Nonprofit Event Program

September 24, 2017

Dinner by the Sea to benefit the

Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants

Our History Established in 1918 by the YWCA and originally named the International Institute of Connecticut, the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI) has provided a century of specialized services to refugees and immigrants seeking dignity and safety, peace and hope. In the early 1900s, 15 million people immigrated to the United States. Today, there are over 65 million displaced people globally. Resilient during changing times, we have consistently remained true to our mission to serve and empower new Americans to thrive in Connecticut, adapting our services to meet the evolving needs of generations of immigrants and refugees - Eastern Europeans in WWII, Southeast Asians during the Vietnam War, Bosnians fleeing the former Yugoslavia, and today, Congolese and Syrian refugees among many others.

Our Vision The Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants envisions Connecticut as a place where new Americans may fully participate in our culturally diverse communities, where low-income families may have access to affordable immigration services and be reunited with family, where survivors of crime and persecution may have the resources needed to become self-supporting and healed and where ethnic diversity is valued as a cultural and economic strength by all.

Our Mission The Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants is a statewide nonprofit organization that assists refugees and immigrants resolve legal, economic, linguistic and social barriers so that they become self-sufficient, integrated and contributing members of the community. CIRI achieves this mission by providing a compassionate array of high-quality legal, social and educational programming and by promoting cross-cultural understanding and decent treatment for all.

Message from President & CEO and Board Chair Welcome to the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants’ 2017 Dinner by the Sea. We are honored to be together with you all at this important moment for our agency and our nation.

As you know, earlier this month we launched our new name: Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI). For 99 years as the International Institute of Connecticut, we built a legacy of leadership, compassionate service and effective advocacy for immigrants, refugees, survivors of human trafficking and survivors of torture. With our new name, we celebrate our heritage and our history, and we unequivocally affirm our commitment to our mission and to the people we serve.

Today, our work is more important than ever.

Tonight, we are privileged to honor two exceptional individuals. Pete Penczer, Esq. will receive the Circle of Achievement Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to our mission and his decades of tireless service to CIRI. Krishna Patel, Esq. will receive the inaugural Legacy Award, for her vision, determination and unparalleled achievements in the fight to eradicate human trafficking in Connecticut.

We will be inspired by our keynote speaker, Ernie Lamour, whose story brings to life CIRI’s mission. And we will be moved by the music of Dylan Connor.

Despite the volatile and uncertain operating environment, CIRI continues to deliver life-changing legal and social services to refugees, immigrants and survivors. We cannot do this without you. CIRI's success is possible thanks to the many partners and supporters who welcome refugees and immigrants in Connecticut, opening doors and improving their lives and the lives of their families.

On behalf of the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, thank you for being with us this evening and thank you for your continued support of our mission!

Claudia Connor James Rulmyr President & CEO Chair, CIRI Board of Directors

Welcome Robert Smith III Social Venture Partners Claudia Connor, JD President & CEO Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants

Music Dylan Connor

CIRI Circle of Achievement Award Presented by Barbara Green, Esq. Presented to Peter Penczer, Esq.

CIRI Legacy Award Presented by Sharon Prince Presented to Krishna Patel, Esq.

Keynote Speaker Ernest Lamour CEO, Ridgewood YMCA Former CIRI Client

Live Auction Jack Leslie Chairman, Weber Shandwick

Music Dylan Connor

Closing Remarks Claudia Connor CIRI President & CEO

Robert Smith is one of SVP-CT’s founding Partners.

Robert recently concluded a 21-year tenure with Glencore, Ltd., a leading integrated producer and marketer of over 90 commodities. Having held senior positions in finance, business development, operations, and research, Robert has extensive experience in asset utilization reporting as well as identifying and implementing personnel, systems, and workflow modifications to ensure operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. A man of many talents and hats, Robert is a member of SVP-CT’s Executive Board and as our first Investment Chair has been instrumental in developing our grant process. As part of the team engaged with CIRI, SVP-CT’s first nonprofit engagement, Robert has been guiding the assessment and implementation of improvements to the organization’s accounting systems/reports and facilities/real estate planning.

