Equality NC Foundation Gala 2016
2016 Equality Gala
Equality NC Foundation's tenth annual Equality Gala returned Saturday, October 15, 2016, in beautiful downtown Raleigh (Marriott City Center, 500 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, NC). This premier statewide Equality event brought record numbers of LGBTQ North Carolinians and allies together for an all-new, homegrown evening celebration of our amazing award winners, the continued fight against HB2 and more that set the stage for another unprecedented year of quality Equality engagement.
This 2016 event kicked-off at 6 p.m. with a VIP reception preceding the 7:00 p.m. 2016 Equality Gala from the University Ballroom in beautiful downtown Raleigh (500 Fayetteville Street), followed by an amazing on-site after-party.
The Equality NC Gala is well-known for snagging the movement's biggest stars. 2016 special keynote speaker was Mayor Annise Parker. Parker was Houston's second female mayor, and one of the first openly gay mayors of a major U.S. city, with Houston being the most populous U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor.
Award Winners
Every Equality Gala features Equality Champions including
2016's:
Legislative Leadership Awards
Senator Terry Van Duyn
Rep. Larry Hall
Bob Page Equality Champion Awards
Maddy Goss
Jamie Kirk Hahn Ally Award
Mayor Jennifer Roberts
Organization of the Year
North Carolina NAACP

2016 Equality Sponsors
We couldn't have a 2016 Equality NC Foundation Gala without the support of our amazing Gala sponsors. These businesses, organizations, and non-profits made our biggest evening extravaganza of 2016 so amazing.
Presenting Sponsor
PNC Financial Service Group
Old North State
Replacements, Ltd
Workplace Options
Long Leaf Pine
Bank of America
Deutsche Bank
Granite
Reynolds American Inc.
VF Corporation
Emerald
Alston & Bird
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC
Food Lion / Delhaize America
Fresh Market
McGuire Woods
Myriad Media
Ruby
EY LLP
GlaxoSmithKline
Potential Essential
Triangle Financial Advisors
Nonprofit
ACLU of North Carolina
Human Rights Campaign
Lillian's List
Planned Parenthood
NCAE
NCAAN
YDNC
LGBT Dems of Wake County, LGBT Dems of NC, and Young Dems of Wake County
2016 Table Captains & Hosts
Special thanks go out to our 2016 Equality NC Foundation Gala Table Hosts -- Gala guests who fill tables for Equality.
- Cape Fear Equality
- Linda and Bill Cary
- Candis Cox-Daniels
- ENC Foothills
- Sarah Ford
- Meredith Griffin-Speagle
- Nation Hahn & Gerda Stein
- Paula Kohut
- Elinor Landess
- Laura Levine
- LGBT Democrats of NC & LGBT Democrats of Mecklenburg
- Jeanne Lindquist Kutrow & Brad Kutrow
- Crawford Mann
- Michelle Mathis
- Rick McDermott
- Julie Merricks & Sue Hauser
- Melissa Midgett
- Donna Oldham & Vivian Joiner
- Lisa Piazza
- Mark Richardson
- Martha Sgro
- John Sherry
- Scott Taylor
- Laura Taylor & Robin Holdren
- Marc Tiegel
- Hon. Brian Turner
- Hon. Terry Van Duyn
- Diana Ward
- Tiffany Williamson
- Summer Wisdom
- Young Democrats of North Carolina
2017 Equality Gala
Join us in 2017, as we celebrate our tenth annual Equality Gala. This is bound to be a special one! Save the date now!