Champions in Life Virtual Gala

When New York City shut down in early April because of COVID-19, FSH was one of the first organizations to pivot by taking our Champions in Life Gala virtual on May 14th, as announced in a New York Times sports article. Drawing on incredible star power, the brightest of which were our own students, we began with a virtual ‘cocktail hour’ curated by DJ Commish with stunning visuals of our girls, past galas, and tributes to our donors and leadership. Nearly 1,000 guests attended virtually, more than half for the whole hour, the formal, festive program was emceed by Journalists Andrea Joyce and Harry Smith, and included appearances by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chris Rock, Andy Cohen, and Olympic skaters Adam Rippon, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nathan Chen, Maia and Alex Shibutani, and Jason Brown. The legendary Scott Hamilton and former Macys’ CEO Terry Lundgren were presenters. With all of that amazing talent, none were more moving than our very own students who spoke powerfully and from the heart along with our founder Sharon Cohen and our amazing honorees—Olympian and National Pairs Champion JoJo Starbuck, FSH Alumna and Goldman Sachs VP, Sherrie Smith and FSH Board Co-Vice Chair, Angela Thompson Howard & UPS, our Corporate Trailblazer. Each of them were lauded for their worthy contributions in what was a mission-focused and innovative event raising nearly $1,000,000 for educational programs in Harlem and Detroit.