Gala 2018 Highlights
With help from members of the 2018 United States Olympic Figure Skating Team — Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, and Maia and Alex Shibutani — Figure Skating in Harlem raised over 1.2 million dollars at its annual Champions in Life Benefit Gala, held on Monday, May 1 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers, New York City.
Olympic and world champion figure skaters from past and present such as Scott Allen, Meryl Davis, Tim Goebel, Emily Hughes, Sarah Hughes, Michelle Kwan, JoJo Starbuck, and Paul Wylie joined guests in celebration of the current Olympians, the night’s honorees, Elaine Wynn and Jessica Betts Dreyfuss, and Figure Skating in Harlem’s incredible student athletes, who range in age from 6-18.
SUPPORT CHAMPIONS IN LIFE HERE!
The gala’s program opened with a stunning video collaboration between pop icon Beyoncé’s clothing line, Ivy Park, and the girls of Figure Skating in Harlem, which came to be thanks to their shared values of resilience, determination, and recognizing the transformative power of education. FSH Founder & Executive Director Sharon Cohen talked passionately about the organization’s STEM, STEAM, and leadership programs in New York and the expansion to Detroit. Figure Skating in Harlem remains the first and only organization in the country that combines the power of education with the grace and discipline of figure skating to help girls transform their lives and grow in confidence, leadership, and academic achievement.
Joining the skaters on and off the dance floor were high-profile guests from the worlds of sports, television, business, fashion, and more. Just some of those in attendance and supporting Figure Skating in Harlem’s mission were: Duke University’s sports legend (a three-time Olympic medalist for his work with the US Men’s basketball teams) Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski, Billy King, former GM of the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, fashion’s John Varvatos, Silas Chou, and Stacey Bendet Eisner (Alice & Olivia), CNBC’s Courtney Reagan, and business leaders such as Terry Lundgren (former CEO, Macy’s & Bloomingdales), Candace S. Matthews (President – The Americas, Amway), Annie Young-Scrivner (CEO, Godiva), Scott Wagner (CEO, GoDaddy), and others. The gala’s co-chairs included Ellen Lowey, Tina Lundgren, Diana L. Taylor, and Vera Wang.
[vls_gf_album id=”43″]