HealthCorps Green Garden Gala

Dr. Mehmet Oz & Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy

THE THE BUZZ: On Thursday, April 30th, 2009, I did the red carpet interviews for the HealthCorps Annual Green Garden Gala. The event raised over $1 million to expand HealthCorps’ groundbreaking in-school health educational and mentoring program, which is growing across the country. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Founder and Chairman of HealthCorps, and his wife Lisa co-hosted the Gala held at the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center in New York City.

It was a treat to interview a stellar group of notables, including:

Quincy Jones, Music Genius Extraordinaire who received the “Music for a Better Life” Award

LL Cool J, Actor, Musician and Entrepreneur

Russell Simmons, Music producer and CEO of Rush Communications

Ben Vereen, Broadway Actor, Dancer and Singer

Donna Karan, Fashion Designer and Founder of the Urban Zen Foundation

Dr. Michael Roizen, Author and CWO of Cleveland Clinic

Rocco Di Spirito, Author and Celebrity Chef

Kevin Liles, Executive Vice President of Warner Music Group

Governor David A. Paterson, Governor of New York State

BK Boreyko, CEO of New Vision & Vemma

…and a handful of others. Watch the video:

The night kicked off with an amazing opening number choreographed by dancer/performer Step Stewart. We also had performances by the incredible musician Wyclef Jean and iconic songwriting and recording duo Ashford & Simpson. I also caught up with functional medicine pioneer Dr. Mark Hyman, cardiologist Dr. Alan Gass and his wife, founder of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition Joshua Rosenthal, and Urban Zen’s Rachel Goldstein. Since the President of HealthCorps is Wellesley College friend/fellow alum Michelle Bouchard, we had a Wellesley crew there including Ann Simmons, Yong Cedro, and Andrea DuBois. Much thanks to Jason Schuler of Awakened Films for his expert camerawork.

It was a special night for an important cause. Find out more about HealthCorps and check out some of the pictures from my interviews. It was a rare occasion that I tamed my natural curls and had blowdried straight hair. View additional pictures from the event on Facebook.

Contributed by Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, Ph.D., MBA