Robert is also an active volunteer in his community; as a coach for several sports teams, youth group teacher and leader of the annual Appalachia Project at his church, and Finance Chair of the Black Rock Yacht Club. He received his MS Finance and MBA degrees from the University of Connecticut and is currently pursuing his Masters in Teaching (Secondary Education, Business). Robert resides in Fairfield with his wife, Tanya, and their children.

Claudia Connor is the President & CEO of the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. Claudia has close to thirty years of program management, advocacy, legal and strategic leadership experience in the non-profit sector in the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia. Prior to coming to CIRI, Claudia worked at Save the Children cultivating strategic partnerships with private foundations. She also worked at the International Refugee Committee as a Senior Technical Advisor in the Governance & Rights Unit, Regional Director in the US Programs department supervising refugee resettlement offices, and as Director of National Refugee Resettlement Programs. In Africa and Southeast Asia, Claudia worked with UNICEF and the Carter Center, among other agencies, on issues ranging from child trafficking and child soldiers, women’s rights, juvenile justice and HIV/AIDS. Before moving overseas in 1998, Claudia was a senior trial attorney with the Legal Aid Society in New York City. She has her JD from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Claudia lives in Norwalk with her husband and their three sons.

Dylan Connor, a Fairfield native, was a high school Latin teacher and has long been a popular performer in the Fairfield County club and coffee shop scene. In 2004, he provided some demo CDs to producer Bryce Goggin in Brooklyn, which launched his professional singing and songwriting career.

In 2004, Dylan’s debut solo effort, Plug In, gained a very positive response including a nod for Best Lyrics in American Songwriter Magazine. This sent Dylan on a whirlwind tour across the US and as far away as the Middle East. In the years since, Dylan has released three more solo albums including Blood Like Fire (Songs for Syria) a charity album about the war in Syria. 100% of the proceeds from this EP were allocated to educating Syrian children via the Karam Foundation. Dylan started writing topical songs in support of the revolution in Syria after his wife’s parents fled their home in Damascus and began living with him and his wife, Reem, in Stratford.

Dylan’s song Man of Peace is featured in the documentary Little Gandhi, about one of the Syrian Revolution’s greatest peace activists, Ghiath Mater. Dylan’s video single for Syria, Blind Eye, received over 100,000 views within one week of its release. In February 2016, Dylan released a 10-song LP titled Spirit Glue. Dylan has been on tour to promote Spirit Glue, playing to sold out houses in venues as close as Fairfield Theatre Company (February 2017) and as far Tuscany where he played in the annual town festival Castlefiorentino in June.

Barbara Green is the former chair of the CIRI Board of Directors and has been on the CIRI Board since 2009. She is an attorney and partner at Green and Gross, P.C. where she concentrates her practice in the areas of family law, probate administration (including trusts, estates, conservatorships, and guardianships), estate planning and elder law. Much of her practice is devoted to assisting persons with disabilities (and their family members) to establish special needs trusts. Barbara is involved in many community organizations and activities.

Barbara is on the Board of the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven (JFGNH) and previously served as the President of the Jewish Federation’s Women’s Division, Chairperson of the JFGNH Planning and Allocations Committee and as a Cochairperson of its 2002 Israeli Emergency Campaign. She has been an active volunteer with the Kennedy Center, Inc. of Trumbull, Connecticut and a member and officer of its Board of Directors since 1994 and was Chairman of its Board of Directors from 2002 through 2004.

She has served on the Advisory Board for the Southwest Region of the Department of Mental Retardation and has, since 2000, been a member of the Legal Advisory Board for Planned Lifetime Assistance Network, Inc. Barbara was raised in the Bridgeport area, lived in New Haven for many years and recently relocated to Milford. She graduated with honors from Connecticut College in 1976 and earned a Masters Degree from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1978 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1985.

