The Gay Community Endowment Fund's 25th Anniversary Celebration, exhALE

exhALE celebrates the Gay Community Endowment Fund's impact in the community and recognizes its most recent grant and scholarship recipients. Proceeds support academic scholarships for LGBTQ+ and allied students in Greater Akron.

In celebration of the fund’s 25th anniversary, activist Jim Obergefell will speak and participate in a Q&A with guests. Mr. Obergefell draws from his unique experience at the heart of the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling to move and empower audiences to stand by their beliefs – and prove that love always wins.

The fund’s leadership will also honor the Founders of the Gay Community Endowment Fund with the 2026 Paul Daum Award. The award honors those who have demonstrated a significant commitment to LGBTQ+ causes and whose involvement has benefited the Greater Akron community at large. Created in 2016, the award pays tribute to Paul Daum’s generous estate gift to the Gay Community Endowment Fund, which left a legacy that will forever meet the needs of Greater Akron’s LGBTQ+ community.

Guests may also purchase raffle tickets for the chance to win fabulous prize packages.

Questions? Please contact Malia Rivera-Speer at [email protected] or 330-436-5649.

Info: The Presenting Sponsor and all Insight and Enlightenment Sponsors are invited to a VIP reception at 5 p.m. with an open bar and appetizers. Sponsors and their guests will have the opportunity to meet Jim Obergefell, as well as the Founders of the Gay Community Endowment Fund and Gay Community Endowment Fund Advisory Board Members during the reception.

Info: Join us at 6 p.m. to enjoy networking, hearty hors d'oeuvres, and beverages. Sponsors and their guests will receive complimentary drink tickets when they check in. All other guests will have access to a cash bar.

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