Salvadori Center hosts Annual Cocktail Benefit on May 11th; Honored Kanner of Brookfield Office Properties, Grillo of NYC School Construction Authority and Brazil of Thornton Tomasetti

Salvadori Center hosted its sold-out Annual Cocktail Benefit on May 11 at The Atrium Shops and Cafés for a standing-room-only crowd of over 400 guests. The event honored three prominent women for their contributions to the fields of business, design and public service with the Founder's Awards for Excellence and saluted their work promoting STEM fields. This year's honorees were Sabrina Kanner, senior vice president, design and construction, Brookfield Office Properties; Lorraine Grillo, president & CEO, NYC School Construction Authority; and Aine Brazil, vice chairman, Thornton Thomasetti. The Annual Cocktail Benefit is one of the city's most successful networking events for building industry professionals. The event's unprecedented attendance provided direct support for Salvadori Center's mission: to provide collaborative, hands-on project-based learning experiences for students and professional development for teachers throughout all five boroughs of New York City. The event raised approximately $450,000, which will fund Salvadori's ongoing programs. For more than 35 years, the Salvadori Center has enabled students to see the math and science in the buildings, bridges, landmarks and parks that make-up their local communities. All too often students ask, "Why do I need to know this?" They question the relevance of math and science to their lives and their futures. Through hands-on projects and personal exploration, Salvadori programs give students the tools they need to answer this question. Students see the math and science within the classrooms they enter, the bridges they cross, the parks they play in and the buildings they see every day. Salvadori students see their world differently. They understand how buildings stand up, how bridges can carry such heavy loads and, more importantly, the significance of math and science knowledge and its impact on their everyday lives. For more information, please contact the Salvadori Center at (212) 870-3970 or go to www.salvadori.org.ña, NYC Department of Education.