2024 Fundraising Celebration!

We are back with our fundraising celebration! We have another incredible evening planned full of art, music, and friends.

All proceeds will go toward You Got This, Kid! Leadership Foundation's mission to develop young leaders through immersive learning experiences while driving positive change for those living with lupus and for our environment.

The event will include features from:

Cathy Engelbert, WNBA Commissioner as our Leadership Honoree
Ben Soffer, Founder of Spritz Society, Podcaster and Social Media Influencer
Mckenna Haz, Founder of Seaav
Karin Wagner, Co-Founder of YGTK! and Founder of Invigorate
Henry Ristuccia, Street Photographer, view his photos on Instagram
Mike Juergens, Founder of the Bhutan Wine Company, Certified Specialist of Wine and Certified Sommelier
Original artwork from book illustrator Alexia Papavasilakis

Leadership Honoree: Cathy Engelbert

In July of 2019, Cathy Engelbert was named the first-ever Commissioner of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and is charged with elevating the sport of women's basketball and leading a multi-dimensional business transformation.

Prior to the WNBA, Cathy retired as the CEO of Deloitte in June of 2019, after 33 years with the firm. Elected as Deloitte CEO in 2015, she was the first woman CEO in the history of a Big Four professional services firm.

Cathy is a member of the Board of Directors of McDonald’s Corporation, Royalty Pharma, and the USGA Executive Committee. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Partnership for New York City and is member of the Business Council,

Council on the Foreign Relations, and Catalyst, a global non-profit organization that promotes inclusive workplaces for women.

She has been listed as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women for four consecutive years, was ranked on Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards honoring the 100 Highest Rated CEOs, and is one of Fast Company magazine’s Most Productive People. In 2021, Engelbert was listed on the Forbes’ ‘50 Over 50’ list and Adweek’s ’40 Women to Watch’.

Henry Ristuccia

YGTK! is proud to have Henry Ristuccia, Street Photographer, and his photos featured at our event.

Henry is a native New Yorker who currently resides in South Florida, with significant portions of time spent traveling. He continuously seeks ways to create motivating energy for himself, positive energy for others, and supportive energy for his community and our society. This can be seen throughout his photography.

In addition to his passion for photography, Henry is the President of Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter in East Hanover, New Jersey.

He also serves on the boards of Picnic Corporation (a cybersecurity company) and Bhutan Wine Company, and is an Investment Partner and Advisor at York IE (a highly-rated venture capital firm). Henry recently retired from Deloitte, where he held various global and domestic leadership positions.

Henry has generously offered to donate all proceeds of his photos sold at the YGTK! event in support of our mission; to foster the development of young leaders while driving positive change for people with Lupus and our environment.

Michael Juergens

Michael Juergens is a senior partner with a Big Four consulting firm, where he runs the Winery Solutions and Services practice, overseeing the portfolio of services the firm provides to wineries. He is also a certified specialist of wine, a certified sommelier, and a Stage 2 candidate to become the 61st American to qualify as a Master of Wine.

Michael has written a number of books on wine, and runs the wildly popular Drinking & Knowing Things wine blog.

He is the founder of the Bhutan Wine Company, and is leading the development of the wine industry in this magical Himalayan country.

He owns the award winning SoCal Rum company, which was recently awarded the highest point score in history for any silver rum (95 points).

Michael plays the drums in a punk rock band, and spends his free time running adventure races in exotic locales around the world, building hot rods, diving with great white sharks, and racing motorcycles.

Alexia Papavasilakis

Alexia is a New York-based draftswoman and illustrator. She received her BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design in 2021 and her MFA in drawing from the New York Academy of Art in 2023.

YOU GOT THIS, KID! Words of Advice for Young Leaders is the first full-length book that her work has been published in, but her practice now resides in comics and graphic novels, with storytelling at the forefront of her work.

From her 2023 residency with West Nottingham Academy, to her achievement as a finalist in Manifest Gallery’s 20th exhibition, to her appearances at Brooklyn Comic Con, Alexia’s work has been recognized and celebrated by a variety of spaces in the art world.

Mckenna Haz

Born and raised on an island, Mckenna has always called the ocean home. Since the Fukushima earthquake at age 12 sent waves of waste from Japan to her local shorelines on the West Coast of Canada, she’s been on a mission to protect it.

Today, Mckenna is the ocean advocate, founder, and visionary behind SEAAV, a sustainable activewear brand. From ocean cleanups to wellness events, she’s built a community of active women and women-owned brands that care for the ocean as they care for themselves.

With a background in Advertising and Integrated Communications and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Quinnipiac University, Mckenna is also a former NCAA Division 1 Rugby athlete. She launched SEAAV from her dorm room, combining her love for wellness, sustainability, and the sea into a brand that represents a movement.

We're in our wellness era—and that includes the ocean.

Ben Soffer

Ben Soffer is the founder and CEO of Spritz Society, an award-winning line of premium spritzers that burst onto the scene in 2021. Launched as a direct-to-consumer brand, Spritz Society has quickly expanded its reach to retail outlets across multiple U.S. markets.

Leveraging his massive social media presence as the creator of @BoyWithNoJob and with over 2.5 million followers across platforms, Ben played a pivotal role in shaping the brand by engaging his audience in decisions around packaging design, flavor selection, messaging, and more.

In addition to his entrepreneurial ventures, Ben co-hosts the popular podcast "Good Guys" alongside actor Josh Peck, where they chat about everything pop culture and celebrity guests, and complain about how ridiculous life can be.

A graduate of Yeshiva University, Ben began his career in marketing, leading influencer and social strategies for Fortune