THE GRAND KICKOFF FOR america’s 250th CULMINATING ON JULY 4, 2026 ON THE NATIONAL MALL

*Thank you to everyone who joined us for this grand celebration, please stay tuned for photo highlights

2026 History, Heroes & Hope Honorees

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

For questions about AMERICA’S BALL for THE MALL, please email events@nationalmall.org.

HONORARY GALA CHAIR

MELANIA TRUMP
First Lady of the United States

THANK YOU TO OUR 2026 Sponsors

“STARS & STRIPES” RECEPTION Sponsor

Signature State Table Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Altria
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association - Federal Employee Program
The Boeing Company
BP America
The Business Council
Business Roundtable
Capital Group
Chick-fil-A
Clark Construction
Harris Philanthropies
Andrew Heinle, MD & Jerry Penso, MD
Hensel Phelps
Hilton
Korn Ferry
Debby & Dan McGinn
Merck & Co., Inc.
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
National Confectioners Association
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Puck
Purple Strategies
PwC
Shadow Search
The Whiting – Turner Contracting Company

Silver Sponsors

Akridge
Alpha Corporation
Elizabeth Reagan Bingham
BGR Group
Brunswick Group, LLC
Mary & Armeane Choksi
Consigli Construction
Kristin & Mark Damato
Deloitte
The Dionisio Family
Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. and Responsibility.org
Elevance Health
GE Aerospace
Greater Washington Board of Trade
Linder Global Events
LSG
Narrative Strategies
PCMA
Southern Company
Stanley Black & Decker
TD Bank
Uber Technologies, Inc.
Volkswagen Group of America
VOX Global
Zirkelbach Strategies

BRONZE Sponsors

Betsy Jordan
Ed & Martie Samek
Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC
Vault Consulting LLC
Leslie Frazier Whaley

In-Kind SPONSORS

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc.
Design Cuisine and DC Rental
Design Foundry
Effort, LLC
Event EQ
HP Inc.
Linder Global Events
Uber Technologies, Inc.

Media Partners

HISTORY, HEROES & HOPE HONOREES

Elana Meyers Taylor - 2026 U.S. Gold Medalist in Bobsled, 6-Time Olympic Medalist

Elana Meyers Taylor’s Olympic journey is a story of resilience, reinvention, historic achievement, and a relentless pursuit of gold, nearly two decades in the making.

The daughter of a professional football player, Elana Meyers was born in Oceanside, California, and raised in Douglasville, Georgia. A naturally gifted athlete, she excelled in multiple sports growing up but found her greatest success on the softball field. By the age of nine, she had already declared her goal: she would become an Olympian.

Elana attended George Washington University on a softball scholarship and later played professionally for the Mid-Michigan Ice. After what she jokingly calls “the worst tryout ever in the history of tryouts” for the U.S. Olympic Softball Team, it appeared that her Olympic dream might be over. But her parents saw bobsledding on television and suggested she give it a try, advice that would change the course of her life.

In the summer of 2007, Elana traveled to Lake Placid, NY, home of the U.S. National Bobsled Team. She never left.

Elana quickly established herself as one of the most powerful brakemen in the sport, and less than three years later she stood on the Olympic podium in Vancouver as a Bronze Medalist. After the 2010 Games, she made the bold decision to transition from brakeman to driver, taking hold of the sled’s “D-rings.”. It proved to be another pivotal decision. She soon became a regular on World Cup podiums and returned to the Olympic stage in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, where she captured a Silver Medal, her first Olympic podium as a driver.

At the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Elana sat in second place after three of four tension-filled monobob runs. Nineteen years in the making, everything came down to one final run, and when she needed it most, she delivered, winning by a mere 0.04 seconds, capturing the long-awaited Gold Medal, and earning the coveted title of Olympic Champion. Seconds after winning, she signed to her two young boys who were trackside with their father, “Mommy Won!”

Elana Meyers Taylor is now a five-time Olympian, six-time Olympic medalist, and widely considered the greatest bobsled pilot in Olympic history.

