Ady Barkan, The Center for Popular Democracy & Former MRNY Staff Member

Ady Barkan is a Senior Campaigner at the Center for Popular Democracy and was the founding director of two of its major projects: Local Progress and the Fed Up campaign. Ady is now focused on strengthening America’s health care system and inspiring millions of Americans to take back our democracy from the racists and kleptocrats.

Ady was a law clerk to the Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin in the Southern District of New York, who found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program to be unconstitutional. Prior to that, Ady worked at Make the Road New York, where he represented low-wage workers seeking to recover unpaid wages, and obtain safe and dignified working conditions. He helped design and draft policy proposals to enhance the quality of low-wage jobs in New York City including the right to paid sick days, regulation of major retailers, and cleaning up of the car wash industry. He graduated from Yale Law School and Columbia College. Join 300+ guests to honor Ady’s courage and power.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Throughout its history, Paul Weiss has maintained an unwavering commitment to assisting the most vulnerable members of our society. Recently, their pro bono work has become especially urgent given the rising number of assaults on the rights of our immigrant communities. They were among the first to come to the aid of those affected by President Trump’s travel ban, and have since mounted numerous challenges to anti-immigrant policies nationwide. Most recently, they helped coordinate the legal community’s response to the crisis brought on by the forced separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border, and continue to work to reunify separated families. Join 300+ guests to honor Paul Weiss’ for their advocacy on behalf of our communities.