Thursday, November 18th, 2021 | Gotham Hall, 1356 Broadway at 36th St, NYC or Online

IN PERSON TICKETS SOLD OUT!

You can still join us virtually for buildOn’s first ever hybrid Gala! Celebrating the resilience and passion for the possible of buildOn students and communities around the world.

Join buildOn students, corporate leaders, community activists, and artists as we explore the question, “How can we urgently work towards a more just and inclusive world?” FORTUNE Media CEO Alan Murray will take the Main Stage for not one but two Keynote Interviews with Carla Harris, Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley and Meisha Ross Porter, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.

All proceeds power our service-learning programming, empowering students to take on the most pressing issues in their communities through direct action.


More and more, I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King wrote these words in 1964, and they still resonate today. The pandemic and racial justice movement of 2020 laid bare the inequality in every corner of society, from education to healthcare to public safety. But as we move into an era of restoration, we have a chance to use this time to rebuild a more just and inclusive world.

Keynote Interview: Carla Harris

Carla Harris is a Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley.  She is responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. She formerly headed the Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries and was responsible for Equity Private Placements.  In her 30 year career, Ms. Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council.

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Keynote Interview: Meisha Ross Porter

Meisha Porter is Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest school system in the nation. Appointed on March 15, 2021, she is the first Black woman to lead the education of the system’s 1 million students in over 1,800 schools. A lifelong New Yorker and product of the City’s public schools, Chancellor Porter has climbed every rung of the DOE’s professional ladder over nearly 25 years: community coordinator, English teacher, assistant principal, principal, district superintendent, and Bronx executive superintendent before ascending to Chancellor. Under her leadership in her most recent position, graduation rate increases in the Bronx outpaced the gains of other boroughs. Her vast experience in the system makes her the ideal leader to advance us toward fully reopening our buildings to all students while accelerating progress toward equity and excellence for all.

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6 PM Cocktail Reception | 7 PM Program and Livestream

Support Youth Serving Our Community

Through buildOn’s Service Learning Programs, students in some of the United States’ most under-resourced high schools are empowered to take on the most pressing issues in their communities through direct action. By helping seniors, the unhoused, and younger children, buildOn students are learning to lead by first learning to serve. These same students have also worked side-by-side with community members to construct schools in some of the poorest countries on the planet. buildOn engages more than 7,000 students every month across the U.S, who to date have contributed more than 2.4 million hours of service to our communities. What’s more, 98% of students who participate in buildOn programming graduate high school.

Join us as we celebrate our buildOn students:

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Have a question about the event?

While we couldn’t be more excited for a long awaited celebration together, safety is our highest priority. As we plan for the return to an in-person event we will require proof of vaccination to attend at Gotham Hall.

Please contact Jon Mucciolo at jon.mucciolo@buildon.org for additional information about attending or sponsoring this event.