Thank You for Joining GLAD Law’s 2025 Major Donor Reception!

Thank you for joining us at our Major Donor Reception on Monday, May 5 at Bar Volpe. Your presence – and your unwavering support – made for a powerful, affirming evening of community and purpose. 

Check out photos from the event!

Monday, May 5

6:30pm – 8:30pm

Bar Volpe, 170 W Broadway Boston, MA 02127

Join us for a festive and informative evening to honor your extraordinary generosity and commitment to justice for LGBTQ+ people and people with HIV. Enjoy great food and community while getting the latest updates from GLAD Law leadership about our work on the frontlines of LGBTQ+ rights.  

REGISTER

As of this week, GLAD Law has filed six legal challenges to President Trump’s anti-LGBTQ executive orders with more likely to come. Join us and receive updates from Ricardo Martinez, GLAD Law’s Executive Director, Mary L. Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies.

Tickets for this exclusive major donor briefing are limited. Make sure you reserve your spot today!

Featured Speakers

Image of Ricardo Martinez, GLAD Law's Executive Director

Ricardo Martinez
Executive Director
(He/him)

Ricardo Martinez (he/him) joined GLAD as Executive Director in the summer of 2024 after serving on the front lines of state and national LGBTQ+ advocacy in Texas and Arizona. A first-generation immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, Ricardo has amassed twenty years of nonprofit fundraising, advocacy, and leadership experience.

Most recently, as CEO of Equality Texas, Ricardo ensured the organization maximized its impact during intense and sustained anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Ricardo has an undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from The New School in New York City. He was honored by the Obama Administration as an emerging LGBTQ Leader in 2012 and awarded Stony Brook University’s 40 Under 40 award for his impact in Civil Service and Activism.

Mary L. Bonauto
Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies
(she/her)

Mary Bonauto is the Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies at GLAD Law. She has worked on policy and litigated in the state and federal courts of New England on various discrimination issues including anti-LGBTQ discrimination, student rights, free speech, religious liberty, relationship recognition, juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare.

Mary is a leading strategist on winning and defending marriage equality, including advocating in state legislatures, leading ballot campaigns, and litigating and supporting groundbreaking legal challenges and victories, including Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2004), making Massachusetts the first state where same-sex couples could legally marry, Gill v. OPM (2012), the first federal appellate court ruling against DOMA, and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), establishing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide.

Mary serves on the Maine Chief Justice’s Justice for Children Task Force and serves as Co-Chair of the Race and Equity Subcommittee. She has received numerous awards including the 2014 MacArthur Fellowship. In 2024, Mary was one of 20 Americans honored at the White House by former President Joe Biden with the Presidential Citizens Medal. Mary received this award for her contributions to the fight for marriage equality, including arguing Obergefell v. Hodges before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Bar Volpe & Chef Karen Akunowicz

Chef Karen Akunowicz is a celebrity chef and restauranteur, renowned for winning the 2018 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northeast. Her debut restaurant, Fox & the Knife, was a 2020 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant in America. Known as “Boston’s Queen of Pasta,” she owns Fox & the Knife Enoteca, Bar Volpe Ristorante, and Fox Pasta Company. In 2024, she opened Fox & Flight at Logan Airport.

A beloved TV personality, Karen has appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions.” She judges on shows like “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Top Chef.” Named one of Marie Claire’s “21 Badass Women Changing the Food World,” Karen authored “Crave: Bold Recipes That Make You Want Seconds,” acclaimed as the 2023 Cook Book of the Year by Readable Feast and a top 20 Amazon cookbook for 2023. Chef Karen’s innovative cooking continues to inspire home cooks and food enthusiasts everywhere.

Learn more about Chef Karen

Tickets & Registration

Registration questions? Contact Mads Ouellette at mouellette@glad.org.

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As of April 11, 2025