The Gordon Parks Foundation Gala 2025 Celebrated the Enduring Power of Storytelling

At a time when equity and justice are under attack from the most powerful office in the United States, spaces rooted in real community and solidarity are more important than ever. That’s exactly what this year’s Gordon Parks Foundation Gala offered.

Parks was a legendary photographer who passed away in 2006; he was the first Black photographer to work for Vogue and Life Magazine and the first Black filmmaker to direct a Hollywood studio feature film, according to the foundation’s executive director Peter W. Kunhardt Jr., who has pledged to carry on his pioneering work.

This year, the Gordon Parks Foundation chose to honor four people who are “pillars in their fields…four extraordinary individuals who exemplify [Parks’s] commitment to inspire future generations:" model and activist Bethann Hardison, acclaimed contemporary artist Rashid Johnson, the politician and civil rights activist Ambassador Andrew Young, and Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and chief content officer at Condé Nast.

“Since this gala began in 2007, we’ve celebrated many extraordinary evenings,” said Kunhardt in his welcoming remarks to the crowd of philanthropists and change-makers across film, television, fashion, and more. “But tonight may be the most critical gala we’ve ever held. Because now, we are facing some of the strongest forces we’ve ever faced, determined to prevent progress, to erase history, and to silence the voices that challenge injustice.”

The crowd responded to that call for urgency, as the foundation was able to raise a record breaking $3 million to continue its work. “It takes bravery to do a lot of things, and right now we have to be extremely brave,” said Bethann Hardison in her acceptance speech.