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Our sincere thanks to all of you who joined us in supporting Constitutional Rights Foundation’s 2016 Spring Dinner and our mission to transform young lives by empowering the students we serve to become informed, skilled and engaged citizens. We especially thank the nearly 600 guests representing more than 50 international law firms and corporations who joined us in person on May 12.
Our Bill of Rights honoree The Honorable Gaddi Vasquez’s inspiring remarks reminded us all how critical the health of our democracy depends upon informed citizens taking an active role in their communities.
The Honorable Marjorie Steinberg received the Lloyd M. Smith Award for her many years of dedicated service on CRF’s Board of Directors and spoke about her personal experience impacting young lives.
The student presenters from Ninth Street Elementary School, St. Francis de Sales Middle School, and Van Nuys High School entertained the audience with their presentation of CRF programs and clearly validated the need for civic education.
Keynote Speaker Bill Whitaker spoke eloquently about the importance of CRF’s work. He commented that “Civics is one of the least inquired about words in the entire dictionary and that the mission of the Constitutional Rights Foundation is needed more now than ever in its history.” Whitaker stated that “as precarious and fast changing as the world is today, we have to be informed. For us to govern ourselves in this changing world, we must be informed.”
Whitaker ended his speech with the following: “We have access to the information we need to govern ourselves wisely. We just have to use it. We have the tools to govern ourselves wisely: freedom of speech, assembly, the vote. We just have to use them. America is a work in progress, it always is. And we the people have the power to shape it. Tonight I applaud all of you with the Constitutional Rights Foundation for working to make sure successive generations of Americans never lose sight of that.”
Over a half a century, CRF has provided innovative, nonpartisan, educational programs and high-quality civic-learning resources for teachers and students throughout the United States. The need for CRF's programs continues to grow and it is your support that helps meet this need. Through the many generous sponsorships of our Spring Dinner, CRF raised $800,000 towards its vital mission. Thank you.
We would love to stay connected with each of you. Please click the link below to receive updates from CRF on ways to get involved with our programs including invitations to upcoming Expanding Horizons Internships events this summer, and information on volunteering or visit our website at www.crf-usa.org.
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Bill of Rights Award
The Honorable Gaddi H. Vasquez
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
Southern California Edison and Edison International
Lloyd M. Smith Award
The Honorable Marjorie Steinberg
Judge (ret.)
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Master of Ceremonies
Fritz Coleman, Weathercaster, NBC4
Keynote Speaker
Bill Whitaker, Correspondent, 60 Minutes, CBS News
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