At the Carnegie Institute of Science in Dupont Circle on April 3, 250 guests shopped to support girl power at the sixth annual Pearls of Purpose gala hosted by FAIR Girls, an organization that aims to prevent the exploitation of girls worldwide through empowerment and education. In addition to a program about the importance of preventing human trafficking, the event included a bazaar of jewelry created by the JewelGirls, an economic-empowerment and therapeutic-art program that works to improve the lives of girls in Bosnia, Serbia, Russia, Uganda, and Washington, D.C.
The gala drew speakers aligned with the FAIR Girls mission, with a keynote address by Tina Tchen, chief of staff for Michelle Obama and executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and a speech by Ugandan FAIR Girls peer mentor and trafficking survivor Teopistar Katusiime.
The event also honored professional surfer Bethany Hamilton with the organization’s Pearl Award. Hamilton planned to attend the gala, but couldn’t due to a change in her surfing competition schedule. But her story of survival and achievement after losing her arm in a shark attack, as told in the film Soul Surfer, inspired the young women in the FAIR Girls program. “We are looking for young women or girls who will be a source of inspiration and power for girls everywhere,” said Kate Marie Grinold, director of development for FAIR Girls. Grinold says the organization will now award the Pearl Award annually at the gala.
Guests arrived at 7 p.m. for the silent auction and cocktail hour, with ginger fizz and superfruit lemonade mixed drinks from sponsor VeeV Açai Spirit, appetizers by the Chef’s Table, plenty of Georgetown Cupcake, and music by WSOP Jazz Quartet. And as with every year, participants from the Washington, D.C., JewelGirls attended to sell jewelry and chat with guests. “A lot of our guests come to the event just to meet the JewelGirls,” Grinold said.