Gary Sinise Foundation - Honoring America's Defenders, Veterans, First Responders, and Families of Fallen Heroes

Gary Sinise is an award-winning actor and humanitarian, best known for his roles in CSI:NY, Apollo 13, and his Oscar-nominated performance in the film Forrest Gump as the wounded Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor. An advocate for our nation’s defenders since the 1980s, after 9/11 Sinise began a tireless crusade to support America’s military and first responders around the world with handshake tours and concerts with his band, the Lt. Dan Band. In 2011, he established the Gary Sinise Foundation as an extension of those efforts.

Today, the Foundation is building custom homes for severely wounded heroes, honoring and supporting the families of our fallen, providing essential equipment and training for first responders, improving the mental wellness of our defenders, and so much more.

For more information and to support, visit www.garysinisefoundation.org.

HONORARY GALA CHAIR

Melania Trump - First Lady of the United States

First Lady Melania Trump is the wife of the 45th and 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and the mother to their son, Barron Trump. Born in Slovenia, she is the second First Lady born outside the United States. She began her career as a model, appearing in high-profile campaigns and working with leading photographers before moving to New York.

In 2018, Mrs. Trump launched BE BEST, a platform focused on children’s well-being and promoting a safe and positive online environment. She has since expanded this work into a broader platform advancing federal policy, public-private partnerships, and international initiatives on behalf of children and youth.

In 2021, Mrs. Trump established Fostering the Future, a BE BEST initiative that provides college-level technology scholarships to individuals aging out of foster care, building a nationwide network of university partners. In November 2025, she led the development of the Fostering the Future Executive Order, aligning federal resources with private-sector partnerships to expand opportunity for foster youth. She also worked with Congress to secure $30 million in federal funding through the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Initiative to support housing and services for those transitioning out of care.

In May 2025, Mrs. Trump championed passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a bipartisan law establishing federal protections against online exploitation, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images and deepfake abuse. She also launched the Presidential AI Challenge, engaging students nationwide, and convened a national AI workshop reaching thousands of schools.

Mrs. Trump has advanced international humanitarian efforts, leading multiple reunifications of Ukrainian and Russian children with their families. In March 2026, she became the only First Lady to chair the United Nations Security Council, delivering a message calling for peace through education. She also convened a historic Fostering the Future Together summit at the White House, bringing together representatives from more than 45 nations to advance collaboration on artificial intelligence and education.

Mrs. Trump is the author of the memoir MELANIA, a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her documentary film, MELANIA, became the top film worldwide on Amazon Prime and achieved one of the strongest documentary openings in nearly two decades.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Norah O’Donnell - AMERICA’S BALL for THE MALL MASTER OF CEREMONIES - CBS News Senior Correspondent

Norah O’Donnell is CBS News’ senior correspondent and a “60 MINUTES” contributing correspondent. O’Donnell previously served more than 12 years on the anchor desk, both as the managing editor and anchor of the “CBS Evening News” and a co-host of “CBS This Morning.”

She is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist and has interviewed every living president, including President Donald Trump for “60 Minutes.” In 2024, she secured a historic and exclusive sit-down with the late Pope Francis, which was recognized with a 2025 Emmy Award for Outstanding Edited Interview.

O’Donnell is set to publish her new book WE THE WOMEN in February 2026, which explores the hidden heroes who shaped America ahead of the United States’ 250th birthday celebration.

O’Donnell is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she received a degree in philosophy and a Masters degree.

O’Donnell grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and lived overseas while her family served in the U.S. Army. She is married to Geoff Tracy and is the mother of three children.

The Honorable Doug Burgum - U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Doug Burgum is the 55th Secretary the U.S. Department of the Interior. Raised in Arthur, North Dakota, Burgum worked as a chimney sweep to help pay his way through North Dakota State University before earning an MBA from Stanford University. In 1983, Doug literally “bet the farm” to provide seed capital for a software startup called Great Plains. Doug led Great Plains through a successful IPO and grew the company to over 2,000 employees before its acquisition by Microsoft. Burgum remained with Microsoft for six years as the Senior Vice President of Business Solutions. Doug later co-founded Arthur Ventures and served as chairman for international software companies including Atlassian, SuccessFactors, and as a board member for Avalara. In 2016, Burgum was elected to serve as North Dakota’s 33rd Governor.

Josh Harris - Managing Partner, Washington Commanders Founder, 26North | Co-Founder, HBSE

Josh Harris is an investor and business leader with over thirty years of experience. Over the course of his career, Josh has launched and scaled multiple platforms across alternatives, sports and philanthropy.

