Annual Breakfast 2015

On April 30th, The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC) hosted our annual breakfast celebrating 30 years of advocacy, research, education, and mobilization. Each spring, BCAC brings together a diverse network of more than 300 community members to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to improving the well-being of children and families. After each of these mornings, we strive to make sure attendees walk away with new ideas and motivation to mobilize our community to make change happen. Thirty years later, BCAC is still committed to being the strong voice for children and families in Bridgeport and to making the community a place where children can grow up healthy, happy, and ready to succeed.

This year, we selected two honorees whose passion and commitment to the Greater Bridgeport community and its children and families is nothing short of inspiring. John Santa, Chairman of the Malta Justice Initiative was awarded the Cesar Batalla Community Service award. John has devoted much of his time informing and educating the business, faith and academic communities as well as the CT legislative delegation about the opportunities available in criminal justice reform on behalf of formerly incarcerated persons. He is a well-known and trusted figure in state judicial, corrections and advocacy circles. Frances Rabinowitz, Interim Superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools was presented with the Jan Park Child Advocacy award. Fran is a stabilizing force in Bridgeport who understands that our schools are filled with exceptional educators and administrators. She has maintained a steadfast commitment to Bridgeport Public School’s students, parents, and the community as a whole. She has set out to provide the District with the necessary resources, supports and tools to create the best public school district in Connecticut. Each of these leaders were chosen because of their unwavering dedication to this community.

The 2015 annual breakfast exemplified BCAC’s core principle of collaboration by bringing in Bob Herbert, a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the think tank Demos and the author of Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America, as our keynote speaker. Previously, Bob was an opinion columnist for The New York Times for 18 years, where he established himself as a leading voice for the working poor and middle class. Bob spoke on a wide array of issues facing middle class Americans today; from housing instability to poverty, to the power of ordinary citizens.