27TH ANNUAL

Thursday, November 7, 2020

The Ritz-Carlton, DC

6:30 PM: Silent Auction
7:30 PM: Dinner & Gala
10:00 PM: After-Party

KNOCK OUT

ABUSE GALA

TARA ENGEL

Tara Engel is the Vice President of Public & National Affairs for Pernod Ricard USA, a premier French alcoholic beverage manufacturing company. Tara joined Pernod Ricard in June 2006, after a successful career as a consultant and lobbyist in Florida (The Rubin Group), where she represented a myriad of clients including many Fortune 500 companies. Known for her strategic thinking, leadership, team building and crisis management skills, Tara has developed and implemented a public affairs agenda for Pernod Ricard that drives commercial opportunity and has created a team atmosphere across the company.

Since 2007, Tara has chaired the State Government Relations Committee of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the committee’s longest-serving chairperson. In this role, she is responsible for formulating industry policy, steering the committee’s budgets, and working closely with staff and contract lobbyists to achieve the committee’s legislative goals. She also serves as the Chair of the State Government Relations Committee for the Foundation Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR) and serves on the Federal Government Relations Committee of both DISCUS and FAAR. After years of routinely participating in both the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of DISCUS and FAAR, Tara currently also serves both of these organizations in the following official capacities: Executive Committee member and BOD alternate. Tara serves on the Board of Directors for the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC).

Tara serves on the Executive Committee of Knockout Abuse Against Women, a 501C-3 based in Washington, DC which raises awareness and funds to combat domestic violence.

Tara attended Baylor University. She worked on numerous political campaigns while still in high school and college.

ABA KWAWU

Aba Kwawu is the founder and president of TAA PR, a results-oriented public relations, marketing, and special events agency dedicated to the fashion, design, entertainment, hospitality, and luxury lifestyle sectors.

The daughter of well-traveled academics from Ghana, Kwawu earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and subsequently began a career in genetic studies. After deciding to pursue a career in fashion, Aba earned her master’s degree from the University of the Arts London College of Fashion. In 2002, she founded her own agency while serving as a faculty member of Howard University, where she taught undergraduate courses in fashion merchandising and marketing.

Today, TAA PR continues to advise and serve brands seeking expertise in media relations, event production, experiential marketing, and social media. The agency’s regional, national, and international clients belong to various industries and have included Cirque du Soleil, The Ritz-Carlton, Ladurée, Kering, chefs Wolfgang Puck and Daniel Boulud, Shake Shack, Tysons Galleria, City Center DC, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Smithsonian Institution, Mercedes-Benz, Paraiso Miami Beach (formerly known as Swim Week Miami), and more. The agency also has arranged events for icons from André Leon Talley to Carolina Herrera.

In addition to her agency work, Aba sits on the executive board of the Georgetown Business Improvement District and is the former, two-term regional director for Fashion Group International of Greater Washington, DC, Inc. She was co-chair of the first annual Hirshhorn Ball, which benefitted the programs of The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. She’s been quoted in outlets from Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) to The Washington Post and recognized as a style-setter in her own right by Washingtonian magazine. And she’s spoken at events, including The Inner Circle experience, an international conference for top-tier luxury industry professionals.

When not glammed up for the work of directing high-profile projects, advising clients, and meeting with her staff, she can be found at home in the Washington, DC, area or globetrotting with her husband and their two children.

2019 BREAK THE SILENCE HONOREE & SPEAKER

TONY PORTER

Tony Porter is an author, educator and activist working to advance social justice issues. As the chief executive officer of A CALL TO MEN™, Tony is internationally recognized for his efforts to prevent violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood. He is a leading voice on issues of manhood, male socialization and its intersection with violence, and preventing violence against all women and girls. Tony’s 2010 TED Talk has been named by GQ Magazine as one of the “Top 10 TED Talks Every Man Should See.”

Tony is an adviser to the National Football League, providing policy consultation, working extensively with player engagement, and facilitating violence prevention and healthy manhood training. He has also provided training to the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball.

He is an international lecturer for the U.S. State Department, having extensive global experience including Brazil, India and Africa, and has been a guest presenter to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Tony has worked with the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

He is sought after for his in-depth understanding of the collective socialization of men, and has served as a script consultant for the Emmy Award-winning television series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Tony is the author of “Breaking Out of the Man Box™” and the visionary for “NFL Dads: Dedicated to Daughters.”

