BALL for THE MALL 2023 featuring our History, Heroes & Hope Awards
The event of the season returned on May 10, 2023 with over 600 guests on the National Mall, featuring our signature History, Heroes and Hope Awards presentation, a special appearance by Honorary Chair for BALL for THE MALL, First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, and a celebration of the ideals, the history and the future of the National Mall.
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WATCH THE 2023 event video
TRUST FOR THE NATIONAL MALL 2023 History, Heroes & Hope Award Honorees
SHEILA JOHNSON
Founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, Vice Chair, Trust for the National Mall Board of Directors, Chair of the USPP Horse Stables Campaign
HER EXCELLENCY EMILY HABER
German Ambassador to the United States, Champion for the National Mall and Leader in the Restoration of the German-American Friendship Garden
2023 Partners
Premier Partners
Trust Champion Partner
Trust Advocacy Partners
Trust Investor Partners
Trust Partners
Akridge
Alpha Corporation
American Petroleum Institute
BCW
Breakthru Beverage
Business Roundtable
Chevron
CTIA
DAVIS Construction
Deloitte
Ewing Irrigation and Landscape Supply
FirstNet, Built by AT&T
Foulger-Pratt
Guest Services Inc.
Height Capital Markets
Hensel Phelps
King & Spalding
Linder
Lugano Diamonds
PNC
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Stanley Black & Decker
TD Bank
United Bank
WC Smith
Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Ami Aronson/Bernstein Family Foundation
The Sherrie & Sidney Beckstead Fund
Sheila Johnson
Jodie W. McLean/EDENS
Roger Sant and the Honorable Doris Matsui
Silver Sponsors
Armeane and Mary Choksi
Pam and Tony Marquez
Gigi and Bob Murphy, MRP Realty
S&R Evermay
Bronze Sponsors
American Beverage Association
Destination DC
Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman
Andrea and Paul Franklin, Franklin Capital Strategies
Lanny and Susan Griffith
Betsy Jordan, Direct Creativity LLC
LINK Strategic Partners
Reinsch Pierce Family Foundation by Lola C. Reinsch
Judy and John Ritz, WC Smith
Edward and Marthann Samek
Media Partners
Axios
POLITICO
Washingtonian
Washington Business Journal
BECOME A PARTNER for ball for the mall
Join the Trust’s mission and attend this exclusive event. Your gift will help steward the Trust’s work to restore, preserve and enrich America’s Front Yard. Partners will receive the following benefits and more, fully explained in the Partnership Opportunities packet.
Tickets for this exclusive VIP event
Recognition on invitation, website and social media, prior to event
Recognition at the event and in signage and event program
Promotion in Trust partner media, earned media and social media
For More Information on Ball For the Mall
For corporate partnership opportunities for BALL for THE MALL, please contact Adam Fremd at afremd@nationalmall.org.
For individual sponsorship opportunities for BALL for THE MALL, please contact Jan Jensen at jjensen@nationalmall.org.
Donations in lieu of attendance (table/seat benefits not provided) are welcomed. Donors will receive recognition commensurate with gift amount.
Donor Advised Funds: Please note that per IRS restrictions and guidelines, event tickets or sponsorships paid through Donor Advised Funds and/or private family foundations are not allowable.
About our honorees
Sheila Johnson
Sheila Johnson is Founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts (SHR), which operates a collection of luxury properties with over $200 million in revenue. It is ranked No.4 in Minority-Owned Companies in the Washington DC Metro area. Additionally, it is ranked No.4 as the Largest Women-Owned Businesses in Greater D.C.
SHR includes the equestrian-inspired Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia, which has been awarded the distinguished Forbes Five Star rating. The collection also features Innisbrook in Tampa Bay, which is home of the annual PGA Valspar Championship; The Henderson, a luxury beach resort in Destin, Florida; the spectacular Hotel Bennett in Charleston, South Carolina; and Half Moon in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which is opening a new resort experience called Eclipse on March 1, 2020.
As Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Ms. Johnson is the only African-American woman to have ownership in three professional sports teams: the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals (2018 Stanley Cup Champions), and the WNBA’s 2019 World Champions Washington Mystics, for which she serves as President and Managing Partner. She also served on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association where she spearheaded efforts in increasing diversity in the game of golf.
In 2017, Ms. Johnson was named on Forbes Magazine’s Top 50 America’s Richest Self-Made Women. WE Capital, a venture capital consortium to support and invest in female-led enterprises with a goal of promoting social impact and generating financial returns was spearheaded by her in 2016. She also serves on the board of the Greater Washington Partnership, which seeks to strengthen the region’s global position as a center for commerce and innovation.
Ms. Johnson has long been a powerful influence in the entertainment industry, starting with her work as founding partner of Black Entertainment Television. She has served as executive producer for documentaries and feature films including the Screen Actors Guild nominated feature film Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
Ms. Johnson is founder and chair of the Middleburg Film Festival, an annual celebration of independent film that opened to sell-out crowds in October 2013. The festival is dubbed by the Washington Post as “an itty-bitty Cannes…” and referred to by RogerEbert.com as “…the place to be during Oscar season”. It continues to attract Oscar worthy films such as Greenbook, La La Land and 2019’s Oscar hopeful The Two Popes.
In recognition of her humanitarian efforts and accomplishments, she has been honored with several awards including the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, Lincoln Medal Award, Women’s Sports Foundation Billie Jean King Leadership Award, W. E. B. Du Bois Medal, the Annie Oakley Award; Lincoln Academy of Illinois’ The Order of Lincoln medal, Jacob Burns Film Center Vision Award, Feminist Press’ Feminine Award, and the Washington Business Hall of Fame Laureates award.
Her Excellency Emily Haber
Emily Margarethe Haber has been German Ambassador to the United States since June 2018.
Immediately prior to this, Emily Haber, a career foreign service officer, was deployed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, serving as State Secretary overseeing security and migration at the height of the refugee crisis in Europe. In this capacity, she worked closely with the US administration on topics ranging from the fight against international terrorism to global cyberattacks and cybersecurity. In 2009, she was appointed Political Director and, in 2011, State Secretary at the Foreign Office, the first woman to hold either post. Earlier in her career, she served at the German Embassy in Ankara; in Berlin, she has served as Deputy Head of the Cabinet and Parliamentary Liaison Division, as Director of the OSCE Division, and as Deputy Director-General for the Western Balkans. Emily Haber has extensive knowledge of the Soviet Union and Russia, having worked both in the Soviet Union Division at the German Foreign Office and, on various occasions, at the German Embassy in Moscow, where she served as Head of the Economic Affairs Section and Head of the Political Affairs Department.
Emily Haber attended schools in New Delhi, Bonn, Paris, Brussels, Washington, and Athens. From 1975 to 1980, she studied history and ethnology in Cologne, earning her PhD with a dissertation on German foreign policy during the Morocco crisis on the eve of World War I.
Emily Haber is married to Hansjörg Haber. The couple has two sons.
Ball for the Mall 2023 Host Committee
Co-Chairs
Georgette “Gigi” Dixon, Head of External Affairs, Wells Fargo, Trust Board Member
Nels Olson, Vice Chairman and Co-Leader, Board & CEO Services, Korn Ferry and Member of the Trust Board of Directors
Sally & John E. “Chip” Akridge III
Ami Aronson, Bernstein Family Foundation
Sherrie Beckstead, The Sherrie & Sidney Beckstead Fund
Janine and Bruce Broussard, Humana
Valerie Camillo, Comcast Spectacor Sports and Entertainment
John Drew, TCMA
Elliott Ferguson, Destination DC
Andrea and Paul Franklin
Franklin Capital Strategies
Nicole and Eric Hoplin, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
Kevin Jacobs, Hilton
Stacy Kerr, Penta
Kathleen Linehan, Alpha Corporation
Pam & Tony Marquez
John Mason, Altria
Debby & Dan McGinn
Jodie W. McLean, EDENS
Cathy Merrill, Washingtonian
Gigi & Bob Murphy, MRP Realty
Jared Oldroyd, Clark Construction
John Richardson, EagleBank
Judy & John Ritz, WC Smith
Anna Schneider, Volkswagen Group of America
Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation
Ball for the mall 2023 Featured speakers
Stay tuned for announcements about featured speakers!
