Kenneth Downie

Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Surgeon-in-Chief of Temple University Health System, Sr. Vice President of Perioperative Services at Temple University Hospital, and is a Director of the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Goldberg joined the surgical faculty of Temple University in 1993 and served in earlier roles as Chief of the Division of Trauma/Surgical Critical Care, the Medical Director of the Trauma Program and the Director of General Surgery Residency Program both for over a decade.

Nicole is a fourth generation Philadelphian who brings a decade of union and community organizing experience in Southeastern Pennsylvania working alongside low wage immigrants and workers to win improvements in their lives and build long-term social movements. Prior to founding the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, she was a union organizer with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), where she organized nurses and healthcare workers across the state to form unions, build power, and win contracts that set state-wide standards for working conditions and patient care. At the undocumented-led New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, Nicole organized to end deportations and family separation, resulting in Philadelphia historic "Sanctuary City" victory which ended police-ICE collaboration in the city. Previously, Nicole worked as the Housing Coordinator for the refugee resettlement program at HIAS Pennsylvania. She is the 2019 recipient of the Crystal Eastman Award from PhilaPOSH and is a member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.

Reverend Luis Cortés, Jr. is the Founder, President and CEO of Esperanza, the premiere Hispanic faith-based Evangelical network in the United States. Driven by the biblical mandate to serve and advocate for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40), Rev. Cortés founded Esperanza in 1986, with support from the Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia. Today, with a national network of more than 13,000 Hispanic faith and community-based organizations, Esperanza is one of the leading voices for Latinos in America. Leading what began as a local initiative, with programs targeted to address the unmet needs of Philadelphia’s Latino community, Rev. Cortés is now sought by national and international leaders alike on issues of economic and workforce development, housing, immigration, and education. Under his leadership, Esperanza has grown from a small, 20-person operation to more than 450 employees and a $40 million annual operating budget. Raised in Spanish Harlem, Rev. Cortés credits his childhood experiences, a stable family life and the Latino faith community for his commitment and determination to improve the conditions of the broader community. His life’s work is dedicated to empowering others to acquire a solid education and economic stability. Rev. Cortés graduated with honors from City College, NY, earned a Master of Divinity as an Urban Theology Fellow from Union Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree in Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University. Rev. Cortés has received three honorary doctorates: two in divinity, from the Moravian Theological Seminary and Palmer Theological Seminary, and one in humane letters from Eastern University. He is now a Senior Nonresident Fellow for the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania.

The mission of Coded by Kids is to ensure that every child has the support, resources, and opportunities to build the next Google, Microsoft, or Facebook, regardless of what they look like or where they come from. Because of the dominant role technology plays in our society, Sylvester believes that building a tech industry that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable is one of the most pressing issues we face today. Under Sylvester’s leadership, Coded by Kids has grown from an organization that served fewer than 15 children in one Philadelphia recreation center to serving more than 650 students in schools and community centers in three states. Since 2014, Coded by Kids has built a scalable model for youth tech education that provides students with intermediate- to advanced-level software development, data science, and user experience design skills. One of the differentiating aspects of the Coded by Kids model is that Sylvester is committed to ensuring that his students can use their tech skills to have a clear pathway out of poverty. It starts with building students’ confidence levels, helping them become more engaged in every level of school from elementary through college, and encouraging them to pursue careers in technology or to become tech entrepreneurs – no matter where they begin. Sylvester sets high expectations for himself and for his students. Sylvester has received awards and recognitions for his work from multiple organizations, including the Philadelphia City Council, the Philadelphia Business Journal, The Philadelphia 76ers, Billy Penn, and Philadelphia Academies. Sylvester is a husband, a father of three, and a graduate of Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Having served for 12 years in three branches of the military – the Marines, Army and Air Force – Sylvester is a proud veteran of the war in Iraq. He is still inspired today by the Marine saying “No short cuts. No retreat. No surrender.”

