Alita T. Wingfield, 2023 Zero Tolerance Honoree

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence.

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence. This year, we are thrilled to present the 2023 Zero Tolerance Award to Alita T. Wingfield, Managing Director & Head of Compliance Training at Morgan Stanley.

INTRODUCING ALITA

Alita T. Wingfield is a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and the Head of Compliance Training. Alita joined the firm in 2004 as a Director in the Legal and Compliance Division (LCD) and later served as the Head of Non-Market Risk at Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. She was named Vice President in 2005, Executive Director in 2011, and Managing Director in 2021.

In 2022, Alita was appointed Co-Chair of the Firm’s Black Employee Network. She is also a member of the Legal and Compliance Division Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee and the past Co-Chair of the Division’s Diversity and Inclusion Network. Alita was awarded the 2013 NYC Bar Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award and the 2013 Corporate Counsel Women of Color Individual Star Diversity Award of Excellence. In 2021, she was also awarded the Council of Urban Professionals Law Catalyst Award.

Alita has been involved with Sanctuary for over 10 years and served on Sanctuary’s Board from 2014-2018. She has inspired many from the Morgan Stanley community to engage in Sanctuary’s work, ranging from pro bono projects to financial support.

Before joining Morgan Stanley, Alita was a litigation associate at Paul Weiss. Alita graduated from Spelman College, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in Political Science in 1994. She also holds a J. D. from Howard University School of Law, cum /aude, and an LL. M. in Trial Advocacy, cum laude, from Temple University Beasley School of Law. She resides in Burlington, NJ, with her husband, Eddie, and their four children.

Yana Lukeman, 2023 Zero Tolerance Honoree

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence.

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence. This year, we are thrilled to present the 2023 Zero Tolerance Award to Yana Lukeman, activist and former co-chair of Sanctuary’s Family Council.

INTRODUCING YANA

Yana Lukeman has been involved with Sanctuary for Families for over 15 years. She was one of the earliest leaders of Sanctuary’s Family Council (originally called the Mother’s Council}, a group of parents who volunteer with their children in support of Sanctuary’s clients and mission. Yana has always believed strongly in the importance of teaching children about philanthropy
and has spent years providing hands-on enrichment to Sanctuary’s youngest clients with her own children.

She has created and executed countless projects that brighten the holidays for clients of Sanctuary, including Mother’s Day care packages and personalized gift baskets for Valentine’s Day. She and her family have been loyal participants at the annual Thanksgiving celebrations for clients, complete with buffet dinners and activities for children. Yana has hosted numerous events
in her home to share Sanctuary’s mission with a broader community, and has brought awareness and support to Sanctuary projects like the Orthodox Jewish Matrimonial Initiative and the Technology-Facilitated Abuse Initiative.

Through all this and more, Yana has become a passionate supporter and an enthusiastic advocate of Sanctuary’s holistic model. Her passion has inspired many others to join the Sanctuary community.

An immigrant from Israel and a former public school teacher, Yana serves on the national board of directors for AIPAC and is a founding member of the women’s division. Yana completed her undergraduate degree at George Washington University and received her Masters at Columbia University. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children.

Jennifer L. Kroman, 2023 Zero Tolerance Honoree

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence.

Every year, at our Zero Tolerance Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have significantly contributed to the movement to end gender-based violence. This year, we are thrilled to present the 2023 Zero Tolerance Award to Jennifer L. Kroman, co-founder of the FurtherJustice Foundation, Inc.

INTRODUCING JENNIFER

Jennifer is a lifelong champion of creating opportunities for underrepresented individuals and communities, including survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Most recently, she co-founded FurtherJustice Foundation, which helps community-based organizations launch and expand civil legal services programs.

Prior to that, Jennifer spent more than a decade as the leader of the award-winning pro bona practice at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb. Throughout her career, including as an associate and partner at Cleary, Jennifer provided direct legal services to hundreds of low-income clients. She also has trained scores of pro bono lawyers around the country to represent human trafficking survivors and has helped launch numerous pro bono legal service programs.

Jennifer has been involved with Sanctuary for Families for more than 25 years. She has personally taken on some of Sanctuary’s most challenging pro bono cases. Jennifer joined Sanctuary’s Board in 2014 and has been a source of invaluable wisdom and guidance for the past nine years.

