WRI launched its biennial Courage to Lead Dinner to recognize individuals who have been ambitious and relentless in their commitment to the health of our planet, society, and future generations. It is a fundraising dinner, but we hope that the message of the dinner, the examples of our honorees, and the words of our featured speakers will challenge us all. We aspire to make sure the dinner conveys our belief in the power of public-private partnerships to solve tough environmental challenges, which is exemplified by our honorees and WRI’s work.

Funds raised through the dinner enable WRI to find practical, lasting solutions to our greatest environment and development challenges and to put them into action.

• WRI Milestones Timeline (PDF, 2 pages, 798 Kb)
• 2009 Dinner
• 2009 Supporters
• 2007 Dinner
• 2007 Supporters

2009 Courage to Lead Dinner

Date: November 11, 2009
Venue: Mandarin Oriental, New York

Honorees:
Daniel L. Doctoroff, President, Bloomberg
Charles O. Holliday, Chairman, DuPont

Emcee:
Alina Cho, CNN National Correspondent

Featured Speakers:
Ellen J. Kullman, CEO, DuPont
Ric Burns, documentary film producer

Dinner Co-Chairs:
Peter T. Grauer
Jeffrey R. Immelt
Ellen J. Kullman
Stephen M. Ross

Benefit Committee:
Louisa and Bob Duemling
Alice F. Emerson
James A. Harmon
Jay L. Kriegel
Shelly Lazarus
Matthew Nimetz
Michael Polsky
Honorable William K. Reilly
Ted and Connie Roosevelt
Todd S. Thomson
Daniel Weiss

Revenue raised: $1 million

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2009 Supporters

INVESTORS
Bloomberg
DuPont
GE
Stephen M. Ross and Related Companies

BENEFACTORS
Ogilvy & Mather

SPONSORS
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP
Doctoroff Family Foundation
Louisa and Robert Duemling
Duke Energy and Jim Rogers
Geller & Company
Goldman Sachs
Invenergy LLC
Matthew Nimetz and General Atlantic
Ronald Perelman and MacAndrews & Forbes
Tishman Speyer
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

PATRONS
Alcoa Foundation
Angeleno Group and Daniel Weiss
Bank of America
BNY Mellon
Crowell & Moring
Dickstein Shapiro LLP
Al and Tipper Gore
The Marc Haas Foundation
The Harmon Foundation
JPMorgan Chase
News Corporation
NRG Energy, Inc.
Ted and Connie Roosevelt
Harvey Schiller
Shell
Peter J. Solomon Company, L.P
Todd S. Thomson
TPG Capital, L.P
Van Scoyoc Associates and Van Scoyoc Kelly PLLC

SUPPORTERS
Bill Achtmeyer and The Parthenon Group
AON Foundation
Glenn R. August
Hattie and Bruce Babbit
Ballard Spahr LLP
Steven Barker
Virginia Bayer and Robert Hirt
Frances Beinecke
Josh and Lisa Bernstein
Tom and Andi Bernstein
Joseph H. Boardman
Steven J. Bottum
Steve Canton
Capital Z Partners
Edward L. Cohen
Convergent Wealth Advisors, LLC
Oliver Cope Architect
Mark Gallogly
Ann Harakawa and Two Twelve
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
Mollie and Garland Lasater Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of North Texas
Jim Leader and Leader & Berkon
Aaron Levinthal
Steve Mark
John Monsky
Morgan Stanley
Curt and Leslie Myers
The Offensend Family Foundation
Open Society Institute
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Marc Ricks, Goldman Sachs
Rio Tinto
Michael Ryan
Alison Sander
Schirrmeister Diaz-Arrastia Brem
Robert K. Steel Family Foundation
James A. Stern
Sheree Stomberg
Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch
The Traveler’s Companies, Inc.
Steve Usdan

IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
Abercrombie & Kent/Sanctuary Retreats
Celine Cousteau
NYC Bikes and Xtracycles Inc.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
Starbucks Coffee Company
Stephen M. Ross and the Miami Dolphins

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2007 Courage to Lead Dinner

Date: February 13, 2007
Venue: Cipriani’s 42nd Street, New York

Honorees:
Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE
The Late Samuel C. Johnson, SC Johnson
Elizabeth J. McCormack and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Emcee: Tom Friedman, New York Times

Featured Speakers:
The Honorable Al Gore
Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO, SC Johnson
James Gustave Speth, founder of WRI; dean, Yale School of Forestry
Jonathan Fanton, President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Corporate Co-Chairs:
Jane Hutterly, SC Johnson
John Rice, GE
Jake Siewert, Alcoa

Dinner Co-Chairs:
Gay and Tony Barclay
Jessica and The Honorable Henry Catto
Tish Emerson
James A. Harmon
Jeff and Carol Miller
C.K. Prahalad
Connie and Ted Roosevelt
Ralph Taylor and Dr. Florence Brown
Lee and Dorothy Thomas
Todd and Melissa Thomson
Wren and Tim Wirth

Revenue raised: $2 million

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2007 Supporters

UNDERWRITER
Citi Private Bank

25TH ANNIVERSARY CAPACITY GIFTS
Alcoa Foundation
DuPont
SC Johnson and H. Fisk Johnson, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO
GE and GE Foundation
Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation

BENEFACTORS
American International Group
The Honorable Henry Catto and Jessica Catto
Jeff and Carol Miller
NBC
Related, LP
Royal Dutch Shell and Shell Foundation
The Winslow Foundation

SPONSORS
Bank of America
Caterpillar
Coleman Fung Foundation
Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation
Generation Investment Management
The Harmon Foundation
McCarter & English
Morgan Stanley
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold
Ralph Taylor and Dr. Florence Brown
UBS
UN Foundation
Wal-Mart Foundation
Weil, Gotshal & Manges

PATRONS
Arnold & Porter
Arcadis-BBL
Gay and Tony Barclay/Development Alternatives Inc.
BP America
Climate Clean/Ecosecurities
The Coca-Cola Company
Alice F. Emerson
Goldman Sachs
Goodwin Proctor
Invenergy Wind, LLC
JohnsonDiversey
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
Latham & Watkins
Gretchen Long
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Elizabeth McCormack
Mintz, Levin, Cohn
Scott A. Nathan
Matthew Nimetz
Natural Resources Defense Council
Ogilvy & Mather
Open Society Institute
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
Quantitative Environmental Analysis, LLC
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation
Theodore Roosevelt IV and Lehman Brothers
Theodore Roosevelt V and Lehman Brothers
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Southern Company
Scott M. Spangler
Spriggs & Hollingsworth
Lee and Dorothy Thomas
Wallace Global Fund
Weyerhaeuser Company

IN-KIND DONATIONS
Brown-Forman/Bonterra Vineyards
NBC
Starbucks Coffee Co.

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