekly Community Affairs program called “Crossroads”, focusing on issues and events around our city. 
 
Melanie has had a varied and exhilarating stint at Channel 13. She has covered virtually every city, state and national election during her career. She has traveled to Cuba, Panama and Africa, among other places. She’s won numerous awards for her reporting, including an Emmy for her coverage of President Clinton’s visit to South Africa, the only local reporter in the nation to make that trip. And Melanie has interviewed a wide range of notables, including three U.S. Presidents, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, poet Maya Angelou, Grammy Award winners Destiny’s Child, former heavyweight champion boxer George Foreman, director Spike Lee, legendary journalist Barbara Walters, evangelists Joel and Victoria Osteen, Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and actors Lily Tomlin, Shirley McLaine and Denzel Washington. 
 
But Melanie’s favorite stories are those about Houston’s rich, multi-ethnic community – especially stories about children and those quietly working to make a difference in their lives. 

Melanie’s involvement in the Houston community is far reaching. She is on the board of numerous community organizations including the Houston Ballet, SHAPE Community Center, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Volunteer Houston, and the Houston Association of Black Journalists. She also belongs to the Houston Chapter of the Links, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the American Leadership Forum. 
 
She is also a member of the Texas Lone Star Chapter of Emmys and Women in Film and Television. Melanie has also been honored as the YWCA’s “Outstanding Women of the Year”, a “Women of Distinction” by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Ben and Julie Rogers Ecumenism Award from the Anti-Defamation League. 
 
She received her undergraduate degree in Politics from Princeton University and a joint degree in Law and Journalism from Columbia University. Melanie worked at a Wall Street law firm for three years before returning to Houston. She is admitted to both the Texas and New York State Bars. 
 
Last, but certainly not least, she is a proud member of the church founded by her parents, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. 

Special Guests  

Lubabah Abdullah 
Executive Director, Houston Office, Tahirih Justice Center 

Aijia 
Singer-Songwriter   

Penn Badgley 
Actor & Musician 

Outspoken Bean
Houston’s 2021-2023 Poet Laureate  

Dr. Jodi Berger Cardoso
Professor, University of Houston 

Parisa Fitz-Henley 
Actress 

Andy Grammer 
Singer-Songwriter 

Michelle Gray
Auction Committee Chair 

Elizabeth Lail 
Actress  

Eva LaRue 
Actress  

Cynthia and Chad Mabry
Event Chairs 

Layli Miller-Muro 
Founder and Senior Advisor to the CEO, Tahirih Justice Center   

Kristine Mills
Singer-Songwriter 

Oscar Nunez 
Actor  

Tito Puente Jr.
Musician, Actor 

Archi Pyati 
CEO, Tahirih Justice Center  

Tiffany Toriumi 

Ursula Whittaker 
Actress  

Abby Wilson 

Rainn Wilson  
Actor