Thank You for making our 21st Annual Women Who Dare a Spectacular Success!

Dear Friend of Girls Inc. of the Island City,

Thanks to the generous and enthusiastic support of our sponsors, attendees, donors, and volunteers, we had an incredibly empowering and inspirational 21st Annual Women Who Dare Gala at the beautiful Oakland Scottish Rite Center on February 29th, 2020.

Congratulations again to the exceptional girls and women who thoroughly impressed and inspired us with their amazing presentations and speeches.

You truly exemplify strong, smart, and bold!

Women Who Dare Awardees:

Honorary Awardee Betty Reid Soskin, Lisa Curtis, Judith Goodwin, Zohra Rahimi, and Sophia Kofoed.

Best Foot Forward Girls:

Jayla Anderson, Carmen Baker, Preston Chilcott, Wren Chilcott, Cleo Friedman, Sophia Lau, Jillian Metzger, Natalie O'Donnell, Timmyanni Richardson, Eva Rodrigues, Manuela Rodrigues, Megumi Takemoto.

Please see photos of our Awardees and the Best Foot Forward girls below.

Because of you, we had the most successful event to date to support innovative and transformative programs that inspire girls to be strong (healthy), smart (educated), and bold (independent).

We are especially grateful to our amazing, hardworking, and dedicated Board, Women Who Dare Committee, Staff, and Emcee/Auctioneer Dia Bondi for making Women Who Dare 2020 such a tremendous success!

Hats Off to our Strong, Smart, and Bold Sponsors:

Friend of Girls Inc. of the Island City, Bank of Marin, Felts Family Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Lauren Kelley and Family, Shum Financial Group, Team Schuler | Vivian Ho & Susan Trinh, Alameda Health System | Alameda Hospital, Alameda Pediatric Dentistry, East Bay Regional Park District, Justine A. Noonan, McGuire and Hester Foundation, Phocas Financial, Plaza de Jennings & Chipman LLP.

We are also grateful for our many Daring and Inspiring Sponsors.

All of our sponsors appear on the right margin of this email. Please support these individuals and organizations that not only contribute to Girls Inc. of the Island City, but also provide time, talent, and treasure to so many local and East Bay youth and communities.

Without the following in-kind sponsors, we would not be able to put on this event:

Oakland Scottish Rite Center, Checkers Catering, Rock Wall Wine Company, Drake's Brewing Company, American Oak, By the Bay Productions | DJ by the Bay, Raintree Studios, Dandelion Flower Shop, Excel Graphics, and Scary Bear Design.

Thank you to our supporters: Arlette B. Walls, Charles Johnson & Donna Andrews, Diane Cunningham Rizzo, Drs. Johnson & Jolley Orthodontics, Jo Budman, Dutch Key, and Robert & Stephanie Doud.

And a big shout-out to our hardworking and dedicated volunteers: Silver Alkhafaji, Hana Allison, Christine Bauer, Glenann Bautista, Kathy Bliven, Meron Ephrem, Peggy Forbes, Jeannie Graham, Monica Haggarty, Alexandra Hill, Qiara Houston, Arlene Johnson, Kathy Jones, Dee Keltner, Jeanne Kettles, Rebecca Knebel, Denise Kruft, Jennifer & Tim Lee, Jeni Marr, Justine Noonan, Vanessa Olivieri, Sally Rudloff, Zeina Saad, Julie Van Buhler, Lisa Vien, Hana Williams, and Anja Webster.

Enjoy the photos of the event from our generous and dedicated community partner, Al Wright at Raintree Studios. We've posted a few photos below, but to view them all, click HERE . To order professional prints, please Contact Al Wright .

Awardee Lisa Curtis with the Best Foot Forward Girls

Awardee Judith Goodwin with the Best Foot Forward Girls

Teen Awardee Zohra Rahimi with the Best Foot Forward Girls

Teen Awardee Sophia Kofoed with the Best Foot Forward Girls

The audience celebrated Honorary Awardee Betty Reid Soskin with a standing ovation. Unfortunately, Ms. Reid was unable to

attend because of her health. (Video courtesy of Dia Bondi)