Sharon Prince, Sharon Prince is the Chair and Co-Founder of Grace Farms Foundation, a private operating foundation established in 2009 to enhance lives through engagement with nature, arts, justice, community, and faith.

Ms. Prince spearheaded the vision for Grace Farms, a new kind of public space shared by individuals and not-for-profit organizations, and she commissioned the Pritzker Prizewinning firm SANAA to design its accompanying River building.

Since opening in October 2015, Grace Farms has emerged as a place of grace and peace for all. It has garnered numerous awards for contributions to architecture, environmental sustainability, and social good, including the AIA National 2017 Architecture Honor Award, Fast Company’s 2016 Innovation by Design Award for Social Good and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she participated in the symposium Reimagining the Metropolis. Ms. Prince was appointed to the 2018 AIA Institute Honor Awards for Architecture Jury.

Through her work with the Foundation, Ms. Prince has fought to end child exploitation, human trafficking, and violence against women on a local, national and international scale. In 2016, she co-hosted a convening with the United Nations University entitled Fighting Human Trafficking in Conflict, which resulted in a published report to the United Nations Security Council and the UN Resolution 2331 in December. Grace Farms Foundation is developing and initializing a global media campaign Unchain: Freedom Needs Fighters to end modern day slavery with WPP and Shazam.

Ms. Prince also serves on the Board of Next Generation Nepal, a charity dedicated to reuniting victims of child exploitation with their families. In 2017, she received NOMI Network’s Abolitionist Award and Auburn Seminary’s Lives of Commitment Award. Prior to developing Grace Farms, Ms. Prince was the President of 66North, an Icelandic technical outerwear brand that she developed and distributed in 100 stores in North America. She holds a BS/BA and MBA from the University of Tulsa.

Ernest Lamour came from humble beginnings. He was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on August 29, 1980 to parents Jean Ernest Lamour and Antonine Simon. Ernest spent the first 8 years of his life living in Petionville, Haiti during the “Baby Doc” era, which were very violent times. When Ernest and his family came to the United States, they settled in Connecticut. As the youngest of six children in a singleparent home, Ernest spent plenty of time at the local YMCA in Stamford, CT while his father worked two jobs to support the family. Ernest’s very strict, single-parent father used to say: “Ernest, you are allowed to go three places: school, church and the Y”.

Ernest’s athletic talents, cultivated at the Y, allowed him to pursue his academic goals by attending Southern Connecticut State University where he played football and met his wife of 10 years, Tamar Lamour. He spent his college summers working at the Stamford Jewish Community Center as a senior camp counselor and youth sports instructor. He graduated from Southern with a B.S. in Community Recreation & Leisure Studies. Ernest spent eight years working at the Stamford JCC where he was promoted numerous times managing and overseeing the day-to-day operations of Summer Camp, After School Programs, Youth Sports & Adult Recreation and Leagues.

In 2006, Ernest completed a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from West Virginia University. Upon earning his Master degree, Ernest was recruited to return to the Stamford Family YMCA, where, in 2010, he became the CEO. Under his leadership, the Stamford Y transformed to a vital and crucial part of the fabric of the City of Stamford. In December of 2016, Ernest took his talents to the Ridgewood YMCA (New Jersey), where he serves as CEO. Ernest is proud of their work with the many underprivileged children and families of his home country, Haiti.

In 2005, Ernest and his siblings were struggling to obtain immigration documentation. A friend introduced them to International Institute for Connecticut, now the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. Ernest and his family engaged the agency’s professional Immigration Legal Services and were skillfully guided on a path to citizenship.

Ernest currently resides in Hawthorne, NJ with his wife Tamar and their daughter Emily.

He serves on the YMCA of the USA National Membership Forum Committee, is a Coalition Member YMCA d’ Haiti, a member of the Ridgewood Rotary Club and a member of the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce.

