Connect, A New York Nonprofit That Combats Violence, To Honor Playwright And Activist V, Among Others

Connect, a New York organization whose goal is to prevent interpersonal violence and promote gender justice, is celebrating its 20^th anniversary Thursday night, May 4, at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem.

Connect is a Harlem-based nonprofit organization whose mission, it says, is to “create safe families and peaceful communities by transforming the beliefs, behaviors and institutions that perpetuate violence. The organization develops unique programs and innovative ways to prevent interpersonal and domestic violence and promote gender justice, in addition to building the capacity of communities to respond to the complex needs of survivors and their families.”

It conducts over 350 programs annually, including workshops for men, women and youth, as well as training of community professionals.

Its executive director, Quentin Walcott, is co-founder of the Father’s Day Pledge Against Violence, an annual event taking place in over 50 cities. He is also a creator of Men and Women as Allies, which trains companies and unions to respond to violence, and has led anti-violence training worldwide.

The anniversary gala will honor Rev. Dr. Sally MacNichol, a longtime activist and former co-executive director of Connect; New York Women’s Foundation, a women-led grantmaking organization that promotes gender, racial and economic justice; Angelo Pinto, a lawyer and co-founder of Until Freedom, a social justice organization pivotal in the fight for justice for Breonna Taylor and in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd; Jamia Wilson, executive editor of Penguin Random House, feminist activist and former director of the Feminist Press at the City University of New York; and V, formerly Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues and founder of V-Day, a global grassroots movement whose goal is to end violence against women, girls and the planet.