Josh is the Founder of 26North, a next-generation, multi-asset class alternatives platform that aims to generate compelling risk-adjusted returns, investing flexibly across asset classes and capital structures through a partnership-first approach, with an initial focus on private equity, credit and insurance solutions.

Prior to founding 26North, Josh co-founded Apollo Global Management (“Apollo”) and spent over thirty years building the firm into a leading global alternative investment manager and one of the largest alternative credit managers. Josh is responsible for some of the firm’s most successful private equity investments, including the LyondellBasel transaction, one of the most successful investments in private equity history, and the creation and growth of Athene.

Josh is also the Founder and Managing General Partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), a leading sports and entertainment platform that includes marquee franchises the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, among other premier assets. In connection with the HBSE portfolio, Josh is the Managing Partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils. Josh is also the Managing Partner of the Washington Commanders.

Across his platform – including through his foundation, Harris Philanthropies, Josh is committed to using a blend of philanthropic giving and impact investment to improve outcomes for underserved groups in communities where he has a deep connection. Specifically, Josh is focused on supporting vulnerable youth through sports and educational programming, championing equity and sustainable wealth creation in diverse communities and enhancing health, wellness and educational outcomes. Josh and Marjorie Harris were recently named to the inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy 2025 list, a list of the 100 most influential people shaping the future of giving at a pivotal moment.

Josh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Loeb Scholar, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a B.S. in Economics. He currently serves on the Boards of Harvard Business School, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL.

Josh and his wife, Marjorie, have five children and live in Miami, Florida.

David M. Rubenstein - Philanthropist, Co-Founder and Co-Chair, The Carlyle Group, Chairman and CEO of the Baltimore Orioles

David M. Rubenstein is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group. He is a 1970 graduate of Duke University and a 1973 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Rubenstein is a Baltimore native and is the Chairman, CEO, and principal owner of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles. Mr. Rubenstein is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Chairman of many educational and nonprofit boards. He is an original signer of The Giving Pledge and the host of The David Rubenstein Show, Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, and Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein.

Bruce D. Broussard - Interim CEO, HP Inc., Chair, Trust for the National Mall Board of Directors

Bruce Broussard is the Interim CEO of HP Inc., a global technology leader redefining the Future of Work. With operations in more than 180 countries, HP delivers innovative, AI-powered devices, software, services, and subscriptions that drive business growth and professional fulfillment.

Mr. Broussard is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across public companies, international business management, healthcare, and technology-enabled transformation. He most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Humana Inc., a leading healthcare company, for more than a decade where he led the organization through a multi-year digital and analytics transformation.

Prior to joining Humana, Mr. Broussard served in multiple leadership roles during his 11-year tenure at US Oncology, including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board. Following US Oncology’s sale to McKesson, he became President of McKesson’s Specialty Pharmacy Division.

Throughout his career, Mr. Broussard has worked at the intersection of technology, operations, and strategy, leading enterprise-scale transformations, helping organizations move from legacy systems to modern, digitally enabled environments, and advancing cloud and data platforms as well as AI driven solutions. His leadership has a consistent theme of leveraging technology into practical, scalable solutions that simplify complexity and drive measurable impact.

Mr. Broussard also brings extensive experience in venture capital and private equity, including serving as a Venture Partner at Define Ventures, a fund focused on early-stage digital health companies. His experience includes helping early-stage and growth-stage companies develop AI-powered healthcare solutions—from product formation and go-to-market strategy to enterprise deployment—while also supporting large organizations as they adopt innovation at scale and integrate new technologies into complex operating environments.

He brings significant public company governance experience, currently serving as a director at Marsh McLennan. He also serves on the board of Cleveland Clinic and plays a leadership role within The Business Council. In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Trust for the National Mall. Mr. Broussard previously served as a director of KeyCorp and Humana Inc.

Mr. Broussard holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston.

