WPSR’s Health Justice Gala
Mercer Island Community & Events Center
Friday September 22, 2023

missed the gala? You can still DONATE HERE!

Watch Videos of the best moments from WPSR’s 2023 Health Justice Gala!

Hilary Franz - Keynote

Dr. David Hall - Lifetime achievement award

Dr. Bessie Young - Paul Beeson AWARD

Our Keynote Speaker
Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz leads Washington state’s wildfire fighting force and manages nearly 6 million acres of public lands. Under Franz’s leadership, DNR has built a robust clean-energy program to help combat the climate crisis and create clean energy jobs. For the first time in Washington state history, the agency has leased state trust lands for solar power projects. Franz has also expanded DNR’s wind power program, with wind turbines on state trust lands that can generate 200 megawatts of power, which raise millions to build public schools and universities. Franz is a third-generation farmer and small forest landowner, and has three boys who she raised on a farm. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and a juris doctor from Northeastern University Law School. Watch her keynote address here!

Our Emcee
Laura Skelton

From 2014 to 2019, Laura proudly served as the Executive Director of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. During her tenure at WPSR, she helped found the statewide coalition, Washington Against Nuclear Weapons. Since departing WPSR, Laura has primarily served in interim leadership roles – for nonprofit organizations working on diverse issues including homelessness, food security, commercial sexual exploitation, senior care, and more. Laura has her own consulting practice (Skelton Consulting) and is a Senior Consultant for the Valtas Group.

Our Auctioneer
Kevin Joyce

Kevin has hosted hundreds of events, and auctioneered for over 500 regional and national non-profits, in the process becoming one of the most popular and sought-after hosts in the Pacific Northwest. He co-founded Vashon Island’s UMO Ensemble, and created and hosted the TV show Big Night Out for two seasons on the Seattle Channel. Kevin has designed and facilitated at the United Nations and the World Health Assembly in Geneva, and provided communications training for scores of healthcare and other organizations throughout the US. Kevin was raised in Minneapolis and holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership (Pinchot University) and a BA in Comparative Religion (Bowdoin).

2023 Dr. Bruce Amundson
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. David C. Hall

The 2023 WPSR Lifetime achievement award will be presented to DR. David C Hall for his decades of dedication and myriad contributions to the work of WPSR, PSR, and on behalf of peace, justice, and health in Washington state and beyond. David is a child and adolescent psychiatrist trained at the University of Washington, and served on the WPSR Board from 1983-2011 and rejoined the board in 2014. He served on the national PSR Board from 1991-1998 and 2003-2006, serving as chapter president 1991-2 and 2002-3, and national president in 1997. His area of focus and expertise is nuclear weapons abolition. He actively participates with the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, which maintains a standing protest against the Trident nuclear weapons system home-ported on Hood Canal at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.
See Dr. Hall’s Award Remarks here!

2023 PAUL BEESON AWARD HONOREE
Dr. Bessie Young

The Paul Beeson Award honors activists in the healthcare field who have made a
substantial contribution to peace, justice, and health in Washington state.

Dr. Bessie Young is the Vice Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the UW Medicine Office of Health Care Equity, the Medical Director of the Office of Health Care Equity at UW Medicine, and Director of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Center for Transformational Research at the University of Washington. Young has a long history of working with underserved communities, issues of health equity, and research on the social determinants of health. For over 20 years, she has used her expertise in epidemiology to uncover why some groups of people develop diseases more than others — specifically why conditions like diabetes and kidney disease disproportionally affect African Americans. See Dr. Young’s award remarks here!