Hill Harper
EMCEE FOR BALL for THE MALL 2023, Star of ABC’s The Good Doctor, Best-Selling Author, and Activist
Hill Harper stars in ABC’s #1 television drama, The Good Doctor, and has starred in numerous television and film projects including CSI:NY, He Got Game and Lackawanna Blues.
Harper is the Founder and Chairman of The Black Wall Street App and Digital Wallet, is on the Board of Directors, National Black Bank Fund, named Honorary National Co-Chair of the Redevelopment of Black Wall Street, Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, and served on the President's Cancer Panel having been appointed by President Obama in 2011.
Additionally, Harper has authored four New York Times bestsellers: Letters to a Young Brother, Letters to a Young Sister, Letters to an Incarcerated Brother, The Conversation and his award-winning book, The Wealth Cure, that addresses ways to solve the racial wealth gap. Letters to a Young Brother also won several awards and was named “Best Book for Young Adults” by the American Library Association in 2007. Harper has been recognized with seven NAACP Image Awards, four of them for his writing. He is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs; and has established The Pierce and Hill Harper Arts Foundation.
As an investor and business owner, Harper owns a successful coffee franchise in downtown Detroit called The Roasting Plant, is co-owner of A-Frame Brands and the award-winning New Orleans hotel, International House, and will be opening The Harper (Arts Museum) in Detroit in 2023. Harper owns several commercial and residential rental properties in Los Angeles and Newark, NJ. His passion for business, financial literacy, and social & economic justice keeps him on the forefront and in-demand as a speaker worldwide.
David M. Rubenstein
Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, The Carlyle Group, and 2017 History, Heroes & Hope Awardee
David M. Rubenstein is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms. Established in 1987, Carlyle now manages $373 billion from 29 offices around the world.
Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, the Economic Club of Washington, and the University of Chicago; a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation; a Trustee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Institute for Advanced Study, the National Constitution Center, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; and a Director of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other board seats.
Mr. Rubenstein is a leader in the area of Patriotic Philanthropy, having made transformative gifts for the restoration or repair of the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Arlington House, Iwo Jima Memorial, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the National Zoo, the Library of Congress, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mr. Rubenstein has also provided to the U.S. government long-term loans of his rare copies of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the first map of the U.S. (Abel Buell map), and the first book printed in the U.S. (Bay Psalm Book).
Mr. Rubenstein is an original signer of The Giving Pledge; the host of The David Rubenstein Show and Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein; and the author of The American Story, How to Lead, The American Experiment, and How to Invest.
D.C. Washington
Featured National Anthem Singer for Ball For the Mall 2023
In addition to his role with a leading DC-area consulting firm, CSCI, D.C. Washington is an accomplished singer, conductor, worship leader, and anthem singer. D.C. is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and Mississippi College. After a 22-year career in the United States Military (retired Lieutenant Colonel), D.C. moved to Northern Virginia where he has resided with his family for many years. He is a member of Immanuel Bible Church where he is part of the choir and several ensembles; he also occasionally serves as worship leader and director. D.C. has been featured at many conferences around the country (and overseas), including Moody Bible Institute Founders Week and Pastors Conference. He also is a member of the nationally known Cathedral Choral Society in Washington, DC. He is a frequent singer of the National Anthem for the Washington Nationals, DC United and the Washington Commanders.
PAST BALL FOR THE MALL AND HISTORY, HEROES & HOPE AWARD HIGHLIGHTS
ABOUT THE HISTORY, HEROES & HOPE AWARDS
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 Awards have traditionally been presented during the Trust’s annual spring fundraising gala, with an audience of over 700 prominent business leaders, philanthropists, members of Congress and public officials. The global pandemic shifted the Award presentation to a virtual tribute in 2020, but we were able to host an intimate, in-person awards event in 2021 for invited guests and sponsors.
Previous recipients of the History, Heroes & Hope Award have included:
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.