Gala 2021 Special Guests

Take the all American “girl next door”, add a pinch of devilish charm, a dash of sports fanatic, some raw charisma, sprinkle in kooky, eclectic characters…set on high speed and POW! – the perfect recipe for comedy.

Born and raised on the mean streets of Philadelphia with a cheesesteak in her hand…Okay, it was actually Bucks County but the cheesesteak was from Philly.

Tracy has lived anything but a “normal suburban” life.  From exploring the jungles of Thailand to tackling a 250 lb running back in the WNFL, this little spitfire will strap you into the front seat of her roller-coaster life for a hilarious ride you won’t soon forget as she shares her insights on sports, dating, life and growing up “All-American”.

Tracy Locke has been a professional comedian for over 15 years, from sold out shows at Carnegie Hall and Radio City to comedy clubs across the nation. She has hosted television and live events as well as hosting corporate conventions and award shows.

Tracy started her comedy career in NYC and had the incredible opportunity to spend two years as the opening act on Lisa Lampanelli’s National Theatre Stand-Up Tour.

She has studied and performed with Second City, Chicago City Limits, Improv Olympic West, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings and The American Comedy Institute.

She was a main stage player in the professional improv troupes “Blank Label”-Los Angeles and NYC’s “Inappropriate Behavior.”

During the day, Tracy is a warm-up comedian talk shows in NYC.

She is currently working with The Tamron Hall show on ABC.

Tracy has also worked with the following shows:

SONY – The Mel Robbins Show

FOX – Harry Connick Jr. show

ABC – The View & The Katie Couric Show

NBC – Meredith Vieira Show & Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

She is also a host on the popular podcasts Girls Gone Green & Open Minded Mystics found on Podbean, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook LIVE & Clubhouse.

She also continues to do stand up, television and voice over projects across the nation.

Jimmy Wayne is a New York Times bestselling author, presenter and former foster youth dedicated to creating a positive change in the lives of children in foster care who need permanent families. Many of his award-winning songs including Stay Gone, Paper Angels, I Love You This Much and Do You Believe Me Now, which earned BMI’s prestigious Million-Air Award, spotlight his mission of raising awareness for youth in foster care.

Jimmy has spent his career advocating for children in foster care, sharing his own experience as a homeless youth who was welcomed with open arms into the home of Bea and Russell Costner, 75 and 79 years old respectively, when he was 16 years old. Living with the Costners allowed him to attend school and eventually write and perform music.

Jimmy’s three-time New York Times bestselling memoir Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way has become a valuable resource for foster and respite foster parents.

His children’s book Ruby the Foster Dog, inspired by a puppy he rescued while on his walk halfway across America, explores the challenges of foster care in a way that is both heartwarming and relatable for all ages.

In 2010, Jimmy founded Project Meet Me Halfway, an initiative that inspires Americans to take action in their home communities as volunteers and advocates for children in foster care. That initiative coincided with Jimmy’s 1,700 mile walk across the country from his home town of Nashville, Tennessee to Phoenix, Arizona to raise awareness of foster youth aging out of care into homelessness.

Project Meet Me Halfway advocates for services for these at-risk youth and encourages states to increase the age of emancipation to 21 so that young people have continued access to critical services as they transition into adulthood.

Jimmy helped advocate for the successful passage of legislation raising the emancipation age in California, Tennessee, and his home state of North Carolina.

While walking, he wrote the Christmas novel Paper Angels (2011, Simon & Schuster). In 2012, Jimmy lobbied to pass legislative bills extending the age of foster care from 18 to 21 in California and Tennessee. In 2013, Jimmy’s first film, Paper Angels (UPtv) became an instant holiday classic and in 2014 he released Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way (2014, Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins) which became a three-time New York Times bestseller, crossing the 170,000 sales milestone in early 2019, and became a #1 Bestseller at Amazon.

In 2016 President George W. Bush (41) awarded Jimmy the prestigious Points of Light award. One year later, he was honored with the inaugural Community Maker award by Verizon and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William Woods University.

In 2018 Jimmy received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Cal State University San Marcos and most recently, in May of 2019, he was honored by the National Council for Adoption with the Warren and Mary Alice Babineaux Award in recognition of his continued commitment to creating positive change in the lives of children in foster care who need permanent families.

Jimmy has shared his story, The Power of One, globally as a keynote speaker and has performed on the Grand Ole Opry 223 times. He lives in Nashville and continues to work tirelessly on behalf of at-risk foster youth.

Barbara Harrison is an award-winning journalist and President of BHM-GROUP, a Broadcast Media company producing podcast and digital television projects. She also serves as Director of Community Outreach for Children’s National Hospital’s Sesquicentennial and is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Center for Children, addressing the needs of youth in crisis.

Barbara Harrison is a distinguished Washington journalist and winner of many prestigious awards. She is creator of the nationally celebrated program Wednesday’s Child at NBC Washington, helping children in foster care. Her legacy of addressing issues affecting children continues through her company, Barbara Harrison Media, with projects including Emmy-nominated KIDSPEAKOUT, featuring children around the world discussing issues that affect them today.  The program is one of two BHM productions selected by the United Nation’s UNITAR division to broadcast on its international youth programming channels.

Barbara is currently serving as Director of Community Outreach for Children’s National Hospital’s Sesquicentennial. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Center for Children.