Posted 8/23/2023
The Merakey Foundation will host its annual Leading the Way Awards Gala on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at The Drexelbrook in Drexel Hill, PA. With a Heart & Soul theme, Merakey employees, sponsors, and donors will come together to celebrate its work and mission.

Amanda Westphal Radcliffe is this year’s Leading the Way Award Recipient. The Leading the Way Award is given each year to an individual that has made a significant impact on bringing awareness to the obstacles facing vulnerable communities in our country. Amanda is a Trustee of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Chair of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation Board of Advisors, President of the Neurodiversity Employment Network of Philadelphia, and serves on the St. Joe’s University Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support Advisory Board.
Carl Jack, Director at Merakey’s Center for Hope is the Fran Egan Courage Award Recipient. Center for Hope is a gang diversion program located in Newburgh, NY – a city of only 29,000 people, but 47 active gangs. Community shootings and violence are common. The program is entirely voluntary for the youth and provides tutoring, meals, activities and recreation, and skills workshops in a setting where they feel safe and supported. This program in its current form would not exist without Carl’s overwhelming dedication to the youth that it serves.
A spectacular evening with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, desserts, silent auction, raffles, and live music, it promises to be a wonderful celebration.
As the largest fundraiser of the year for the Merakey Foundation, proceeds directly support a variety of Merakey programs.