A-SPAN SPRING GALA: WELCOME HOME CELEBRATION
A-SPAN announces its Spring Gala, the "Welcome Home Celebration" to be held on Friday, May 10, 2013 from 6-9:30 PM at the Washington Golf and Country Club. Tickets are $100 each and can be purchased at our Event Website
Successful entrepreneur and impassioned 
philanthropist Sheila C. Johnson will serve as the event's Honorary Chair. Ms. Johnson has long been a powerful influence in the entertainment industry, starting with her work as founding partner of Black Entertainment Television. She is the CEO of Salamander Hotel and Resorts, a hospitality company she founded in 2005. Ms. Johnson is Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment and President and Managing Partner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. She is the only African-American woman to have ownership in three professional sports teams, including the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
In 2006, Ms. Johnson was named global ambassador for CARE, a leading humanitarian organization that combats global poverty by empowering women. Since 2011, she has served as a member of Accordia Global Health Foundation’s International Council, rallying support for the foundation’s efforts to overcome the burden of infectious diseases in Africa. Ms. Johnson started the Lady Salamanders team through Street Soccer USA, a national not-for-profit organization whose motto is “Ending Homelessness and Poverty is a Team Sport.” Read her full bio.
ABC7/WJLA-TV's Alison Starling will serve as Master of Ceremonies.Alison is an Emmy Award winning anchor currently anchoring the 5PM and 11PM newscasts with Leon Harris. In 2012, Alison won Emmys for Best Anchor and for Continuing Coverage for the 2011 Earthquake. Alison has been with ABC7/WJLA-TV News since January 2004, covering major local and national news stories including Hurricane Isabel in 2003, the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 and the Papal Mass in Washington live from the Nationals Ballpark in April 2008. Alison came to ABC7/WJLA-TV from KIRO-TV in Seattle, where she spent three years as a reporter and anchor. Prior to Seattle, Alison began her career as a reporter and morning anchor at WDEF in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Alison enjoys working with a number of charitable organizations in the metro area including events benefiting breast cancer research, the National Foundation for Cancer Research and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She has had three Little Sisters from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America during the last ten years. Alison is also a member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area. Read her full bio.