Gala 2025 -

Friday, March 28, 2025

6.00PM EST

RONALD REAGAN BUILDING AND
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTER

1300 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20004

Build the Vision with us

The Whitney M. Young Jr. Gala is Back -and It's All About You.

This isn’t just another event—it’s a defining moment for our community. A celebration of resilience, vision, and the power of coming together to create lasting change.

You’ve spoken loud and clear: this gala is more than tradition. It’s proof of what we can achieve when we unite for a brighter future.

The Heart of our WORK

This night isn’t just about the Greater Washington Urban League—it’s about you and the stories that drive us to push further. 

It’s about the single mother, once on the brink of eviction, who now helps others secure stable housing.

It’s about the young entrepreneur who, with our guidance, turned a dream into a thriving business.

It’s about the elder who kept her family’s home, building a legacy of generational wealth.

These are the stories we celebrate—stories of overcoming the odds, thanks to your support and the power of our collective efforts.

A Night of Celebration

This year’s theme, “Building the Vision: The Power of We”, honors the collective strength of our community.

On this unforgettable evening, we’ll honor extraordinary people who have faced adversity and risen above it with courage.

We’ll announce this year’s honorees soon, but they will join a legacy of trailblazers we have honored previously including John Lewis, Ben Crump, and Virginia Ali (founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl).

Register for:

WHITNEY M. YOUNG JR. GALA

This is Your Moment, Too

This night is more than a celebration—it’s a reminder of what we can accomplish when we stand united. With your support and the collective power of “we,” every family can thrive.

Reserve your spot now—limited seats available.
Because the power of we starts with you.

A Look Back at What You Missed

Celebrate the legacy of Whitney M. Young Jr. and discover how the Greater Washington Urban League has been empowering communities for 85 years.

The Program Book offers a glimpse into a transformative evening of resilience, equity, and impactful change, honoring leaders and champions of justice.

Download it to be inspired and join the movement toward a brighter, inclusive future!

Our 2025 Honorees

Will Dawkins

general manager of the Washington Wizards

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Will Dawkins enters his second season as general manager of the Washington Wizards. In his role, Dawkins oversees the day-to-day operations for both the Wizards and Capital City Go-Go.

After arriving in D.C. in June of 2023, Dawkins quickly ushered in a new era of Wizards basketball with a plethora of intentional roster moves aimed to reposition the franchise. Dawkins acquired future draft capital and young players, highlighted by drafting 18-year-old Bilal Coulibaly from France with the seventh overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, and the first selection of his tenure as general manager. Coulibaly’s impact in D.C. was felt immediately as he was voted a 2024 NBA Rising Star and become the youngest player in franchise history to start in a game.

Dawkins continued repositioning and injecting youth into the franchise by drafting Alex Sarr (2nd overall, 19 years old), Bub Carrington (14th overall, 18 years old), and Kyshawn George (24th overall, 20 years old) with the team’s three first round selections in the 2024 NBA Draft after a series of draft-night trades where he accumulated additional future draft capital. The Wizards’ three first-round selections were the most made by any NBA team on day one of the draft and the most by Washington since 2010. Washington enters the 2024-25 campaign with 12 players aged 25 years or younger – tied for the second-most in the league.

During the 2024-25 offseason, Dawkins promoted Brian Keefe as the 26th head coach in franchise history, establishing a coaching staff focused on player development and foundation building. Jonas Valanciunas and Saddiq Bey chose Washington in free agency, while Malcolm Brogdon was acquired via trade, giving Dawkins a trio of veterans to help mold the young players in Keefe’s first full season as head coach.

Dawkins spent the previous 15 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, rising from front office intern to hold a variety of positions with influence throughout the organization where he helped assemble teams that contributed to the second-best winning percentage in the NBA from 2010 to 2020, with a Finals appearance in 2012 and four appearances in the Western Conference Finals.

Dawkins last served as the Thunder’s vice president of basketball operations from 2020-23 where he was directly responsible for roster and staff development, data science & solutions, strategic planning and the handling of personnel matters, including player evaluation and acquisitions.

Prior to his role as vice president of basketball operations, Dawkins spent three seasons as the team’s vice president of identification & intelligence, where he was responsible for overseeing the professional and amateur evaluation departments (both domestically and internationally). He also served as assistant video coordinator, scouting coordinator and director of college player personnel, a position he held for five seasons.

Dawkins is a graduate of Emerson College, where he served as captain of the men’s basketball team and became a two-time Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar All-American. The Springfield, Massachusetts, native led the High School of Commerce to the 2004 Division I State Basketball Championship, while earning the honor of Western Massachusetts Player of the Year. He was inducted into the Springfield Massachusetts High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Dawkins and his wife, Tara, have three children, Trey, Journee and Rylee, and currently reside in Northern Virginia.

LAURA COATES (host)

CNN Chief Legal Analyst & Anchor

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Laura Coates is CNN’s chief legal analyst and anchor of Laura Coates Live, airing weeknights at 11pm ET. The show will showcase the day’s most interesting stories with smart, provocative, and thoughtful analysis, while leveraging Coates’ significant experience as a prosecutor and relentless pursuit of the facts. At the intersection between law, politics and pop culture, the high energy show will take the news viewers have already heard and help them to truly understand it.

Emmy nominated Coates joined CNN in 2016 and plays a central role in the network’s extensive legal programming, as well as having a prominent role in major news moments, including CNN’s coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the January 6th hearings and the two impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump, hosting a special entitled White House in Crisis: The Impeachment Inquiry. She routinely covers high-profile criminal prosecutions, including the trial of Alex Murdaugh and former police officer Derek Chauvin.

Coates is also the host of the award-winning daily “The Laura Coates Show” on SiriusXM’s bipartisan P.O.T.U.S. channel where she interviews world leaders and politicians from both sides of the aisle and engages the audience with a lively discussion on the intersection of politics and the law.

Coates has authored two books, You Have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police and New York Times bestseller Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight For Fairness.

A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Coates graduated from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and the University of Minnesota Law School, where she serves on the Board of Advisors, before beginning her legal career in private practice. She practiced law in Minnesota and New York handling cases ranging from intellectual property litigation and First Amendment issues to defamation and media law. Called to public service, she transitioned from private practice to the United States Department of Justice, thriving as a federal prosecutor. She served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Bush and Obama administrations, specializing in the enforcement of voting rights throughout the country. She also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, prosecuting a myriad of violent felony offenses including drug trafficking, armed offenses, domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault.

She and her husband live in Washington, DC with their two young children. You can find her on social media at @thelauracoates.