Jack Leslie is Chairman of Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading global communications and engagement firms.

A strategic communications executive, political consultant and international development activist, Jack brings a long track record of helping clients integrate global political, economic, cultural and communication trends to create innovative, forward-looking strategy and plans. Some of the companies he has counseled include American Airlines, Bank of America, GE, HP, Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard, Merck & Co, Microsoft, Nestle, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Siemens, Unilever and YUM! Jack is one of the pioneers of stakeholder engagement and political consulting. He has been involved as a communications and political strategist in many of the most highly visible campaigns on three continents over the past 30 years. He was also instrumental in developing successful reputation and public policy campaigns for the credit card, food biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

Jack was appointed by President Obama in 2009 to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the U.S. African Development Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chairman of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, Chairman of Duke Global Health Institute’s Board of Advisors and Chairman of the Ron Brown Scholar Program. Jack is also a member of the board of advisors for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a member of the InterAction Business Council Advisory Board, a trustee of the Circumnavigators Foundation and former Chairman of the Board of USA for UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency).

Jack began his career as an aide to Senator Edward Kennedy, serving as his political director and as Executive Director of the Fund for a Democratic Majority. He joined Sawyer Miller Group, a prominent political consulting firm, in 1983 and became President of the company in 1985. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Jack provided political counsel to dozens of presidential and statewide campaigns in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Jack is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Krisna R. Patel Esq. currently serves as General Counsel

and Justice Initiative Director at Grace Farms Foundation, a private operating foundation located in New Canaan, Connecticut. In her role as the Justice Initiative Director, she is an active strategist, combating human trafficking on the global, national and state levels. Since joining Grace Farms, Krishna has been at the center of organized actions against human trafficking in the State of Connecticut. She helped draft amendments to strengthen Connecticut’s existing anti-trafficking laws, (effective May 17, 2016) and to deploy innovative data platforms for national law enforcement. Krishna has also worked with the private sector, academia and government to create and innovate programs that provide high level training for hotel and motel staff throughout Connecticut.

On an international level, Krishna worked with the United Nations University and others to convene over 100 global experts during a two-day workshop to explore possibilities on how the United Nations Security Council can help to strengthen the international response to trafficking by non-state terrorist groups. In September 2016, she participated at a panel at the United Nations to launch the report that captured the ideas discussed at the workshop which informed the language in the December 2016 Security Council resolution to combat trafficking.

From 2003 until July 2015, Krishna served in the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut where, from 2010 until 2015, she served as Deputy Chief of the National Security and Major Crimes Unit. In this capacity, she was responsible for supervising and prosecuting a variety of investigations including international and domestic human trafficking, civil rights, child exploitation, cyber-crimes, terrorism, complex financial crimes, money laundering, international weapons trafficking, intellectual property, export violations, and immigration. She has successfully prosecuted numerous jury trials and successfully drafted and argued numerous appeals in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Krishna was one of six Assistant United States Attorneys who served on a Nationwide Investigations Advisory Committee (NIAC) which reviewed proposed nationwide child exploitation investigations that will likely impact a minimum of 15 judicial districts. She was also designated by the United States Attorney to coordinate efforts to combat human smuggling and human trafficking in the State of Connecticut and served as the Chair of the Connecticut Smuggling and Trafficking of Persons Investigative Task Force (STOP IT).

Before joining the US Attorney’s Office, Krishna worked as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. From 1994 until 1996, Krishna was admitted to the United States Attorney General’s Honor Program. She has also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan H. Nevas (retired) of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Peter Penczer, Esq. is a lawyer and a real estate developer

and has been a pillar of the Fairfield County community for many years. Peter was born and raised in Fairfield and has spent his life giving back and contributing to his community.

