Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 13, 2014
Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) whose mission is to champion the rights of people with disabilities through education, advocacy and litigation, holds its annual Franklin D. Roosevelt Dinner Thursday, November 20, 2014 at the Omni Hotel, 251 South Olive Street in Los Angeles beginning at 5 p.m. Hosted by actress Amy Brenneman, this year’s fundraiser honors Teledyne Technologies Incorporated; DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.; Nordstrom, Inc.; Paula D. Pearlman, Esq. with distinguished Charles D. Siegal President’s Award and Jen Bricker with DRLC’s Disability Rights in Sports Award. To purchase individual tickets ($300) or table that includes 10 seats ($3,000-$10,000), tribute book advertising or to find out more go to http://www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org. Teledyne Technologies and Edison International underwrite the evening.
Honorees:
- Teledyne Technologies – DRLC honors Teledyne Technologies with the Employer of the Year Award for their employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
- DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. – DRLC honors DreamWorks Animation with DREAM (Disability Rights in Entertainment, Arts and Media) Award for their compassionate depiction of disability, in both storyline and animation in its two films, How To Train Your Dragon and How To Train Your Dragon 2.
- Nordstrom, Inc. – DRLC bestows Nordstrom with its Corporate Award for the positive manner in which the company has both featured and promoted the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout their recent advertising campaign.
- Paula D. Pearlman, Esq. for her lifework throughout her distinguished legal career advancing civil rights of people with disabilities.
- Jen Bricker – DRLC honors aerialist and speaker Jen Bricker with the Disability Rights in Sports Award for the way she has altered attitudes and prejudices about athletes with disabilities and her refusal to set limits for herself.
DRLC’s host Amy Brenneman’s political and activist work focuses on children’s health and accessible education and is an advocate for women’s health and reproduction rights. Brenneman currently stars in the HBO hit, The Leftovers. Her many TV credits include Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, Private Practice, and Frasier. Brenneman earned a B.A. in Comparative Religion at Harvard.
Teledyne Technologies receives DRLC Employer of the Year Award, given this year to the distinguished Los Angeles-based company that provides enabling technologies for industrial growth markets. Once a company that was primarily focused on aerospace and defense, it now serves multiple markets that require advanced technology and high reliability.
This year’s DRLC DREAM Award (Disability Rights in Entertainment, Arts & Media) goes to DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., the animation studio based in Glendale, California, that creates animated feature films, television programs, and online virtual worlds. Its two films, How To Train Your Dragon (2010) and How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), provided audiences including children, a chance to see something they rarely get to see — animated characters with disabilities on the screen.
Nordstrom Inc. receives DRLC’s Corporate Award for its advertising campaigns -- using models with disabilities since 1997. Hiring professional models with disabilities has become a part of the Seattle-based company's marketing efforts. This summer's Nordstrom catalog included among others a woman in a wheelchair modeling boots and a man with a prosthetic leg modeling running shoes.
This year’s prestigious Charles D. Siegal President’s Award is bestowed upon Paula D. Pearlman, Esq. for her lifework throughout her distinguished legal career advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities. Charles D. Siegal, a disability rights activist and humanitarian who passed away at age 66 in 2012, was passionate about disability law issues.
Jen Bricker, 27, the aerialist and acrobat born without legs, is this year’s recipient of DRLC’s Disability in Sports Award. Bricker was placed for adoption by her birth parents and adopted by a family who refused to let her say the word, “can’t.” Bricker went on to become a high school tumbling champion of the state of Illinois. Bricker travels the globe as a keynote speaker with a twist -- adding an aerial performance to the mix.
About Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC)
Executive Director and Director of Advocacy and Legal Affairs Kathryn L. Tucker leads the organization founded in 1975 by friends and colleagues of A. Milton Miller, one of the leading advocates of the disability rights movement in California. DRLC continues to ensure compliance and has championed the rights of hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities through education, advocacy and litigation. The Center is part of the Public Interest Law Center of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Recent past DRLC award recipients include the corporations NBCUniversal, Starbucks, Verizon Wireless and Ticketmaster, the United States Senator Tom Harkin, and entertainers Nick Jonas, actors Fran Drescher and John Lithgow.
