Independent School Alliance Impact Awards Gala Raises $600,000

The Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs celebrated their 2018 Impact Awards at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Tuesday evening. The event raised over $600,000 for the Independent School Alliance and their mission to provide opportunities and support for underrepresented students in the greater Los Angeles area.

ISA honored Vicky Mara Story and husband Tim Story, founders of the Los Angeles-based production house The Story Company – whose films have grossed over $1 billion at the box office – and Elizabeth Gregory Riordan, Director of Admissions for Harvard-Westlake School, for their outstanding commitment to ISA.

Actress and comedian Yvonne Orji served as emcee for the 500-person event.

“I was raised in a home where education was prized. My parents – like the parents of our Alliance students – moved heaven and earth for their children. We are here to celebrate the great students and the great schools that are represented here tonight. ISA puts their beliefs into practice. Belief that there is no better investment than providing children with the opportunity to get the best education possible, based on human potential and not zip code. For more than 30 years, Alliance students have received more than $70 million in financial aid. This investment is paid back tenfold.”

"American Idol" alum David Hernandez performed “Wake Me Up” and “Imagine”, which was welcomed with great applause from the audience. Additionally, four graduating ISA seniors were presented with scholarships to help pay for their college education.

The event was chaired by ShoeDazzle Co-Founder Mira Lee and renowned entertainment lawyer Nina Shaw. Other guests included Academy Award nominated director Ava DuVernay, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad.

The Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs is an organization committed to serve and strengthen equity, inclusion, multiculturalism, and racial justice in independent schools. ISA partners with over 50 independent schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. ISA seeks students from underrepresented racial backgrounds whose school records demonstrate significant ability, achievement, motivation and good citizenship, and provides assistance to their families from the application process, to counseling on appropriate school choice, entrance testing information, and applying for financial aid. Quite notably, 100% of graduating ISA seniors have enrolled in colleges, including such prestigious schools as Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, Williams, Cornell, Brown, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, Penn and Yale.

For more information, please visit IndependentSchoolAlliance.org.