2023 Avivo Night of Champions Speakers and Entertainment

Join us for Avivo Night of Champions – an annual fundraiser and magical evening of honoring community champions and raising funds for Avivo’s life-changing services. We will be presenting the 2023 Avivo Champion Awards to recipients, honoring their longstanding dedication and support. Guests will enjoy a reception with live music, appetizers, cash bar, silent auction, and games, before dinner and a program of inspiring speakers and entertainers.

VIP Admission gives access to all General Admission benefits, plus an exclusive pre-event reception that includes wine, beer, soft drinks and appetizers, as well as free parking. This benefit offers the opportunity to meet and talk to community champions from all walks of life, as well as meet other influential people who are passionate about Avivo’s work.

Guest Speaker

Peggy Flanagan
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Peggy Flanagan is a mom, an advocate, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and Minnesota’s 50th Lieutenant Governor. Her career is built on standing up for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented.

As a former State Representative, School Board Member, non-profit leader, and community advocate, she now brings her experiences of building coalitions and advocating for children and families to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office as she works in partnership with Governor Walz to build One Minnesota.

 

Emcee

Reg Chapman
Reporter, WCCO 

Reg Chapman came to WCCO from WNBC-TV in New York City where he covered an array of stories including the Coney Island, N.Y., plane crash and 50 shots fired at motorist Sean Bell by New York Police. Prior to that, Reg was a crime beat reporter at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis. He also reported at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, PA, where he covered the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Before that, Reg was a reporter/anchor for WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio, WOWT-TV in Omaha, Nebraska, and KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa.

A Gulf War veteran, Reg graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he earned a bachelor of science degree in broadcast journalism. He has received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting, several Associated Press awards, honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, and the YMCA honored him as a Black Achiever.

Entertainment

Ashley DuBose
Recording artist and performer

Ashley DuBose is a recording artist and performer who is most widely known for her hit single, “Intoxicated”, and her compelling audition and performances on Season 5 of NBC’s The Voice in 2013. Just prior to that, she worked on her first independent, full-length album Somethin’ More while juggling college and parenting her two-year-old daughter. It released in 2012, a day before she graduated with a B.A. in mathematics from St. Catherine University. Ashley was chosen “Best Vocalist (Female)” by City Pages (2014) and released her second album Be You (2015). In addition to parenting, writing and performing music, teaching, and doing on-camera and voice-over acting, she feels privileged to travel the world performing at private and corporate events.

Learn more about Ashley at https://www.ashleydubose.com/

Mikaela Brandon
Performing artist and professional dancer

Mikaela Brandon is a performing artist (SAG-AFTRA) originally from Warren, NJ. She is a graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, Hubbard Street Professional Training Program (HSPro), and is in the process of completing Sonic Yoga NYC’s 300Hr Yoga Teacher Training Program. Additionally, she has studied at Dance Lab New York, Springboard Danse Montréal, TL Collective, Ballet Hispánico, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

Mikaela has worked closely with choreographers such as Helen Simoneau, Jennifer Archibald, Bradley Shelver, Adam Barruch, and Cleo Mack, amongst many others. She has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Matthew Rushing, Amy Hall-Garner, Rena Butler, Fernando Melo, Gregory Dolbashian, Darshan Bhuller, Khensani Mathebula and more at the following venues: Ailey Citigroup Theater, David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, Usine C, NJPAC, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Studebaker Theater, and Logan Center for the Arts. Mikaela has worked as an actor for 15+ years within TV/film, commercials/music videos, industrials, and site-specific projects. She has also been a choreographer/educator with the following organizations: The Ailey School, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Hubbard Street Dance Center, Mckoy Dance Project || MDP, and Coalesce Dance Collective. During COVID-19, Mikaela volunteered with Dance Artists’ National Collective (DANC) to help provide equitable, sustainable working conditions for dancers within the field.

Currently, Mikaela continues to explore her body through various movement/somatic practices, concepts of philosophy/psychology, as well as poetry/spoken word. She enjoys investigating herself as an energetic being in space, using the breath as a tool for expression, connection, and understanding. Read more