2017 Awards Dinner a Huge Success!

Guests at Street Law’s 2017 Awards Dinner on April 26 sat spellbound as Yael Anaya spoke about her life since becoming a Youth Leader with Street Law’s Legal Life Skills Program at Prince George’s County Social Services.

Yael grew up in the foster care system, unaware of her rights and her strengths and how she could leverage both to improve her life and community. Participation in Street Law taught her about her rights and responsibilities and helped build important skills like resume writing, job interviewing, and financial literacy. She is currently employed as a bilingual special victims advocate for domestic violence and special crimes at the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Department. (Watch a video of Yael’s talk!)

Yael’s talk was one of many highlights of the evening, which honored Julio Garcia, a social studies teacher at Coral Gables High School, and the law department of Pfizer Inc., represented by Assistant General Counsel Michele Adeleye.

Julio, a well-loved teacher at his high school since 1993, was presented with Street Law’s Educator of the Year Award. He was recognized for his success in designing and piloting his school’s law studies curriculum and leading student mock trial teams to county, state, and national awards. In addition, Julio facilitates student participation in the Street Law/NALP Legal Diversity Pipeline Program with the law firm of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP.

Pfizer Inc. was awarded Street Law’s Excellence in Service Award for its participation in Street Law’s Legal Diversity Pipeline Program. Since 2009, volunteers from Pfizer’s legal department have taught students at Bronx High School of Law, Government, and Justice about intellectual property law, alternative dispute resolution, and advertising law. In addition, each year Pfizer hosts students at its headquarters for two events—a Legal Careers Conference where they learn about different career opportunities in the field of law and a day-long event dedicated to building students’ career-preparation skills

The Awards Dinner was preceded by the Best Practices Workshop for Diversity Pipeline Programs. Volunteers from Street Law’s Legal Diversity Pipeline Programs attended to meet and collaborate with their peers from other program sites.

Many Awards Dinner guests kicked off the evening at the Honorees’ Reception, where they mixed and mingled and met the 2017 Street Law Honorees.

An exciting part of the night was the effort to raise the funds necessary to equip 200 vulnerable young people in the Washington, DC area with the legal knowledge and skills they need to succeed. The always-stalwart Susan Hackett, CEO of Legal Executive Leadership and a Street Law board member, pumped up the crowd, which was already moved by the stories shared by Yael. More than one hundred extremely generous Awards Dinner guests came together to exceed our fundraising goal by 100%!

The Awards Dinner is Street Law’s only annual fundraising event. It raises crucial funds that make the organization’s work possible. The 2017 Awards Dinner sold out, thanks to the enthusiastic participation of the event host committee and generous event sponsors.

To see photos from the day’s events, click on the slideshow below. Following the slideshow is a list of generous donors who contributed to the evening’s important fundraising cause. Thank you, donors!

See you next year!