On June 9th, these twenty candidates, who had a goal of raising $1.6 million for The Leukemia & LymphomaSociety (LLS), joined together at the 2018 Man & Woman of the Year Grand Finale to celebrate the culmination of this friendly fundraising competition and the announcement of the winners, as well as the total mission impact of this year’s campaign -- $1.89 million.

Over 500 guests attended the event at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios, which was hosted by actress Alison Haislip.

The night began with Candidate introductions, followed by a moment to honor young blood cancer survivors, Rafael Sanchez (13) and Aliya Hall (8), who were this year’s Boy & Girl of the Year.

The program featured 2 distinguished speakers who shared their incredible journey and experience with blood cancers. Dr. John Timmerman, an immunologist and oncologist who currently serves as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, began with a thank you to LLS and all the supporters. He then spoke on the partnership between LLS and research institutions and what new therapies are bringing hope to patients thanks to this partnership. The second speaker, 2017 Man of the Year candidate and 2018 Leadership Committee Co-Chair Andrew Dale, told the story of his own blood cancer diagnosisand how he credits his survivorship to those who came before him who donated to and fundraised for LLS. He ended by asking everyone in the room to take out their phones, go to June 9, 2028 on their calendars and add “I saved a life today.”

The night concluded with the announcement of the winners of the coveted Man and Woman of the Year titles. The 2018 Woman of the Year title was awarded to Randi Kaefer, a cancer survivor and mother of two. Charlie Schlatter, an actor with chronic myeloid leukemia, an incurable but highly treatable blood cancer, took home the 2018 Man of The Year award. The Runners-Up were Lauren Rosenberg of Trooper Entertainment and Mike Madokoro of Bowman and Brooke LLP.

The 2018 Man and Woman Candidates were Racheli Alkobey, Jasmine Berganza, Glenn Bronson, Jared Bruss, Rijon Charne, Kurt Gulsvig, Randi Kaefer, Kaitlin Lindsey, Jen Lucero, Mike H. Madokoro, Andre Morris, Mike Moskowitz, Jen M. Ramos, Lauren Rosenberg, Charlie Schlatter, Tia Shipman, Stephan Taylor, Armand Vasquez, Tamra Evonne Wallerstein and Elysa Williams.

The Man & Woman of the Year campaign would not be possible without the esteemed Leadership Committee – a group of 30 high-level volunteers who have been working behind-the-scenes since last August to identify & nominate candidates, coach & support them, secure auction items, develop a strategic vision and fundraise in honor of a specific Candidate and/or the Boy & Girl of the Year. The Leadership Committee is led by Co-Chairs Ryan Carley of Esterline Mason, Andrew Dale of Ohio National Financial Services, and Diana Iorlano of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.

Together, our Los Angeles Candidates & Leadership Committee members raised a record-breaking $1,897,878 in just 10-weeks.

ABOUT MAN & WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Man & Woman of the Year is a spirited campaign which brings together community and business leaders to compete to raise as much money as possible in 10 weeks. All funds raised support the live-saving mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Previous candidates have included entrepreneurs, actors, athletes and executives from local and national companies with strong connections to the Greater Los Angeles community. Candidates compete in honor of local children who are blood cancer survivors, the Boy & Girl of the Year.

ABOUT THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding research, finding cures and ensuring access to treatments for blood cancer patients. Since 1949, LLS has been on the forefront of blood cancer advances such as chemotherapies and stem cell transplantationleading the way to the targeted therapies and immunotherapies that are saving thousands of lives today. LLS is changing the landscape of cancer with more than 300 active research projects that explore different avenues of new and adventurous research; ones with promise and ones that will save lives not someday, but today.

To learn more about The Man & Woman of the year campaign, please visit http://www.mwoy.org/california-southland/los-angeles or contact Kersten Haile at (310) 342-5807 or [email protected].