COL. Gregory Gadson - U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.), Board Member, The Gary Sinise Foundation

Col. Gadson, a Chesapeake, VA native, served our nation in the United States Army for more than 26 years. In May 2007, as Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery in Iraq, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack cost him both legs above the knees and normal use of his right arm and hand. Greg remained on active duty in the Army and continued to inspire many with his courage, perseverance, determination, and teamwork. Greg continues to serve his nation as managing partner of Patriot Strategies, LLC, a government services company. Greg’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal; Legion of Merit (2); Bronze Stars (3); and Purple Heart.

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant of Field Artillery in 1989 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Greg served in every major conflict of the past two decades, including Operations Desert Shield/Storm in Kuwait; Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia-Herzegovina; Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Greg lives a very energetic and dynamic lifestyle where he continues to serve his nation as an entrepreneur and managing partner of Patriot Strategies, LLC, a government services company. Additionally, Greg joined the Gary Sinise Foundation's Board of Directors in July 2020.

Greg’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal; Legion of Merit (2); Bronze Stars (3); Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal (3) and the Army Commendation Medal (3). He is a graduate of Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and holds master’s degrees in Information Systems from Webster University; and Policy Management from Georgetown University. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Webster University.

SPECIAL MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY

Kristin Chenoweth - Emmy and Tony Award Winning Actress and Singer

Emmy® and Tony® Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth’s career spans film, television, voice-over and stage. In 2015, Chenoweth received a coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “Pushing Daisies.” In 1999, she won a Tony Award for “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” and she was nominated for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked” in 2004. Chenoweth has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and for a People’s Choice Award for her role on “Glee.” Chenoweth earned a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for her lead role in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s “On the Twentieth Century.” She also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Drama League Award for the role.

Chenoweth recently produced and starred in the Broadway production of “The Queen of Versailles” based on the award-winning 2012 documentary.

Chenoweth can be seen currently in the NBC comedy series "Stumble" in a recurring role. She also is set to star in, and executive produce a new comedy for NBC, written by Alissa Neubauer. The series follows a woman who must complete community service as the director of a local church choir, finding her path toward redemption through music and community.

Chenoweth has performed to sold-out audiences across the world, including performances at Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. Chenoweth released “The Art of Elegance,” her album of American Songbook classics via Concord Records.  The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts, and #1 on Amazon’s Vocal Pop chart.

Chenoweth is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a Master’s degree in Opera Performance. She is an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. 

Visit officialkristinchenoweth.com for additional details.

PAST BALL FOR THE MALL AND HISTORY, HEROES & HOPE AWARD HIGHLIGHTS

ABOUT THE HISTORY, HEROES & HOPE AWARD

The Trust for the National Mall created the History, Heroes & Hope Award in 2014 to honor the spirit and ideals that the National Mall represents for our country. The Award has recognized dedicated public servants, long-time volunteers, and patriotic donors.

The History, Heroes & Hope Award has traditionally been presented during the Trust’s annual fundraising gala and other events, with an audience of prominent business leaders, philanthropists, members of Congress and public officials.

Previous recipients of the History, Heroes & Hope Award have included:  

• 2025: Josh Harris, Managing Partner, Washington Commanders, Rosie Rios, Chair America250 U.S. Congressional Commission, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Maryland First Lady Dawn Moore, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin

• 2024: Mellon Foundation, accepted by President Elizabeth Alexander, Dave Grohl, 19-time Grammy-winning Musician, Author, Director, George C Wolfe, 3-time Tony-winning playwright, Director, Rustin film

• 2023: Sheila Johnson, Founder and CEO of Salamander Collection, and Her Excellency Emily Haber, German Ambassador to the United States

• 2022: Jon Batiste & Suleika Jaouad, Award-Winning Artists & Activists, and Sharon Percy Rockefeller, President and Chief Executive Officer of WETA-TV

• 2021: Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and José Andrés, Chef/Owner of ThinkFoodGroup and Founder of World Central Kitchen

• 2020: The Honorable Lamar Alexander, Senator (R-TN)

• 2019: The Honorable Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and the late Congressman John Dingell (D-MI)

• 2018: Donald Adam and Annemarie Emmet, Volunteers-in-Parks Program Volunteers 

• 2017: David M. Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, The Carlyle Group

• 2016: Jonathan Jarvis, Former Director of the National Park Service 

• 2015: John E. “Chip” Akridge III, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Trust for the National Mall

For more details on previous History, Heroes & Hope Awardees, click here.