2019 HOST

ANDREA ROANE

Until she retired in 2018, Andrea Roane had been a familiar face and voice bringing us the news on WUSA 9 for 37 years. Andrea anchored every news program from morning to afternoon of WUSA Noon and the station's medical reporter.

A multi-EMMY and GRACIE Award winner, Andrea has covered a wealth of hard news stories, from politics, the arts, education, religion, and sports, to women's health and empowerment issues.

Andrea and her husband, Michael Skehan, live in Washington, DC with their daughter and son.

2019 AUCTIONEER

CRAIG RICE

Craig Rice was first elected Council Member in Montgomery County MD in November 2010, becoming the youngest African American ever to serve on the nine-member Council. In December 2013, his colleagues elected him to a one-year term as President of the Council. He was recently re-elected to represent the 2nd District of Montgomery Country.

Craig and his wife, Tia, live in Germantown, MD with their three children.

2019 KOA AFTER DARK DJ

D-NICE

For an artist, the hardest skill to master is the ability to transcend, be it the era that created them, the work that defined them, or even the fame that elevated them. However, those who are successful are rewarded with a title that can only be earned: legend.

Derrick “D-Nice” Jones, with a multi-decade music career that has taken him from the Apollo to the Singapore, and seemingly everywhere in-between, can proudly say he’s earned it.

To understand why D-Nice can be spotted spinning all over the globe you need to know where he began—the Bronx. At just 16 years old, D-Nice was a founding member of the iconic ‘80s rap group, Boogie Down Productions. By 1990, he had a Billboard number one single off his self-produced debut album, “Call Me D-Nice,” but as the landscape of Hip-Hop, and New York itself, began to shift, D-Nice recognized the need to transcend.

A proven talent behind the turntables, D-Nice sought a creative outlet in famed downtown clubs such as Lotus and Table 50. The venues where pioneering DJs, like Mark Ronson and Q-Tip, were blending old school tracks and dance classics with the latest rock soon became his home away from home, and it wasn’t long before he was making a name for himself with a deejaying style that set him apart from all others.

Suddenly, the MC from uptown was the hottest DJ downtown—and around the world. From Oscar night galas to the Super Bowl, or from Essence Fest to the legendary private parties thrown by Diddy, D-Nice could now be heard in places like Cannes, Singapore, South Africa, and Miami.

2019 SPONSORS

HOPE DIAMOND

DIAMOND

RUBY

Rubin Turnbull & Associates - Bill Rubin

EMERALD

Grace Bender · Children’s National · Clark Construction Group, LLC · Constellation Brands

Corcoran Partners · Karen Donatelli & Anna Marie Parisi-Trone · Edrington · Ernst & Young LLP

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation · Cheryl & Hani Masri

NFL · PhRMA · Qatar- America Institute · Christine Rales

Rhythm Management Group Corporation · Susheria Restaurant- Nesrin Fraga

T-Mobile · United Parcel Service · Janet & Bobby Waid

SAPPHIRE

Dr. Sanjeev & Mrs. Bela Aggarwal · Sandra Barros & Peter Lowy · Brown-Forman Corporation

Carolyn Casey & Scott Fassbach · Patricia & Marshall Coleman · Diageo North America

DC Elite Image- Teresa & Mark Del Rosso · Events by André Wells · Dr. Sachiko Kuno

Ann Walker Marchant · Ellen & Adam Spiegel · TTR Sotheby's International Realty/ KVS Title

PEARL

Arent Fox LLP · Artemis Real Estate Partners · Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS)

Entertainment Software Association · Samia Farouki · KEA Technologies · Robert Koch

Beth & Zeid Masri · Governor Terry McAuliffe & Dorothy McAullife

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation

BEST FRIEND OF KNOCK OUT

Barnes & Thornburg, LLP · Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck · Mary Butler · Capari America Elissa Davidson · Ashley Foxworth · Norah Clair Gourlay · Gus & Marie Griffin

JOY Collective · Susanne Larsen · Kristen Lund · Naureen Rahman · Andrea Roane · Jim Ryan

FRIEND OF KNOCK OUT

Lee Ann Anderson · Lisa Bartolomei · Jay Blumenkopf · Stacy Burka · Christine Chuke

Elaine Cole · Margaret Davidson · Nora Connors · · Stacey & Gregory Lubar · Luxco

Emily Madan · Rebecca Magnuson · Barbara Martin · Alexina Montgomery · Sara O'Keefe

