Venice Family Clinic honors Ivy Kagn Bierman and Russel tyner at the Annual Silver Circle Gala

The Clinic will recognize Kagan Bierman for being an advocate for women during the height of the #MeToo era, and Tyner for his service to the organization over the past 30 years

Venice Family Clinic hosts its 37th annual Silver Circle Gala on Monday, March 25 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where Ivy Kagan Bierman will be receiving the organization’s prestigious Humanitarian Award for her commitment to empower women and minorities, fight for justice and advocate for greater equity for women and minorities in the workplace. Kagan Bierman serves as a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP, the Vice Chair of Civil Rights for the Anti-Defamation League, and is a member of the Legal, Legislative and Policy Committee on Sexual Harassment and Gender Parity, and the Safety Committee, for Time’s Up. Russel Tyner, AIA, NCARB, President, Principal Architect and Co-Founder, Houston/Tyner Architects, will also be honored at the gala with the Clinic’s Irma Colen Leadership Award for his volunteer work with Venice Family Clinic over the past 34 years.

The Silver Circle Gala, sponsored by UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will begin with a cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m., and will feature live performances from Grammy-nominated artists, Carmen Bradford and Shelly Berg. 

As an entertainment partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP, Ivy Kagan Bierman represents entertainment and related companies in high profile transactional and litigation matters. She is currently focused on handling a myriad of matters related to the #MeToo movement while conducting cultural assessments for various organizations to help them shift their office cultures. Throughout her career, Kagan Bierman has dedicated herself to giving back to the entertainment industry and to the community through social, political and philanthropic activities. In addition to her work with Time’s Up and the ADL, her other nonprofit activities include being the acting President and a founder of GreenLight Women, an entertainment industry women’s alliance that promotes diversity and champions women 40 and over.

“We admire Ivy for her relentless work to advance civil rights and promote equity for women and minorities – all values that we share at Venice Family Clinic,” said Elizabeth Benson Forer, CEO and Executive Director of Venice Family Clinic. “We are proud to salute her and celebrate the achievements of women advancing social justice in pursuit of women’s health and safety.”

The Irma Colen Leadership Award recognizes those who invest time and talent to personally support and advance the mission of Venice Family Clinic. Russel Tyner, this year’s recipient, began volunteering with Venice Family Clinic in 1985 as a project architect for Widom Wein Cohen where he led the design of the two-story expansion of the Clinic’s original Rose Avenue site in Venice. After founding his current practice, Houston/Tyner, in 1988 with his partner, Gary Houston, Tyner continued volunteering with Venice Family Clinic and joined the Board of Directors in 1990. Over the past three decades, Tyner has successfully merged his personal passion for philanthropy with his professional expertise in architecture and has been the driving force behind Houston/Tyner’s continued efforts assisting the Venice Family Clinic with long range planning, master planning and creating innovative workspaces at clinical facilities.

Said Elizabeth Forer, CEO and Executive Director of Venice Family Clinic, “Russel has been a true partner in the growth of Venice Family Clinic over the years. He has designed state-of-the-art clinics that have allowed us to provide high quality health care in safe and welcoming spaces. We’re honored to celebrate his achievements with the Irma Colen Leadership Award.”

The Humanitarian Award Honorary Committee is comprised of Nina Shaw, Iris Grossman, Rick Olshansky, Marion Rosenberg, O.B.E., Susan Sprung and David White; and the Irma Colen Leadership Award Honorary Committee includes Brandon and Courtney Cash, Jim Balla, Kita Curry and Al Ballesteros.

The Silver Circle Gala will raise more than $1.5 million this year to help Venice Family Clinic provide health care to thousands of low-income and uninsured families and individuals.

For inquiries regarding Venice Family Clinic or Silver Circle Gala, please contact Naveena Ponnusamy at 310-664-7932 or email [email protected].

About Venice Family Clinic 
Venice Family Clinic’s mission is to provide quality primary health care to people in need. Opened in 1970, the Clinic has grown immensely from a small operation and now the largest community health center on the Westside of Los Angeles. With more than 1,300 volunteers, including nearly 400 physicians, Venice Family Clinic provides comprehensive medical, behavioral health, dental, vision, child development, health education and health insurance enrollment services to 28,000 men, women and children annually through 12 sites in Venice, Santa Monica, Mar Vista, Inglewood and Culver City.

For more information, visit venicefamilyclinic.org.

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