The Colleagues To Honor Katy Perry With Champion Of Children Award At Spring Luncheon

The 35th Annual Colleagues Spring Luncheon will present philanthropist and global pop superstar Katy Perry with The Colleagues Champion of Children Award, which honors those who have made a lasting impact on the lives of children.

Perry co-founded The Firework Foundation in 2019 with her sister Angela Lerche, with the mission of empowering children in underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts. Its programming includes a summer camp that Perry herself attends, supervising workshops on songwriting, music production, and choreography, and, most recently, camp alumni opportunities, including partnerships with LA's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, "Firework" producing duo Stargate's Los Angeles Academy of Artists and Music Production, and the Sidney Poitier New American Film School.

Actress, comedian, author, and producer Ali Wentworth is hosting.

The luncheon will take place at 11:00 am on Thursday, April 25th at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (9500 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills) and will include a fashion show from Oscar de la Renta's fall 2024 collection designed by Co-Creative Directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia.

About Katy Perry

Katy Perry is the biggest-selling female artist in Capitol Records history and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having racked up a cumulative 115 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 70 million adjusted albums and 140 million tracks. She was the first artist in RIAA history to earn three RIAA Diamond Song Awards - for "Firework," "Dark Horse" and the now 15x Platinum single "Roar."

Aside from being a globally successful artist, Katy is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes. As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for over a decade, Katy has used her powerful voice to ensure every child's right to health, education, equality, and protection. Katy is also a longtime champion for LGBTQ+ equality and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Trevor Project's Hero Award in 2012, UNICEF's Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award in 2016, the Human Rights Campaign's National Equality Award in 2017, amfAR's Award of Courage in 2018, and Variety's Power of Women distinction in 2021 for her work with her own foundation, the Firework Foundation, whose mission is to empower children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts.

About the Colleagues

Founded in 1950, the Colleagues, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, are a group of 65 active women and over 25 sustaining members who volunteer their time and expertise to support underserved women, children, and families in Los Angeles. Their mission is funded through sales from the Colleagues Room in Santa Monica, a resale boutique fully staffed by colleague volunteers and their annual Spring Luncheon and Fashion Show, a longstanding social event featuring the Champion of Children award given each year to a renowned honoree. In their efforts to serve Los Angeles' most vulnerable children harmed by community and family violence, abuse and neglect, the Colleagues have raised and donated more than $40 million to numerous organizations including the United Peace Officers Against Crime (UPAC) summer camp and sent relief donations to the International Medical Corp to help children and families in Ukraine. Most recently, the Colleagues have made substantial contributions to the Los Angeles House of Ruth benefitting survivors of domestic violence, FosterAll recruiting foster families from faith-based communities, Operation Progress LA supporting South LA school children and the Los Angeles Police Foundation. In 2023 the Colleagues gave a large grant to The Joyful Heart Foundation to support the healing of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.