Olwen Pongrace · Linda Roth · Jayne Sandman · Beth Singer · Mori Taheripour

Humaira Wakili

2019 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Gina Adams · Amy Baier · Liliana Baldassari · Hillary Baltimore · Sandra Barros · Mary Barth · Lisa Bartholomei

Nina Feliciano Bender · Megan Beyer · Kathleen Biden · Traci Otey Blunt · Sharon Bradley · Stacy Burka

Antionette Cook Bush · Susan Cannaday · Carolyn Casey · Marcy Cohen · Nora Connors · Donna Cooper

Karina Corell · Patti Cumming · Michelle Curtis · Lisa Davis · Karen Donatelli · Gunilla Ekberg · Samia Farouki

Amra Fazlic · Norah Clair Gourlay · Denise Grant · Jocelyn Greenan · Ginny Grenham · Alana Hadid

Marielle Hadid · Barbara Harrison · Debbi Jarvis · Kathryn Minor Jones · Kay Kendall · Roya Kingdon

Susanne Larsen · Kelli Lawson · Liz Levin · Tanya Lombard · Stacey Lubar · Emily Madan · Rebecca Magnusun

Ladan Manteghi · Barbara Martin · Victoria Michael · Erica Moorhead · Sarah Guinan Nixan · Lynne O’Brien

Michele Petersen · Kenya Pierce · Olwen Pongrace · Linda Potter · Allison Priebe · Christine Rales · Norma Ramsey

Kathryn Rand · Andrea Roane · Linda Roth · Jayne Sandman · Mary Margaret Scharf · Karen Schaufeld

Michelle Schoenfeld · Dina Matar Senouf · Marie Sylla-Dixon · Mori Taheipour · Maria Trabocchi · Mariella Trager

Anna Trone · Cynthia Steele Vance · Neva Vogel · Mary Frances Wain · Humaira Wakili · Rondi K. Walker

Susan Weiner · Robyn Wells · Sheryl Watkins Wilbon · Amal Zaari

2019 GALA CHAIR COMMITTEE

Abiye Abebe · Bela Aggarwal · Ashley Arias · Courtney Armour · Brandy Nannini Axdahl · Vinoda Basnayake

Sherrie Beckstead · Grace Bender · Tracy Bernstein · John Burns · Zarah Burnstein · Mary Butler

Sela & Art Collins · Francesca Craig · Elissa & Tom Davidson · Lynda Erkelitian · Jean-Marie Fernandez · Nesrin Fraga

Omar Franco · Juleanna Glover · Indira Gumorova · Ashley Gunn · Natalie Jones Hallahan · Mona Hamdy · Erik Huey

Charrisse Jackson-Jordan · Maura Jeffords · April Jones · Cindy Jones · Robert Koch · Melissa Kuipers

Dr. Arlene Lamba · Kim Luk · Sylvester Lukis · Kristen Lund · Ann Walker Marchant · Erika Martin

Beth & Zeid Masri · Dorothy & Terry McAuliffe · Gloria Nauden · Sara & Peter O'Keefe · Sarah Omolewu

John Porter · Susanna Quinn · Teresa Foss Del Rosso · Sheikha Rima al-Sabah · William Rubin · Matt Stanton

Chris Swonger · Siobhan Thomas · André Wells · Trish Yan · Eun Yang

2018 SPONSORS

HOPE DIAMOND
· David Rubenstein ·

DIAMOND
EJF Philanthropies · EverFi Fight for Children · Pernod Ricard USA

Norma & Russ Ramsey · The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC

RUBY

FedEx · Denise Grant & Frank Raines · Northrop Grumman

RLJ Companies/RLJ Lodging

EMERALD

Grace Bender · Bender Foundation · The Boeing Company · BrandLinkDC

Scott & Patrice Brickman Family Foundation · Children's National · Clark Construction Group, LLC Marcy & Neil Cohen · Elissa Davidson & Sara O'Keefe · Events DC · DC09

Kimberly Engel & Family · The Dennis and Judy Engel Charitable Foundation

Carl M. Freeman Foundation · JBG Smith · Alfred Liggins and Radio One

Ann Walker Merchant · Cheryl & Hani Masri · Dorothy & Governor Terry McAuliffe

JP Morgan Chase & Co. · The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation

Microsoft · NFL · Lynne & Greg O'Brien · PhRMA · Qatar-America Institute · Christine Rales · Karen Schaufeld · T-Mobile · Verizon · Washington Speakers Bureau

BEST FRIEND OF KNOCK OUT

FRIEND OF KNOCK OUT

DONATE AUCTION ITEM