Gala

GALA 2010: Monday evening, April 19 in Richmond.

The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership will host its annual Spring Gala on Monday April 19 at the Richmond convention center.

Speakers will include Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, and Governor Bob McDonnell.

Click here for complete information about directions, tickets, and sponsorhip opportunities. Discount room rates at nearby hotels will be available for alumni and board members.

Mark Your Calendars Now!

BREAKING: The Sorensen Institute is proud to announce that we have confirmed plans for our Spring 2010 Gala.

The Sorensen Gala will be held on Monday evening, April 19 at the Richmond Convention Center. This event will honor the new administration of Governor-elect McDonnell.

Confirmed speakers for this historic event will include the new Governor Bob McDonnell, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, and Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli.

Bob Gibson is the Executive Director of the Sorensen Institute. "We are delighted that all three recently elected statewide officials will be able to join us for this event," Gibson said. "This will definitely be a night to remember."

The Sorensen Gala has fast become one of the most popular, "must-attend" events for anyone working in Virginia politics. The 2008 Gala at which we honored retiring U.S. Senator John Warner was broadcast in its entirety on C-Span.  Click here for more video, podcasts and photos from previous Sorensen Galas.

The Sorensen Gala is the Institute's primary fundraising activity and is held each spring. We are expecting a record turn-out for the April 19, 2010 gala, so if you would like more information about sponsoring a table or purchasing advance tickets to ensure you have a seat, please contact Colleen Smith.

The Sorensen Institute celebrated its 2009 Gala on the evening of March 20 at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City in Arlington. Nearly 250 alumni, board members, and friends of Sorensen turned out to support our mission to improve political leadership and government throughout the Commonwealth. Thanks to their generous investment, we raised $211,000 to support this effort. (photo at right: Democratic candidates for Governor Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe)
     At this memorable event we were proud to honor each of the thirteen members of the Virginia delegation now serving in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in Washington: Senator Jim Webb, Senator Mark Warner, and Congressmen Robb Wittman, Glenn Nye, Bobby Scott, Randy Forbes, Tom Perriello, Bob Goodlatte, Eric Cantor, Jim Moran, Rick Boucher, Frank Wolf, and Gerry Connolly.
     Speakers at the 2009 Gala included Sharon Bulova, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Vivek Kundra, a graduate of the Political Leaders Program Class of 2007 and the nation’s Chief Information Officer having recently been appointed by President Obama; Sean Connaughton, a graduate of the Political Leaders Program Class of 1995, the Corporate Vice President for the American Bureau of Shipping and recently the U.S. Maritime Administrator; and former Congressman Tom Davis, who represented Virginia’s 11th Congressional District for seven terms. Our thanks to everyone who helped to make this an unforgettable evening. (photo: Bob Gibson, former Lieutenant Governor John Hager, and U.S. Congressman Rob Wittman)

Click here to download a PDF copy of the 2009 Gala program.

Tonight in northern Virginia the alumni and friends of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership will gather to celebrate the 2009 Gala. The black-tie event will honor every member of the Virginia delegation now serving in Washington. Look for audio and photos of the Gala here in the Newsroom next week!

In just a few days, the Sorensen Institute will celebrate its 2009 Gala in Arlington. From the Newsroom Archive comes this historic video from our 2007 Gala in Richmond, at which we were very proud to honor Governor Linwood Holton.

As part of the evening's program, we shared Governor Holton's 1969 campaign commercials. These commercials had been preserved on 16mm film and were brought to our attention shortly before the Gala (many thanks to Michael Belefski). We had just enough time to get them digitized and edited together for the special event. These now historic commercials were shown publicly at Sorensen's 2007 Gala for the first time in almost 40 years.

Holton won the election that year, beating Democratic candidate William C. Battle. Governor Holton served from 1970 to 74, the first Republican in Virginia in the 20th century to hold that high office. You can also click here to watch a video of Holton's remarks from that memorable evening.

The Sorensen Institute will host its annual spring Gala celebration on Friday evening, March 20 at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City in Arlington. The 2009 Gala will honor the entire Virginia delegation now serving in Washington.

This year our alumni will continue to enjoy a 50% discount on Gala tickets- and that discount will extend to one guest as well.

To learn how you or your organization can sponsor this event, please contact Colleen Smith.

Click here to visit the 2009 Gala website.

Click here to see a slideshow of last year's Gala, which honored U.S. Senator John Warner.

This has been an unforgettable year for the Sorensen Institute—the 15th anniversary of our founding. We hope you enjoy this collection of photos from throughout this special year. (Press the arrow to play the slideshow and click here to see a larger version of the photos)

The program from our 2008 Gala is now available online.

Click the cover at right to download a pdf copy of the program.