U.S. DREAM ACADEMY ANNOUNCES 19TH ANNUAL “POWER OF A DREAM” GALA CELEBRATION LIVE-CAST ON OCTOBER 19th, HOSTED BY SHAWN YANCY

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Honoring General and Mrs. Colin L. Powell (America’s Promise Alliance),

MrTerry Forde, (Adventist HealthCare, President, CEO)

Ms. Alice Marie Johnson (Criminal Justice Reform Advocate)

Angela Bassett, Larenz Tate, Tina Knowles Lawson, Marsai Martin and Wanda Durant To Share Inspirational Words for The Dream Kids

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Dream Academy is excited to announce The 19th Annual “Power of a Dream” Live-cast Gala Celebration: Accelerate Dreams, presented by Amway. The annual fundraiser, hosted by broadcast journalist, Shawn Yancy, will take place for the first time as a live virtual event on Monday, October 19th, broadcasted from QTS in Virginia. Throughout the day they will also present “PowerUp Sessions” with leading experts and young leaders for a day of celebration, learning, and connection. All is free and open to the public with pre-registration. The evening celebration will include surprise guests, lively music, and giveaways. Virtual Reception begins at 6:00pm ET and Program at 6:30pm ET.

To register visit: www.usdreamacademy.org

The gala will honor General and Mrs. Colin L. Powell (Founding Chairman and Board Chair of America’s Promise Alliance) will receive the Legacy Award; Mr. Terry Forde (Adventist HealthCare—President and CEO) will receive The President’s Award; Alice Marie Johnson (criminal justice and prison reform advocate, a senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Crime initiative and a former federal inmate who after 21 years in prison was recently granted a full pardon) will receive the Dream Blazer Award.

The Southwest Airlines Mentor of the Year Award will be presented to Taylor Vaughan from the U.S. Dream Academy Orlando Center. The keynote youth speaker will be 11th grader, Jasmin Russell from Houston. This year’s honorees are passionate advocates of equal justice, education, criminal justice reform and philanthropy, working to make a difference in their respective fields and in our communities.

PowerUp guest speakers Include; Dr. Wintley Phipps (CEO and Founder, U.S. Dream Academy), Diane Wallace Booker, Esq. (Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President, U.S. Dream Academy), Simon T. Bailey (International Speaker, Author, Consultant, Coach

Simon T. Bailey International), Dr. Marissa Leslie (System Medical Director of Psychiatry,

Adventist HealthCare), Kelly Rambo (Assistant Director and Project Manager, Rock Reach

The Rock School for Dance Education), Samir Balile (R.Ph., Pharm.D., Giant) and

Jillian Griffith (MSPH, RDN, LDN, Giant). 

The Honorary Congressional Committee serving for this year’s gala includes;

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), The Honorable Benjamin Cardin (D-MD),

The Honorable Val Demings (D-FL), The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

 The Honorable Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

Musical Entertainment for the evening will include a special virtual performance from U.S. Dream Academy founder, author and Grammy nominee, Wintley Phipps and the international award-winning Takoma Academy Chorale from Takoma Academy SDA High School with the talented DreamKids from Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia after-school Dream Academy centers. 

For over 12 years, Amway has served as the Presenting Sponsor of the gala. Additional sponsors that have contributed to make this year’s 2020 virtual fundraiser successful include: Giant, QTS, Centera Transport Inc., Southwest Airlines, MarkerMan Productions, IBOAI,

AdventHealth Orlando, General Mills and Express Employment International. 

The U.S. Dream Academy, is a nationwide after school mentoring and dream building program, thathas worked with more than 10,000 children, primarily with incarcerated parents, who live in underserved neighborhoods across the country. Since 2001, with the support of sponsors, the annual Power of a Dream Gala has raised more than 20 million dollars to assist with the provision of high-quality mentoring programs specifically tailored for children living in high-risk communities. Today, there are more than 700 young people in eight (8) cities across this nation who benefit each day from evidence-based comprehensive youth development programming delivered through Dream Academy Learning Center Communities.

Over the years, notables such as Oprah Winfrey, Cicely Tyson, Angela Bassett, Patti LaBelle, Chris Tucker, Lou Gossett, Jr., Taraji P. Henson, Dan Rather, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President George Bush, Senator Orrin Hatch, Peabo Bryson, Lalah Hathaway, Robert Townsend, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Charles Dutton, Wayne Brady, Jennifer Holliday, CeCe Winans, BeBe Winans, Marvin Winans, and the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, are just a few who have all donated their time and efforts to support this important cause.

ABOUT U.S. DREAM ACADEMY 

The U.S. Dream Academy founded in 1998 (www.usdreamacademy.org) is a national youth development and mentoring program whose mission is to elevate the lives of children of incarcerated parents. Dream Academy operates seven Learning Centers across the country (Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; San Bernardino, CA; Houston, TX; Orlando, FL; Salt Lake City, UT; and Baltimore, MD) providing mentoring, in school tutoring, and now virtual learning programming that builds skills, character and dreams for vulnerable youth while developing transformative relationships with caring adult volunteer mentors. Ultimately, Dream Academy seeks to remove barriers to economic mobility, break cycles of inherited poverty and possibly incarceration, and promote overall well-being for the students and their families that they serve. Dream’s vision is to build an army of inspired, skilled and character-driven young people to become global leaders.

US Dream Academy

Website: https://usdreamacademy.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/US_DreamAcademy @US_DreamAcademy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USDreamAcademy/

Instagram: 

YouTube; https://www.youtube.com/user/USDreamAcademyinc

Event Registration Link: https://web.cvent.com/event/7734827a-718d-4d28-a75c-400e1a585c21/summary?RefId=Summary&blm_aid=36360

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