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Alec Mapa
Alec Will Be The Dinner Emcee
Alec Mapa will be joining us on stage to brighten the evening. Mapa currently stars as a cast regular on the popular comedy series Half & Half, Ugly
Betty and plays Vern on the popular Desperate Housewives. Outside of the studio, Mapa has long worked for causes benefiting AIDS and the Gay, Lesbian and
Asian-American communities.
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DJ Kyler
DJ Kyler will be spinning the latest tunes at the After Party
DJ Kyler began his DJ career in 2004 when he recieved his first residency shortly after turning 21. Since then DJ Kyler has played in numerous clubs
around Seattle including Neighbours, Sugar, Neumos, Chapel, Level 5 and The Baltic Room. In the summer of 2006 DJ Kyler won a spot on Seattle's dance
radio station C89.5 and has been spinning for listeners in Seattle and beyond on the popular Drive at 5 show.
DJ Kyler is very passionate about all types of dance music and can typically be heard playing a wide range of music from the dance genre from the
commercial and uplifting house heard on his radio show to more progressive beats heard late at night in the clubs.
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Governor Christine Gregoire
Governor Gregoire Will Be Accepting The Equality Award
Chris Gregoire is Washington's 22nd Governor. Facing a $2.2 billion budget shortfall, Governor Gregoire balanced the state's budget and successfully pushed through the establishment of a rainy day fund. In her tenure, the governor helped create more than 200,000 new jobs, reducing the unemployment rate to one of the lowest in state history. She expanded health care coverage to more than 84,000 previously uninsured children, saved more than 85,000 people an average of $33 per prescription through a drug discount card, and reduced K-12 class sizes and boosted teacher salaries. The governor also led an effort to make government more efficient and accountable. Those efforts resulted in a prestigious "A" ranking by the Pew Center on the States earlier this year.
Prior to serving as governor, Gregoire served three terms as Attorney General - the first woman to be elected to the position in Washington. She worked tirelessly on children's issues and led a statewide program that resulted in a comprehensive reform of the state's juvenile system; worked to pass a tough new ethics law for state government and to find alternatives to litigation in resolving legal disputes; and, after the tobacco settlements, was named the most influential attorney general in the country by the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids. As Attorney General, Gregoire also led the effort to protect privacy and combat identity theft and led a legislative effort to strengthen identity theft victims' rights - a law that now helps prosecute identity thieves and makes it easier for victims to restore their good names.
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Marlee Matlin
Marlee Will Be The Keynote Speaker
Marlee Matlin received worldwide critical acclaim for her motion picture debut in Paramount Pictures’ “Children of a Lesser God,” earning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. At age 21, she became the youngest recipient of the Best Actress Oscar, making her one of only four actresses to receive that honor for a film debut. In addition to the Oscar, Matlin was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. That same year she was honored by Harper’s Bazaar as one of “The Ten Most Beautiful Women” and Esquire's “Women We Love.”
Since then, Matlin has starred in numerous feature films, including "Walker," "The Player," “Hear No Evil” and in the AIDS drama “It’s My Party" written and directed by Randal Kleiser. In 2005, Matlin starred in the critically acclaimed documentary/feature, “What the Bleep Do We Know!?”
On TV, Matlin made her debut starring opposite Lee Remick, in CBS’s “Bridge to Silence,” a film that marked her first speaking role. Following that she starred for two seasons in NBC's series, “Reasonable Doubts” opposite Mark Harmon. For seven seasons, Matlin starred opposite Martin Sheen, Jimmy Smits and Bradley Whitford as pollster, Joey Lucas, on NBC’s Emmy Award winning series, “The West Wing.” She has also guest starred on HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show,” ABC’s “Spin City,” and "Desperate Housewives," NBC’s “ER,” CBS's "Judging Amy," “CSI: New York.” In 2007 Matllin starred on NBC's “My Name is Earl” and joined the cast of Showtime’s cutting-edge drama “The L Word” starring opposite Jennifer Beals. In 2008, Matlin once again proved that barriers were made to be broken when she starred in ABC’s highly rated “Dancing With the Stars.”
Passionate about children, she has also appeared in a number of educational and children’s programs. Matlin served as host of PBS’s Emmy Award winning series “People in Motion,” and, in 2007, was featured in the PBS documentary, “Through Deaf Eyes.” Other television appearances include MTV’s “Rock the Vote,” Disney’s award winning series “Adventures in Wonderland,” and Nickelodeon’s Emmy Award winning “Blues Clues” where she appeared as Marlee the Librarian. She can currently be seen starring in the highly acclaimed “Baby Einstein” DVD series, teaching sign language to infants and toddlers.
At A Glance: An Academy Award winner, Matlin has also received multiple nominations for her work on television including two Golden Globe Award nominations as Best Actress in a Dramatic Television Series, two People’s Choice Awards nominations for Favorite Actress in a Drama, and four Emmy award nominations for her guest turns on CBS’s "Picket Fences,” ABC’s "The Practice,” and NBC’s "Seinfeld" and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit."
In September 1999, under her Solo One Productions banner, Matlin embarked on her first effort as Executive Producer with the courtroom thriller “Where the Truth Lies” (Lifetime Television) in which she also starred. In 2003 she produced “Eddie’s Million Dollar Bake-off” (The Disney Channel.) She is also the author a novel for children entitled “Deaf Child Crossing” (2002.) Simon and Shuster published the sequels, “Nobody’s Perfect” in 2006 and the follow-up “Leading Ladies” in 2007. In 2009, Simon and Schuster will publish Matlin’s autobiography tentatively entitled “I’ll Scream Later,” and in 2010 The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC will premiere the national tour of the musical “Nobody’s Perfect” based on her previously published children’s novel.
Matlin currently serves as a National Celebrity Spokesperson for the American Red Cross, encouraging Americans to donate blood. She has worked on behalf of Closed Captioning and was instrumental in getting Congress to pass federal legislation requiring all televisions manufactured in the United States be equipped with closed captioning technology. She also serves on the boards of a number of charitable organizations including Easter Seals, The Children Affected By Aids Foundation, as well as those charities that primarily benefit children. In 1995, Matlin served as Chairperson for National Volunteer Week and was honored in a White House Rose Garden ceremony by President Clinton. In 2006 Matlin was honored by AOL as “Chief Everything Officer,” highlighting the important contributions of mothers, both home and work environments.
Matlin makes her home in the greater Los Angeles area, with her husband, law enforcement officer Kevin Grandalski, and their four children.
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