July 9, 2018 - It was impossible not to notice that there was a lot of love in the room at this year's annual gala.
Emily Blunt, accompanied by her husband John Krasinski, served as mistress of ceremonies. Arthur M. Blank, Tony Hooper, and Jack Welch served as co-hosts for the evening.
We had the pleasure of honoring Ziauddin Yousafzai (Co-Founder and Board Member of the Malala Fund) and John Stossel (AIS Board Member and Broadcast Journalist).
Ziauddin Yousafzai spoke of growing up as a child who stuttered in Pakistan, and becoming a successful public speaker at a young age. He went on to explain how his stuttered speech became the voice of his people.
John Stossel spoke about his earlier years in broadcast journalism, the approach he took for therapy, and his growing appreciation for the AIS model for stuttering therapy.
Our Catherine Montgomery Advocacy Award recipient was the late Ross R. Millhiser. His son, Tim Milhiser, accepted the award on behalf of the whole Milhiser family.
We will always remember and appreciate Mr. Millhiser for being one the first supporters of the American Institute for Stuttering.
As always, our staff and clients took the stage to help connect the audience with the work we do in people’s lives every day. Thank you to our client speakers, Jolie and Jacquelyn!
Jolie explained her history with stuttering therapy, and her appreciation for the new office in Atlanta, GA. She talked about her “stuttering challenge” points for facing her stuttering fears, and asked, “Mr. Carl, how many points do I get for tonight?”
Jacquelyn gave a deeply heartfelt speech explaining how she believes her therapy with Dr. Heather Grossman has literally saved her life.
Our auction was special this year. We had more AIS clients in attendance than ever before. Our auctioneer, Tim Kubart (Grammy Award-winning children’s musician and TV host ), gave every donor a moment with the microphone, and people all over the room shared their love and support of people in their lives who stutter.
Thank you to all who attended and donated this year, and special thanks to the tremendous ongoing support of Arthur Blank and Joe Moglia. With every dollar raised, you help people who stutter speak more freely and live more fearlessly.
