2025 VIP Reception
Cocktails and Hors D’Oeuvres
2025 Launch and VIP Reception Tickets: $250
2025 Launch (ONLY) Tickets: $100
Donor’s name will be on file at the Registration Desk. Ticket(s) will not be mailed. For additional information or questions, contact Malcolm Lazin at mlazin@equalityforum.com or call (215) 850-8751.
Eugene Daniels is co-anchor of “The Weekend” and senior Washington correspondent for MSNBC. He joined the network full-time in March 2025 after seven years at POLITICO, where he was an MSNBC contributor, Playbook co-author, and White House correspondent, focusing on Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. During the nation’s reckoning with the presidential race in 2020, Daniels moderated POLITICO’s Confronting Inequality Town Hall series, which examined how inequities in policing, housing, health care, education, and employment impact communities across the United States.
Co-Chair, Congressional Equality Caucus
Richie Torres is the first Afro-Latinx U.S. congressman. Elected in 2020, he represents New York's 15th District, one of the poorest and most diverse in the nation. He supports much of the Democratic Socialist agenda but identifies as an independent progressive who puts legislative effectiveness above ideology.
The American LGBTQ+ Museum
Ben Garcia is the first Executive Director of The American LGBTQ+ Museum. He is charged with leading the museum’s exhibition and program development, advocacy efforts, communications, community outreach, and fundraising. He will usher the museum into its important next stage: opening a physical location at the New-York Historical Society in 2026. Garcia has more than 20 years of experience in museum leadership, development, and intersectional LGBTQ+ advocacy. He has presented and published frequently on creating structural equity in museums through transparency, accountability, fair labor practices, and by including overlooked voices and perspectives.
Mel Heifetz is a Philadelphia-based real estate developer, activist, and philanthropist. Over the past 70 years, he has donated millions to support the LGBTQ community at the local, national, and international levels, both directly and through significant political contributions. He built numerous successful LGBTQ-friendly businesses, including Sisters, Philadelphia’s first and only full-time lesbian bar, and the city’s first gay hotel, the Alexander Inn, as well as hotels and bars in Key West, Florida. He paid off the substantial mortgage of Philadelphia’s William Way LGBT Community Center and founded the Philadelphia Foundation’s GLBT Fund of America. Most recently, he endowed the foundation with $16 million. Heifetz is a 2019 recipient of Equality Forum’s Frank Kameny Award.
