We envision a society that respects the dignity of every person and safeguards justice for everyone.

On April 23, 2018 justice reform leaders and supporters joined the Vera Institute of Justice for our 12^th Annual Gala, Safeguarding Justice. We heard from the legendary civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, Alphabet’s David Drummond, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mark Shelton of Barclays PLC, and Justin Roslonek, a formerly incarcerated student whose amazing story highlighted the important work that Vera is doing to bring college education to incarcerated people. Thank you to everyone who supported and attended this special evening.

Held at Cipriani Wall Street, the event honored:

DAVID DRUMMOND
Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Alphabet
Award presented by VERNON JORDAN

MARK SHELTON
General Counsel, Barclays International, Barclays PLC
Award presented by THOMAS C. BAXTER JR.

MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO
Former Speaker of the New York City Council and Senior Advisor, Latino Victory Fund
Award presented by LUIS MIRANDA, with a special video presentation by LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

Master of Ceremonies
TANYA ACKER
Hot Bench, CBS Television Distribution

Special performances
THE WORLD FAMOUS HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR
JON BATISTE

Download Event Program

Nick Turner

President and Director, Vera Institute of Justice

Justin Roslonek

College student, The New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons Consortium (NJ-Step)

David Drummond

Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Alphabet

Vernon E. Jordan

Melissa Mark-Viverito

Former Speaker of the New York City Council and Senior Advisor, Latino Victory Fund

To see videos of Tanya Acker, Karen Seymour, Luis Miranda, Thomas C. Baxter, Mark Shelton, John Savarese, The World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir, and Jon Batiste, please visit our YouTube playlist.