Taraji P. Henson to Keynote Seattle Urban League 23rd Annual Breakfast
SEATTLE (September 4, 2024) – The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (ULMS) will host its highly anticipated ‘23rd Annual Breakfast: Era of Essential Service’ on Friday, November 22 at the Seattle Convention Center Summit.
The Annual Breakfast is a celebration of the organization’s essential programming and services it provides to the community in the focus areas of health, housing, entrepreneurship, advocacy, education, and workforce development. The 2024 event will also include a special emphasis on hope in action with a future forward focus of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle’s mission.
“At the base level, our primary goal with this breakfast is to raise the critical funding needed to sustain the direct programs and essential services this agency has been able to provide for well over 90 years,” says Josalyn P. Ford, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle Chief Advancement
Officer. “Beyond that, the Urban League is dedicated to continue building on our desire to foster a diverse, equitable, and ever-thriving community while keeping the work we do in alignment with both the current and emerging needs of those we serve. Our intention is to set the standard as we make room for others who share in our beliefs to stand with us in advancing the Urban League’s vision and preserving the values at the core of what we do.”
Last year’s special guest was comedian and Emmy award-winning host, Trevor Noah, who helped the Urban League raise nearly $1 million dollars and produce the largest event the Westin Seattle has ever hosted post-pandemic with over 1,400 people in attendance. This year, with an anticipated audience of 2,500 attendees, the organization will be joined by Taraji P. Henson as the event keynote.
Henson, an Academy award nominated, Emmy nominated, and Golden Globe-winning actor, filmmaker, and activist, quickly rose to fame after her breakout performance in the critically acclaimed 2005 film ‘Hustle & Flow’. Following an impressive accumulation of acting credits in films, TV and more, Henson wrapped her iconic run as “Cookie Lyon” in Fox’s hit musical drama ‘Empire’ in 2020, which has earned her three Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe award, a Critics Choice award, and three BET awards.
While many regard Henson as an accomplished actor, she is also a chart-topping author and seasoned community philanthropist. In October 2016, Henson released her New York Times bestselling novel “Around The Way Girl,” a memoir about her family and friends, her determination to make it to Hollywood, and the importance of living your own truth. In Fall 2018, she launched the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in honor of her late father. The organization provides scholarships to African American students majoring in mental health, offers mental health services to youth in urban schools, and works to lower the recidivism rates
of African American men and women. Henson, along with her best friend and foundation partner, Tracie Jade, recently co-hosted the Facebook Watch series on mental health called Peace of Mind with Taraji, for which they received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for “Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host.”
“We selected Taraji because of her courageous approach to keeping the voice of the people first,” says Michelle Merriweather, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle President & CEO. “It’s not easy for Black women to achieve the level of success and influence she has amassed over her career. Taraji embodies the spirit of a trusted friend who knows the heartbeat of the community that she’s riding for until the wheels fall off, bringing everyone along with her. The way people gravitate to her essence and take heed of her voice is the same way we strive to be trusted in what we do and say in community.”
The Annual Breakfast will also serve as an opportunity for the Urban League to highlight and award local industry trailblazers for their service to the community. This year’s slate of honorees comprises an impressive list of nominees well-known to the Seattle area, including Chairman and Counsel Emeritus of Ben Bridge Jewelers, Jon Bridge, and former Vice President for Strategic Initiatives for Eli Lily and Company, Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Miles, who will both respectively receive the organization’s Legacy award; Sr. Director of Corporate Partnerships Strategy, and Activation for the Seattle Mariners, Ingrid Narcisse, who will receive the President’s award; and community philanthropist and local entrepreneur, Charles Davis, of C. Davis BBQ, who will receive the Urban League’s Community Coalition award.
The agency’s prestigious Edwin T. Pratt award will be awarded to our very own First-Lady of Seattle and retired Senior Director of USA Artificial Intelligence, Joanne Harrell.
Tickets for the event will be on sale September 4 through November 17. Sponsorship opportunities for local partners and community funders are also available on the Urban League’s website via https://urbanleague.org/23rd-annual-breakfast/ .
About the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle:
The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (ULMS) serves as an architect of change with a mission of empowering Black and other historically underserved people to thrive for generations through social and economic justice. With a vision of Black equity, education, and economic empowerment; the ULMS seven areas of focus include advocacy & civic engagement,
education, housing, public health, entrepreneurship support, financial empowerment, and workforce development.
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