The March On! Gala launches the Festival with a vibrant, high-energy Mardi Gras–inspired celebration — an unforgettable opening night filled with music, culture, awards, dinner, dancing, and community. This year’s Gala brings the spirit of New Orleans to Dock 5, setting the tone for a powerful week of storytelling, connection, and inspiration. For sponsorship opportunities click here.
Awards · Dinner · Dessert · Dancing · Delight
Guests will be immersed in the sounds of New Orleans with live music from Crush Funk Brass Band, whose blend of funk, brass, and second-line rhythms sets the room in motion from the first note.
Jonathan Capehart
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart is a co-host of the morning edition of The Weekend on MSNBC. From 2020 until 2025, he was anchor of The Saturday Show and The Sunday Show on MSNBC. Capehart is Associate Editor at the Washington Post, where he is also an opinion writer. He is also an analyst on The PBS News Hour. Capehart was deputy editorial page editor of the New York Daily News (2002-2004) and served on its editorial board (1993-2000). His editorial campaign in 1999 to save the Apollo Theater earned the board the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. His memoir “Yet Here I Am” will be published in May 2025.
John Robert Lewis Lifetime Legacy Award
First presented by Congressman John Lewis and later renamed in his honor, this award recognizes leaders whose devotion to advancing civil rights and social justice is unparalleled.
Marc Morial & The National Urban League
Marc Morial, one of the few national leaders to possess “street smarts,” and “boardroom
savvy,” is the transformative President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization.
He served as the highly successful and popular Mayor of New Orleans as well as the
President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Marc previously was a Louisiana State Senator
and was a lawyer in New Orleans with an active, high-profile practice.
He is a leading voice on the national stage in the battle for jobs, education, housing,
health, voting rights, equity, and entrepreneurship.
Marc is a published author; his leadership book, Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Help You Inspire, United, and Achieve has been widely acclaimed, and his column entitled To Be Equal, reaches hundreds of thousands.
He is the host of the weekly syndicated television show, America’s Black Forum.
A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Pennsylvania with
a degree in Economics and African American Studies, he has been recognized as one of
the 100 most influential Black Americans by Ebony Magazine, one of the top 50 Non-Profit
Leaders by the Non-Profit Times, one of the 100 Most Influential Black Lawyers in America and he has also been inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, GA.
Marc and his father, the late Ernest “Dutch” Morial, are history makers as the first African American father/son mayors in the U.S. and were the subject of a Double Jeopardy
question on the legendary Jeopardy television game show in the 1990s.
Congressman Troy A Carter, Sr.
(LA-3) & Deputy Whip
March On! Award
The March On! Award celebrates individuals and organizations whose
bold leadership, creative expression, and commitment to justice inspire action and elevate untold stories
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester was born in Philadelphia but was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, Ted Blunt, was an educator and served on the Wilmington City Council as Council President. It was through his advocacy on the City Council that she first witnessed the power of public service to transform lives and uplift communities.
While she pursued her master’s degree at the University of Delaware, she attended a town hall hosted by then-Congressman Tom Carper. With a baby on her hip and another one on the way, she approached Congressman Carper and inquired about an internship in the Congressman’s Wilmington office. It was in this moment her career in public service truly began.
She made history in 2016 after being elected as Delaware’s House member at large. This marked the first time Delaware sent a woman or person of color to Congress.
Senator Blunt Rochester has always been focused on making a difference, not making history. This passion for changemaking inspired her to run for Delaware’s open Senate race. In 2024, she was elected to the Senate after serving four terms in the House of Representatives.
Senator Blunt Rochester has continued to be a leading voice in Congress on workforce issues, the future of work, and building an economy that works for everyone. As former Secretary of Labor and State Personnel Director, she leverages her expertise to advocate for policies that support growth and ensure working families earn a living wage. She founded and co-chaired the bipartisan Congressional Future of Work Caucus in the House. After seeing the impact of empty grocery shelves during the pandemic, she also led the charge in Congress to address the supply chain crisis and bring manufacturing jobs back to Delaware and the United States.
Crush Funk Brass Band
The Crush Funk Brass Band is a brilliant, innovative group of young musicians hailing from Washington DC. Comprised of alums from The University of The District of Columbia, Bowie State University, and Howard University. Influenced by all genres of music, the band’s style is unique, embodying the brass tones of New Orleans, with an Urban Capital City modern fun(k) twist.
The mission of the band is simple: “To bring life to the city through music where least expected, to enrich the lives of others and to continue growing and striving for high musical excellence.” Having played from Northern Maryland to New Orleans, Crush Funk has performed for weddings, corporate galas and other special events.
The band appeared on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Good Morning America, NBC, ABC , and WJLA. They have performed at The World Bank, Smithsonian and The Kennedy Center to name a few.
- Olivia Igbokwe-Curry, Co-Chair
- Kendra Brown, Co-Chair
- Vickee Jordan Adams
- Joyce Brayboy
- Sohini Gupta
- Melissa Maxfield
- Darren Peters
- Robert Raben