20th Annual Freeing Voices, Changing Lives Gala

AIS celebrated its 20th annual Freeing Voices, Changing Lives gala on September 16, 2026. With over 300 people in attendance at the art-deco inspired Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, the night focused on the tremendous national impact that AIS makes. Many clients and friends gave speeches about their own experiences with stuttering, and how the tremendous support they received from AIS helped them through their journey. AIS honored Steven Tananbaum, Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of GoldenTree Asset Management with the Freeing Voices, Changing Lives Award and honored its Executive Director, Dr. Heather Grossman, for her 15 years of service at AIS.

Board member and host, award-winning actress Emily Blunt, opened the program, welcomed guests, and explained the power of AIS. It “has world-class therapists who perform miracles every day – they help clients free their voices and release physical tension during speech. And they use their savvy and tenacity to bring this community together on a regular basis during the year so that people who stutter know they are not alone. AIS makes it safe to stutter and lets those who have this genetic and neurologic condition know that they are OK – just as they are.” 

Emily also introduced AIS’s two public service announcements that are airing currently on national television, called “Just Listen” and “World of Possibilities." She explained that an important part of AIS’s mission is to educate the public and to de-stigmatize stuttering. 

Eric Dinallo, Board Chair of AIS, thanked the staff and board of AIS for all of their hard work during the year, and thanked Emily for her generosity in producing the public service announcements. Eric also thanked honoree Steven Tananbaum and his team at GoldenTree Asset Management for helping to make the night a huge success. The 2026 Gala marked an historic milestone, achieving the highest fundraising total in AIS’s history.

Emily Blunt honored Executive Director Dr. Heather Grossman for her 15 years of service to AIS. “She is renowned in the field for providing critical therapy to unlock the voices of those who cannot freely express themselves… She trains therapists to help people who stutter, she educates the public about stuttering through articles and books, she is a leader in various other stuttering organizations that serve our population, and has even appeared on national television… advocating for the stuttering community and raising awareness.”

Dr. Heather Grossman reflected on her 15 years at AIS and spoke about what has changed, and what has not, within the organization. While AIS has grown and flourished, the therapeutic underpinnings have grown as well. “Today, we practice stutter-affirming therapy. A philosophy that starts with the assertion that stuttering is a perfectly acceptable form of communication. This means we are rejecting the assumption that stuttering is something that has to be eliminated or fixed.” 

Eden, a young client, introduced his best friend Nicholas, who he had met at last year’s gala. He said, “[m]eeting new friends is just another thing that AIS has made possible and I am grateful for that.” Both boys have learned to “stutter boldly” and have confidence as a result of their work with AIS. 

Nicholas spoke about his experiences in school, “before I started therapy, people would ask questions about my stuttering and dare me to do things, like say Massachusetts without stuttering. That made me feel like stuttering was wrong… I would shorten my sentences and sometimes I did not feel like talking at all. All because I was afraid I would stutter.” But through therapy at AIS, Nicholas now “practices speaking with confidence. One of my best tools is being able to let other people know that I stutter and that has helped a lot.” He also described a PowerPoint presentation that he worked on with the help of AIS to teach his classmates about stuttering and how to communicate better with a person who stutters. Nicholas said that this helped open the door to conversations with his friends about stuttering and led to better communications in school. 

Nick Childs, an adult client of AIS, explained what it is like to have a stutter: “I spent much of my life trying to hide it, manage it, or avoid it. I learned little tricks. I changed words. I avoided certain situations.  A simple introduction, a phone call, a meeting, ordering at a restaurant, saying my name or my hometown could feel like one of the hardest things in the world.  I carried the stutter around like a heavy backpack and it weighed on me.” 

Nick said that AIS’s therapy “was not about learning techniques. It was about facing my fears and talking openly about the years of mental and emotional struggle that came with stuttering. The more I talked about it, the less power the stigma had over me, and the more I began to let go of the shame I had attached to stuttering.” Nick thanked therapist Mark O’Malia for changing his life and freeing his voice. 

Ray Evans, Steven Tananbaum’s childhood friend, gave a warm introduction about Steven. He spoke about his kindness and their wonderful and deep friendship. He also described how Steven bravely handled stuttering during childhood, “The worst time was in elementary school, there were kids that would tease him, kids who would imitate him, but Steve did not let them rattle him. Steve would just give them a look that said, ‘This again? You’re not going to rattle me. I have heard this before, let’s just move on.’” 

Emily Blunt hosted a fireside chat with Steven Tananbaum, which focused on his experiences as a person who stutters within the business world. His advice to young people who stutter who are entering the working world? Have confidence in your story line and be prepared. “You know more about what you want to communicate than the people hearing it, so have confidence in that.” He also urged young people to simplify complex thoughts, giving the example of Albert Einstein’s formula E=MC2, a complicated concept distilled to an easy-to-remember equation. After their chat, Emily presented Steven with AIS’s Freeing Voices, Changing Lives Award for his dedication and inspiration to the stuttering community. 

Finally, Amanda Mammana and Jesse Findling, who were finalists on America’s Got Talent and American Idol, respectively, sang two beautiful duets to conclude the evening. Their performance was beautiful and inspiring and ended the evening on a positive and hopeful note. 

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