Peter studied physics at Fairfield University and went on to the US Military Academy at West Point from which he graduated with distinction in 1958. He spent four years, mostly in Germany, in the Army as an engineer. Peter graduated from Yale School of Law. He worked in a private law firm for over 35 years where he was Senior Partner and is Of Counsel with Green & Gross, P.C. in Bridgeport. Peter has also been self-employed as a real estate developer since the late 1970s.

Peter’s involvement in charitable and community activities is incomparable. He has served extensively on innumerable nonprofit boards including the boards of the Fairfield Rotary Club where he also served as VP for International Service, the Fairfield Theatre Company, the Fairfield Museum and History Center, The Klein Memorial, The Science Park at Yale, and Operation Hope, an organization that helps feed the area’s homeless. Peter is the Chairman of the Fairfield Economic Development Commission. Peter has been honored and recognized by a wide range of entities including: Certificate of Commendation by the Connecticut Bar Association (2004) for pro bono immigration appeals on denials of asylum; Honoree at Operation Hope’s 2008 gala; Honoree at Fairfield Theatre Company’s 2012 gala. In 2014, he was named Fairfielder of the Year by the Town, and in 2015 the Fairfield Democratic Party honored Peter with its John Sullivan Award.

Peter has been a dear friend and exceptional ambassador for the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants for decades. Peter has served on the Board of Directors, was the Board Chair from 2006-2008, and served on numerous Board committees. He currently serves on the Governance Committee and Facilities Committee. Peter understands the immigrant story and has been a tireless advocate for the mission of the organization, demonstrating repeatedly his unparalleled ability to make personal connections to the benefit the agency. He has, for example, personally recruited numerous Board members to the CIRI Board and made additional introductions to facilitate employment and housing opportunities for refugees, as well as to help secure critical private funding for the organization.

Peter first became interested in CIRI, then the International Institute of Connecticut, when the staff attorney provided advice for an immigration matter Peter was handling. Peter became fascinated by immigration law and by CIRI. He became a friend of the agency, then a donor, and then joined the Board. Contributions led to helping and finally to board membership. CIRI’s mission resonated with him from the start: his father’s parents had come from Hungary and his maternal grandfather came from Wales. He was acutely aware that they had left their home countries to come to a country that would welcome them and provide a life of opportunity and security for their families.

Peter and his wife Lynne, who have been married for 58 years, have opened their hearts and their home to CIRI over the years. Together, they truly embody values of inclusion, compassion, hospitality and generosity. The staff and Board of the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants are profoundly grateful to Peter for his exceptional service, decades of commitment, indefatigable energy and selfless voluntarism.

Sunset Sail with Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres

Nickelodeon Kids Tour and Lunch at Viacom

Embark on a privately chartered voyage from Black Rock Yacht Club with an esteemed sea captain. Sip on a signature cocktail and enjoy hors d’oeuvres as you take in the nostalgic Connecticut shoreline.

Revel in the setting sun as the day melts away on your private vessel.

From TV to toys, discover how Nickelodeon does it! Enjoy a private tour of Nickelodeon’s headquarters in Times Square, led by Nickelodeon’s VP of Mobile Media & Video.

This package includes lunch and a bag full of goodies!

Daily Show with Trevor Noah Tickets for 4

Romance Package

VIP tickets for four to see the Daily Show with Trevor Noah! He took over for Jon Stewart in 2015 and this native of South Africa -- born to a black South African mother and a white European father -has been lauded for his unique, insightful take on current events and ability to sell out international comedy shows. He is, in the words of his Comedy Central boss, “wickedly funny.” We’re also including four copies of his new book...maybe you can get it autographed when you attend the taping!

This package includes a wine and chocolate pairing class for six people which lasts about 90 minutes. Learn about the basis of confectionery, chocolate origins, and Belgian chocolates specifically, and then proceed with the pairing of three wines and three chocolates. This package also includes a beautiful 18 karat gold torque bangle Chimento bracelet, and some gift items from Balthazar & Rose.

