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Event Details
April 18, 2018|6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Capitale
130 BoweryNew York, NY 10013 United States
UPDATE: To see highlights and photos from this year’s event, click here.
Join Jumpstart on Wednesday, April 18th, at our Scribbles to Novels gala as we celebrate the power of the written word and shine a spotlight on the importance of early literacy development in children. The 2018 event will once again be held at Capitale, the original Bowery Savings Bank, which features tall columns, a coved ceiling, and an art glass skylight. The celebratory evening includes an Authors Circle where attendees meet featured authors and receive signed books, a full dinner program, and a live auction. In New York City last year, over 430 advocates showed their support for Jumpstart, raising $1.1 million for local programs in NY, NJ, PA, and CT.
Please contact Liz Trout, Associate Director of Development at liz.trout@jstart.org with any questions.
Cocktail or business attire is suggested.
VERONICA CHAMBERS is the author of The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own. She is a prolific author, best known for her critically acclaimed memoir Mama’s Girl, and launched Latina magazines for Conde Nast and Hearst in 2013. She has been the recipient of several awards including the Hodder Fellowship for emerging novelists at Princeton University and a National Endowment for the Arts fiction award. She lives with her husband and daughter in Hoboken, New Jersey. Visit her website here.
FIONA DAVIS is the nationally bestselling author of The Dollhouse and The Address, and forthcoming novel The Masterpiece. She was born in Canada and raised in New Jersey, Utah, and Texas. She began her career acting in New York City, working on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After ten years, she changed careers and began working as an editor and writer. She is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is based in New York City. Visit her website here.
GAYLE FORMAN is an award-winning, internationally bestselling author and journalist. Her #1 New York Times bestselling novel If I Stay was adapted into a film starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Gayle is also the author of several other bestselling novels, including Where She Went, I Was Here, the Just One series, and Leave Me. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughters. Visit her website here.
TAD HILLS is the author and illustrator of the highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling picture books Duck & Goose, Duck, Duck, Goose, Duck & Goose Go to the Beach, How Rocket Learned to Read, and Rocket Writes a Story. His board books include the ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book What’s Up, Duck?; Duck & Goose Colors; and Duck & Goose, Let’s Dance! Tad lives in Brooklyn with his wife, their two children, and a dog named Rocket. Visit his website here or follow @tadhills.
R.J. PALACIO was born and raised in New York City. She attended the High School of Art and Design and got her BFA in illustration from the Parsons School of Design. For many years before writing her debut novel, Wonder, she worked as a graphic designer and art director. In addition to Wonder, she has written Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories and 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, their two sons, and their two dogs, Bear and Beau. Visit her website here or follow her @RJPalacio.
RENÉE WATSON is the acclaimed author of the teen novel Piecing Me Together, which received both the Coretta Scott King Award and 2018 Newbery Honor, and was called “Timely and timeless,” by author and Children’s Literature Ambassador Jacqueline Woodson. One of Renee’s picture books, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and her middle grade novel, What Momma Left Me, debuted as an ABA New Voices Pick. She lives in New York City. Visit her website here.
Special Guests
Live Auctioneer | Nigel Barker
NIGEL BARKER is an internationally renowned photographer and is highly regarded for his 17 seasons as photographer and judge on the hit TV show, America’s Next Top Model. Barker is now the host of SiriusXM’s Gentlemen’s Code, which airs live every Tuesday at 1pm ET on Radio Andy Channel 102. Most recently, Barker was awarded the “Film Heals” Award for Humanitarianism at the 6th Annual Manhattan Film Festival for Dreams Are Not Forgotten. Using the power of photography and motion pictures he has been able to spread his humanitarian messages to vast audiences. Barker is currently a board member for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, The Edeyo Foundation, and sits on The Digital Advisory Committee for the USO. Drawing upon his 20+ years of experience, Barker has authored The Beauty Equation and New York Times Bestseller, Models of Influence. Nigel currently lives in New York with his wife, Cristen, and their children Jack and Jasmine.
Host Committee
Milena Alberti-Perez
Nigel Barker
Lorie Almon & Mitch Bompey
Laura & Sharyar Aziz
Kaija & Peter Braus
James Cole, Jr.
Tom Connolly
Stephen Epstein
Lucy Green & Mark Flannery
Rose & John Franco
Ali & David Kamin
Allegra Kochman
Kathy & Jay Lathen
Kellie & Jeff Lerner
Jennifer & Andrew Marrus
Lauren Marrus
Cynthia Mitchell
Kim Mitchell
Sarah Mlynowski
Mark Pinho
Krisztina & Brian Rivel
Deb Shapiro
Megan Sheetz
Loretta & Chris Stadler
Anne Turner & Alan Riffkin
Betty Weintraub
Molly Wythes & Jim Farmer
Sponsors