In addition to being honored by Sanctuary, Jennifer has been honored by The Legal Aid Society, The Freedom Network, and the New York City Bar Justice Center for her work with low-income New Yorkers, immigrant children, and human trafficking survivors.

Jennifer received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Michigan.

To Young Survivors of Domestic Violence, Summer Camp Brings Hope

This summer, Sanctuary will be leading the second Camp HOPE America: New York. Learn how this trauma-informed camp is helping young victims of domestic violence heal and find hope again.

Annika is a Development Intern at Sanctuary and a high school rising senior at Friends Seminary in New York City. She is passionate about politics and criminal justice and hopes to study government in college.

Summer camp is a place where children can disconnect from technology, be active, grow independent, develop their social skills, connect with nature, and make life long memories and friends. It offers young people an escape from their routines at home, and an outlet to have fun and express themselves freely. For some children, summer camp is the only place where they can truly be kids.

Children who are impacted by domestic violence often have no choice but to grow up quickly, missing essential childhood milestones that inform their development and personal growth. Domestic violence affects roughly 1 in 4 women in the United States; as a result, approximately 15.5 million children in the United States live in families where domestic violence has been perpetrated. Some children and adolescents have no choice but to take on parental roles in the household, act as guardians to younger siblings and take care of their abused parent. Others may turn to risky behavior, including drug use and gang affiliation, to cope with their stressful home environments. Either way, domestic violence robs kids and teens of their childhoods, leading to lifelong trauma and behavioral problems that often promote the continuation of the cycle of violence. Sleepaway camps offer young survivors of domestic violence the chance to be kids, removed from the potential stresses and dangers of their families’ living circumstances.

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In 2018, Sanctuary partnered with Camp HOPE America to run the first session of Camp HOPE New York, a one week sleep away camp that affords children affected by domestic violence the opportunity to access crucial childhood experiences that they may have missed out on as a result of abuse. With its specialized trauma-informed approach and dedicated staff, Camp HOPE is designed to specifically meet the needs of each child who attends. At Camp HOPE, campers enjoy classic outdoor activities that help to build trust and confidence in themselves and their peers. Each session of Sanctuary’s Camp HOPE has approximately 36 campers and 14 counselors, yielding an impressive >3 to 1 camper to counselor ratio which ensures that every camper gets the personalized attention they may need. Camp HOPE America’s website states, “Hope reflects an individual’s capacity to develop pathways and dedicate agency toward desirable goals.” Using the ‘Children’s HOPE Scale’, Camp HOPE America has seen increased growth in its campers’ capacities for hope over the course of several summers.

Andrea Yeriazarian, Sanctuary’s Program Director for Children and Family Services, works closely with the staff at Camp HOPE to ensure that it is a positive experience for campers and counselors alike. When I spoke to Andrea about her experience at Camp HOPE New York last year, she described some of the activities that help campers get the most out of their time there: “Each day, our campers read a story about someone who went through a difficult childhood — which could have included violence, or war, or any number of things — and who were able to find support outside of their family and become a very successful adult. We would then gather around a campfire to discuss these stories and talk about how, despite what happened in the past or what we’re going through now, there is always be hope for a better future. The definition of HOPE that we use is ‘believing in yourself, believing in your dreams, and believing in others’, so those stories are meant to teach the campers that if you believe in yourself and reach out for support from others, that you can achieve your dreams”.

When I asked Andrea how counselors support campers who struggle with taking risks, she described a Camp HOPE motto, ‘challenge by choice’. She explained, “…for some kids who are afraid of water, their challenge by choice might just be putting on a bathing suit and standing on the shore.” Kids are not pressured into doing anything that makes them uncomfortable; rather, they are encouraged to set goals, to challenge themselves, and to overcome their fears.

As we were wrapping up our conversation, Andrea shared a success story from Sanctuary’s first session of Camp HOPE New York:

“A camper told us that trying out new things at Camp– things she had been worried about but that she did really well at – gave her the courage to try out for a school sports team for the first time. She now felt confident and ready to take on new challenges, because she knew she could do it.”

Childhood is a precious time that should be full of fun and excitement, not violence and trauma. All campers who attended Sanctuary’s Camp HOPE last summer had overwhelmingly positive experiences and those who are eligible look forward to returning this summer.  

If you would like to support Sanctuary for Families’ second Camp HOPE and our youngest clients, please click here.