Kinky Boots Tickets for 4 and Dinner at Becco

Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Tickets for 2 and Dinner

Bring the whole family for a great night out in NYC! First, dinner at Becco, Lidia Bastianich’s Italian place right on Restaurant Row. Then, you and three guests enjoy fantastic seats at the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots, now in its 5th smash year on Broadway, and still playing to a packed house every night!

Revel in Jimmy Fallon’s hilarious wit and biting commentary in person! This package includes tickets for two to see a taping of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon at Rockefeller Center in NYC, followed by a private tour. See what really happens at 30 Rock! Follow that up with dinner!

Paddle Raise Have a direct impact on the lives of CIRI’s clients: $1,000

Swallow Point Nova Scotia Vacation Home Built in 1909 for a relative of James Fenimore Cooper, this one-of-a-kind Arts & Crafts masterpiece is situated on 6+ private oceanfront acres with a new dock and updated vintage tennis court. With windows on three sides, the sun-filled east & west sun porches offer inviting venues for morning tea & scones and late afternoon imbibing as the sun drops below the enchanting blue spruces.

Support Immigration Legal Services clients in their pursuit of legal relief.

$500 Provide therapy and interpretation during therapy for survivors of torture.

$250 Send refugee children to summer camp and CIRI’s own Summer Academy.

A heartfelt thanks to our Benefit Leadership, Board, Staff, Sponsors and Partners for making this event possible.

Benefit Leadership Benefit Chairs

Rosinne Chlala Caroline Pech Leslie

Benefit Committee Erica Asaro Joel Bernor Heather Cameron Gaby Chautin Claudia Connor Gay Empson Roy Fuchs Laura LaVelle Jessica Suarez Debbie Steckler Leslie Torre Laura Wilbur

Board of Directors Jim Rulmyr, Chair Caroline Pech Leslie, Vice Chair Robert Smith III, Treasurer Kathleen Freis, Secretary Rafael Aparicio Youssef Boutros Debbie Clancy Faith Fennelly Barbara Green Gary Holmes Jatin Mehta Robert Maresca, Esq. Alex Meyerovich, Esq. Nina Neiuwoudt Jane Norgren George Paik Peter Penczer, Esq. Poonam Sharma Debbie Steckler Daniel Trust Emeritus John LaCava, Esq. George Wolf, Esq.

CIRI Staff Elhassan Aitelqadi • Dima Akach • Merari Antunez • Dorian Arbelaez • Judith Baez • Sue Bechalany • Caitlin Burke • Deo Byakisaka • Christina Castellani • Theresa Collins • Claudia Connor • Leonela Cruz-Ahuatl • Oscar Cruz-Machado • Ashley Darnley • Ann DeJesus • Stephanie Dieudonne • Kirill Elin • Agnes Farkas • Marisabel Fernandez • Victoria Gentile • Carmen Goiricelaya • Edward Greenwood • Noel Haddock • Jennifer Hancock • Laura Herrera • Jane Himmel • Adriana Jimenez • Alicia Kinsman • N’Sira Kourouma • Anty Marche • Joanne Martin • Claudia Morgan • Athanase Mwamba • Cecilia Orihuela • Sue Pathammavong • Heather Powell • Keighly Rector • Evelyn Rios • Donna Santos • Susan Schnitzer • Caroline Sennett • Christina Shallow • Steven Sonson • Jessica Suarez • Lizzeth Vibaldo

Evan Andersen Antignani & Maresca, P.C. Gary and Meg Holmes Tanya Murphy Jane Norgren

Krishna and Div Patel Peter and Lynne Penczer Sherry and Jonathan Schreiber Debbie and Alan Steckler

Thank You for Joining Us On behalf of the Benefit Committee, the CIRI staff, and the Board of Directors, we extend our deepest gratitude to all of you for making this event so special.

If you are interested in learning more about CIRI or ways to get involved, please visit our website at www.cirict.org.

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