Come join us for the 15th Annual HRC Nashville Dinner, an annual fund raising event to benefit the Human Rights Campaign, An exciting evening of Laughter, Music & Inspiration for all. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

The Nashville Gala provides an opportunity for local supporters of GLBT equality to come together for a fun evening of dining and entertainment. The success of this event helps in the fight for equal rights for all people.

Our past gala dinner successes have been a direct result of all the dedicated and talented volunteers and attendees throughout the Nashville & surrounding areas– that’s you! Through your generosity, hard work and energy, we can ensure that HRC can continue its work to improve the lives of GLBT people.

Click an option below to learn more about the evening's events:

• Our 2010 Theme
• Hotel Information
• Honorary Co-Chair: Council Member Megan Barry
• Auction Emcees: The Jugg Sisters
• Speaker: Cuc Vu, HRC Chief Diversity Officer
• Entertainment: Kimberley Locke
• Entertainment: Jen Foster

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Our 2010 Theme

The 2010 theme, “Tribute, 15 Years of Impact” Is in celebration of Nashville’s 15th annual gala. The 2010 dinner planning committee is organizing a special tribute to all of the individuals honored at our past events. These accomplished individuals, through hard work & personal dedication, have made an incredible impact toward full equality for all. The Nashville gala, the Human Rights Campaign and our community continue our mission today climbing up the steps of achievement built by these honorees.

Join us for this momentous evening and become inspired to make your own positive impact today.

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HOTEL INFORMATION

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honorary co-chair: COUNCILMEMBER AT LARGE Megan BarrY

Megan has been in Nashville since 1991, when she moved here to attend Vanderbilt University. She received her MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen School in 1993, and after graduation decided to make Nashville her home. Born in California, while her father was stationed at El Toro Marine Corps base, Megan grew up in Overland Park, Kansas. She graduated from Notre Dame de Sion, a Catholic girls high school in Kansas City, and she received her Bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Baker University, a Methodist college in Baldwin City, Kansas.

Megan has been actively involved in civic and community activities that range from schools and neighborhoods to arts and politics. She currently is part of the Leadership Nashville Class of 2010 and she serves on the boards of the Belcourt Theatre, the Tennessee Rep, and the Bridge. She is also an advisory board member for TIRRC. This year, she is the co-chair of the Center for Nonprofit Management’s “Salute to Excellence” event, honoring the hard work of all who serve our community.

As part of her council responsibilities, she serves on the Budget and Finance committee, the Education committee, and the Health, Hospitals and Social Services committee. She is the past Chair of the Education Committee.

Professionally, Megan has extensive experience developing and managing ethics programs in corporate settings. She is currently the ethics and compliance officer for Premier, Inc., a health-care group purchasing organization and the proud recipient of the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige Award for Quality. Before joining Premier in 2003, she was an independent consultant to multinational firms on issues dealing with business ethics and corporate social responsibility. She also spent several years as a specialist in business ethics and corporate responsibility at Nortel Networks. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Belmont University, teaching courses in business ethics, leadership, and human resources.

She is married to Bruce Barry, a professor of organization studies at Vanderbilt. Their son, Max, attends Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet School. They share their home with two rescue dogs, Hank and Murray.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Cuc Vu, HRC Chief diversity officer

Cuc Vu is the Chief Diversity Officer for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.  Vu provides the vision and strategy to help HRC fulfill its stated commitment to diversity and inclusion at every level or the organization.  The position is a first for an LGBT organization and sets an ambitious mark for HRC to unite the strength of its 750,000 members and supporters with people of all races and backgrounds to end discrimination and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Vu has launched a new HRC Women’s Initiative, convened a Diversity & Inclusion Council supported by leaders from both the corporate, non-profit and community sectors, and initiated a ground-breaking program called Equality Forward that engaged 5,000 LGBT people of color in partnership with more than 100 organizations.  The first of its kind, the Equality Forward research results reveal the attitudes and opinions of African American, Latino/a, and Asian Pacific Islander American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, a part of the LGBT community that is often not heard.  Vu is now exploring the creation of a first-ever training program to develop a new cadre of LGBT people of color grassroots organizers with the language and cultural competency to bridge the LGBT and people of color communities.  

Vu joined HRC after more than 10 years in the labor movement at the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as an advocate for women, immigrants and workers.  At SEIU, Vu worked alongside Eliseo Medina and led the union’s immigrant rights work, helping to establish SEIU as the leading union on immigrant rights issues, according to the Washington Post.  Those who have worked with Vu note her ability to bring people together and to create broad-based coalitions.

Vu is still deeply connected to the immigrant community.  She serves as a founding member and President of the Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and is a founding board member of the Civic Participation Campaign, two national nonprofit organizations focused on increasing the civic participation of immigrants in the United States.  She has also served on the boards of several organizations, including the National Immigration Forum and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Born in Saigon, Viet Nam, Vu grew up in Olympia, Washington, and currently resides in Washington, DC.  She is a graduate of Pomona College and Columbia University, and is a proud alum of the Rockwood Leadership Program.  In 2003, Pomona College presented Vu with the “Inspirational Young Alumni” award in recognition of her social justice work in diverse communities.  Her story is part of the 1,000 Voices project.

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LIVE AUCTION EMCEEs: The Jugg Sisters

Sheri Lynn and Brenda Kay, the world-famous Jugg Sisters of NashTrash Tours, have entertained literally thousands of people on their Big Pink Bus. Their tours are booked months in advance because they're the queens of camp. They've been featured in countless TV shows, including NBC's Today (before Katie went legit on the evening news). These girls are sisters to many in the gay community, and strong advocates of equality. They're thrilled to volunteer their time and talents for the live auction, to raise funds for this very important cause.

 

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Entertainment: kimberlEy locke

Kimberley Locke – Former top 3 American Idol finalist and hometown favorite with 4 top ten hits on the Billboard charts, including the #1 smash “8th World Wonder”. Kimberley continues her successful adult contemporary/pop career with a new single produced by Idol’s Randy Jackson to be released Feb 24th and as host of the highly anticipated new reality show, “Making the Curve”.

 

 

 

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ENTERTAINMENT: Jen Foster

Jen Foster is an award-winning singer/songwriter who runs her independent record label, Fosterchild Records, in Nashville, TN. Influenced heavily by classic artists such as the Rolling Stones, U2, and Bob Dylan, Jen has spent a large part of the last 2 years in a Nashville recording studio working on her current album, "Thirty-Nine". The project embodies a blend of sounds which range from soft, lazy-day melodies to more raucous guitar-driven tracks. Some of these new songs have already garnered Jen national attention: the single “Closer to Nowhere” recently won first place in the International Songwriting Competition (Triple A category) and the accompanying music video for the song hit 1 for several weeks on the LOGO network. In addition, Jen's original song, “Venice Beach”, was recently a finalist in the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, as well as in the New York Songwriter's Circle. Previously, Jen has also secured some impressive Film/TV placements, with songs placed in the popular television soap opera "All My Children" as well as a recent placement in an "American Pie" movie sequel.

When she's not busy recording or writing and co-writing songs in Nashville, Jen also tours nationally and has shared stages with Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer, Patty Griffin, and many others.

Jen's music, including her newly released project Thirty-Nine, is currently available at iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon.com, and at her official website - www.jenfoster.com.