Virtually every LGBTQ organization in Philadelphia has benefited from Heifetz’s generosity, including the William Way LGBT Center whose mortgage he paid off in 2005. He is the founder and benefactor of the Philadelphia Foundation’s multimillion-dollar GLBT Fund of America. In 2017, Heifetz announced a $16 million endowed gift to the Philadelphia Foundation to support LGBTQ-serving organizations, including the Attic Youth Center, GALAEI, and the Trevor Project. Heifetz was key to identifying the need and providing early philanthropic support to address the problem of LGBTQ youth homelessness. An instrumental early supporter, he helped to break ground on Project HOME’s new Gloria Casarez Residence, which will provide 30 LGBTQ-friendly affordable homes for young adults who are homeless, have experienced, or are at risk of homelessness, including those aging out of foster care. Heifetz is also renowned for his public policy activism, and has been a major political contributor to candidates supportive of LGBTQ rights. His contributions have kept several HIV/AIDS nonprofits afloat, and at the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, he put countless uninsured people with the virus on his company’s health insurance plan. Additionally, he formed a sustaining relationship with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which stems from a time when a coffeehouse owned by Heifetz – known for welcoming all people, including interracial and gay couples – was shut down by local police; ACLU attorneys defended Heifetz. Born to working class Jewish parents, he began cleaning his parents’ hair salon and selling household products door-to-door with his father at age 9. An Eagle Scout, he later offered to buy the Boy Scouts of America’s Philadelphia headquarters for $1.5 million, at a time when the national Scouting organization excluded gays, so that the building could be given to a nonprofit that does not discriminate. Heifetz joined the Army at age 18 and was stationed in Germany; upon his return, he studied real estate for one year at Temple University. Over his professional career, Heifetz has built several successful hospitality and residential businesses. He opened the city’s first gay hotel, The Alexander Inn, and owned three of the most prominent gay and lesbian bars in Philadelphia, as well as hotel and bar properties in Key West, Florida. Among numerous community honors, he received the 2015 Humanitarian of the Year award from the William Way Center and the 2008 Equality Award from the Philadelphia Human Rights Campaign.

Blockson’s passion for history and books began at the age of nine when a teacher asserted “Negroes have no history”. That experience as a young child marked the start of a lifelong journey of unearthing, collecting, and preserving the history, culture, and contributions of African descendants. Over the years, his research and travels have inspired him to write 12 books on the topic, making him one of the foremost experts on the Underground Railroad In 1984, Blockson donated his personal collection of rare publications and artifacts related to African American history and culture to Temple University. The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, one of the nation’s leading research facilities for the study of the history and culture of people of African descent, now contains more than 500,000 books, documents, and photographs. Blockson is a co-founder of the African American Museum in Philadelphia. He has contributed books and other historical items to the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora at the Pennsylvania State University and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NAAMHC) at the Smithsonian Institution. A recent donation to NAAMHC includes 39 of Harriet Tubman’s personal items – highlighted by the shawl that Queen Victoria presented to Tubman, the “crowing jewel” of Blockson’s collection. Blockson has also spearheaded efforts to have various State Historical Markers placed throughout Philadelphia as part of the commemoration of the some of the history and events that have shaped the African American experience in the Philadelphia region, including a marker placed along Penn’s Landing, which commemorates the lives of enslaved Africans brought to local ports during the Pennsylvania slave trade era. Blockson is a 1956 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and has three honorary doctorate degrees from Lincoln University, Holy Family University, and Villanova University. He retired from Temple in 2006 and continues to serve as Curator Emeritus of the university’s Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection.

In addition to overseeing Juvenile Law Center's litigation and appellate work, she spearheaded the litigation arising out of the Luzerne County "kids fo cash" scandal winning the expungement and vacatur of thousands of these children's cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She has authored numerous briefs in state and federal appeals courts throughout the county, including many before the United States Supreme Court, including Roper v. Simmons, eliminating the death penalty for youth; Graham v. Florida, eliminating life without parole sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses; J.D.B. v. North Carolina, ensuring appropriate Miranda protections for youth in custody; and Miller v. Alabama, eliminating mandatory sentences of life without parole for youth convicted of homicide. While the impact of Marsha Levick's recent work before the Supreme Court will ripple across the nation, the impact will be felt most profoundly in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia as the region incarcerates the highest number of youth sentenced to life without parole in the nation. Marsha Levick's commitment, leadership and passion for protecting the rights and welfare of the children of Philadelphia - and the nation - exemplifies the vision and purpose of the Philadelphia Award. Most recently, Ms. Levick also served as co-counsel in Montgomery v. Louisiana, where the Supreme Court ruled Miller to be retroactive.

Beyond this imprint on Philadelphia with his musical genius, Mr. Gamble was moved to address the problems of this city's urban communities. His Universal Companies, one of the largest African-American real estate developers, has been a conduit for over $1.5 billion of real estate development and investment in extremely distressed neighborhoods. Cognizant that education is essential to effectuate neighborhood transformation, his Universal Companies now educates over 5,500 students in 11 schools, primarily in South Philadelphia. Mr. Gamble was awarded the Philadelphia Award on May 6, 2015.

Mrs. Roberts shares her passion for helping other and is a champion for empowering women, advocating for children in poverty and supporting the arts. She has been the director, producer and host of Emmy award winning television show "Seeking Solutions with Suzanne", and has provided sustaining support for the Philadelphia Theater Company. Through her Suzanne Roberts Cultural Development Fund, she has encouraged theater and dance groups to share their creativity with schoolchildren. The Roberts Proton Therapy Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania represents another of the Roberts family commitments to Philadelphia's renown as a city of innovation and cutting edge technology for the benefit of all. Together, Ralph and Suzanne Roberts have demonstrated their commitment to the transformation of Philadelphia through their lifetime of service. The Philadelphia Award was presented to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts on May 6, 2015.