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Oakland Museum of Cailfornia Announces Innovative Benefit Gala

(OAKLAND, CA)—The public will have a creative  opportunity to envision the future of California as part of an innovative, entertaining and engaging process at the Oakland Museum of California’s May 10 benefit gala, OMCA NEXT: Reflect, Refract, Reveal. A celebration of the Museum’s new vision to inspire California’s future and foster the next generation of the state’s stewards, citizens, innovators and creators, the special evening benefits the Museum’s renowned school tours and education programs.

The evening will focus on the Museum’s role as a leader in shaping the future of Oakland, the Bay Area, and California as a whole, that is reflected in its history and tradition, shaped by the many facets of today’s culture, and revealed through the next generation. Oakland A’s Vice President and General Manager Billy Beane is the honorary chair and Jennifer Walker is the event committee chair. The event will feature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres by Grace Street Catering in the Museum’s terraced gardens, dinner by Barbara Llewellyn Catering paired with Keenan wines, a live auction, and dancing to the Richard Olsen Orchestra. Tickets are priced from $500 and may be purchased online at museumca.org/next.

Event Chair Jennifer Walker says, “OMCA NEXT will be a fun and engaging event bringing together the community to support the Museum’s education and outreach programs while we look at where we have come from, where we stand as an incredibly diverse and energizing state, and where the next generation will lead us!”

Funds raised at OMCA NEXT support school tours and education programs. OMCA is uniquely poised to address learning approaches that align with the most visionary aspects of California’s new Common Core State Standards, and its core value of innovation. The Museum is currently redefining its education practices—which serve over 40,000 school children each year—to include critical thinking, interdisciplinary learning, use of new technologies, and creative problem solving.

Event Committees and Sponsors

Chaired by Jennifer Walker with Honorary Chair Billy Beane, the OMCA NEXT committee includes Auction Chair Rachelle Sessions, Eileen Ash, Valerie Corvin, Karen Eichler, Silvia Fernandez, Rodney Haynes, Fiona Ma, Jennifer Murphy, Micaëla van Zwoll, and Natalie Williamson. The Honorary Committee comprises Andrea Alfano and Charles Freiberg, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Betts, Stephen and Dale Block, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, Renee Bott, Senator Barbara Boxer, Barbara S. Bream, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Christopoulos, Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan, Robin and Rich Edwards, Kimberly and Mark Epstein, Vincent and Claire Faughnan, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Gretchen and Tom Gibson, State Senator Loni Hancock, Tony and Angela Harris, Jan O’Brien and Craig Hartman, Beth and Joe Hurwich, Kimberly Johansson, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Christopher H. Lee, Mr. and Mrs. John Malick, Dr. and Mrs. Roger A. Mann, Ms. Anita I. Martinez, John L. McDonnell, Jr., Sarah Milne, Pam Paulson, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Carolyn Sheaff, Tiffany Shlain, Barclay and Sharon Simpson, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, Svea Lin Soll, Katrina Traywick,, Sandra and Steven Wolfe, and Mr. and Mrs. John Wyro.

The evening is sponsored by Barclay and Sharon Simpson, Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Jennifer Walker and Michael Keenan, Eileen Ash and Frank Arthur, Barney & Barney, LLC, Blue Shield of California, The Clorox Company, Scott and Valerie Corvin, Karen and David Eichler, Richard and Beth DeAtley, First Republic Bank, Gateway Bank, Lance and Katherine Gyorfi, Kaiser Permanente, John L. McDonnell, Jr., Barbara and Christopher McLain, Pacific Union/Christie’s International Real Estate Peter Pervere and Georgia Cassel, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Dorine Holsey Streeter and Jon Streeter, Jennifer Wolch and Michael Dear, Armanino LLP, Cahill Contractors, Inc., Frannie and Mike Cooley, Thomas and Gretchen Gibson, Tracy and Mark Ferron, Virginia Robinson Furth, Joe and Beth Hurwich Maria DiGrande Rescalvo and Glenn Rescalvo, Kay and Sandy Walker, Bruce and Patti Westphal, Bay Alarm Company, Joan and Roger A. Mann, Ojo Technology, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Handumy Tahan.

About Billy Beane
OMCA NEXT welcomes Billy Beane as Honorary Chair. Billy and the Oakland A’s share with OMCA a commitment to Oakland and Bay Area youth, particularly in the areas of education and access for underserved youth.

Considered one of the most progressive and talented baseball executives in the game today, Billy Beane has molded the Athletics into one of baseball’s most respected teams since assuming the general manager’s duties after the 1997 season. As architect of a team that has won back-to-back American League West crowns the past two seasons, Beane has recently been recognized with several industry awards. In 2012, he was named Baseball America’s Major League Executive of the Year, and was selected The Sporting News Executive of the Year for a second time in his career in 2012. He also earned MLB.com’s Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Award as the 2012 MLB Executive of the Year and the 2012 Legacy Awards’ Rube Foster Award as AL Executive of the Year (presented by the Negro League Baseball Museum).

Beane’s executive talents and the organization’s baseball philosophy were the subject of Michael Lewis’ best-selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and subsequent full-length motion picture, which opened the eyes of many of the top sports executives and business CEOs in the nation.