Tavis Smiley Hosts Celebrity Benefit Gala For His National Foundation

Jet, Oct 29, 2001

Hollywood's brightest stars recently came out to lend their support to talk show host Tavis Smiley's foundation at an intimate celebrity gala.

The affair, "Salute to Youth Leadership," was held at the mansion of baseball great Dave Winfield in Bel Air, California.

Among those lending their support to the Tavis Smiley Foundation were famed husband and wife actors Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, Los Angeles Dodgers' Gary Sheffield and his wife, gospel star DeLeon Richards Sheffield, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, TV actresses Jasmine Guy, Victoria Rowell and Terri J. Vaughn, syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, author BeBe Moore Campbell and legendary actor Warren Beatty, who co-hosted the benefit with Smiley.

Smooth singer Will Downing serenaded the crowd. The guests, who paid $1,500 each for the benefit, dined on a French cuisine prepared by world renowned chef David Lawrence of San Francisco's famous The Carnelian Room. Lawrence has prepared meals for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the late Princess Di.

Honorees at the event included Coca-Cola Company, college sophomore Jonathan Quarles and social worker and youth advocate Olivia Mitchell.

The Tavis Smiley Foundation is a national nonprofit organization devoted to developing leadership skills of 13 to 18-year-old students through scholarship, seminar, and mentorship programs.

Youth to Leaders is the cornerstone program of the Foundation and is an annual series of one-day conferences held in various cities throughout the country. Each workshop assembles 100 Black teens, ages 13-18, for a day of discussion, advocacy training, utilization of computers and the Internet, and networking with established professionals and community leaders. The goal is to identify, develop and encourage tomorrow's Black leaders.

The foundation's National Mentor Program provides follow-up leadership development in each Youth to Leaders city through local organizations.

Smiley's foundation also provides scholarships to college-bound seniors who are Youth to Leaders alumni. Scholarships are awarded each year.

Smiley founded the foundation in November, 1999 to help young people reach their potential. He is the oldest of 10 and has helped rear and send most of his younger siblings to college.

A sought after TV and radio personality, Smiley is a contributor for ABC-TV "Primetime Thursday" and is a contributor to "Good Morning America."

On cable television, Smiley is a contributor to CNN. He is also working on a nationally-syndicated one-hour talk show for Buena Vista, which will premiere next year.

Smiley's commentaries can be heard on Tuesday and Thursday mornings on the nationally-syndicated radio show, "The Tom Joyner Morning Show."

Smiley is also working on his own syndicated daily radio commentary show, "The Smiley Report," on ABC Radio Network's urban contemporary stations as well as a daily, one-hour morning show on National Public Radio.