Dear John,

Every year, Equality Now hosts the Make Equality Reality Gala in New York City to celebrate the women and changemakers who help create a more just and equal world. This year, on October 8, we honored Ashley Judd with our inaugural Trailblazer Award and E. Jean Carroll with our inaugural Courage Award, who both personify the tenacity and perseverance of a changemaker in their daily work supporting women and girls.

I’m thrilled to share that we raised a record-breaking $1,420,000 in support of our mission to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls worldwide.

In her acceptance speech, E. Jean noted the power of women, especially when we’re united, and highlighted the courage and strength of the women who inspired her to speak up and out. In her words, “Women around the world have guts”, and we are much stronger together.

This year, our gala brought together business leaders, philanthropists, influential allies, and celebrity guests for gender equality. Through this year’s theme of “together we can”, we highlighted our combined strength and potential to create a world where women and men have equal rights under the law, but this vision requires all of us. 

We were fortunate to have many incredible changemakers join us, including Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Beverley Knight MBE, Ella and Ben Stiller, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, Drew Dixon, Sheetal Sheth, Prabal Gurung, and Bing Chen. 

We’re grateful to our Host Committee members, sponsors, and guests for making this event possible. Thank you in particular to our underwriters, InMaat Foundation, Montag Family Foundation, and Goldman Sachs Gives, and Gala Co-Chairs Britta Jacobson and Janet Middleton Montag for helping make the evening possible.

Finally, we’d like to thank you for supporting our work and being part of our global community. None of this would have been possible without you. If you’re interested in joining us at next year’s Make Equality Reality Gala, please email [email protected].