American Task Force for Lebanon to Honor Victoria Reggie Kennedy at its 2016 Annual Gala

WASHINGTON - Oct. 5, 2015 - PRLog -- The American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) is delighted to announce it will honor Victoria Reggie Kennedy at its Gala Awards Night at the Fairmont Washington Hotel DC, 2401 M Street, NW, Washington DC, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.

Victoria Reggie Kennedy, an attorney and graduate of the Tulane University Law School, is Lebanese and proud of her heritage. Her grandparents migrated from Lebanon and settled in Louisiana and she is the daughter of the late Judge Edmund Reggie and Mrs. Doris Boustany Reggie.

“The American Task Force for Lebanon is honored that Mrs. Kennedy has accepted our invitation,” said ATFL Chairman Spencer Abraham. “The late Senator Kennedy and I worked together on a variety of issues in the US Senate, particularly his support for lifting the US travel ban to Lebanon. We applaud her for carrying on Senator Kennedy’s commitment to public service.”

Mrs. Kennedy is senior counsel at the international law firm Greenberg, Traurig LLP, where she advises and assists clients in devising strategies to resolve complex business problems, particularly those stemming from regulatory, communications or governance concerns, and assists clients in developing and executing strategies to expand their impact in the marketplace.

She is President of the Board and co-founder of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, a non-partisan organization created to educate the public about the unique role of the United States Senate in our democracy. In addition to her legal career and board service, Mrs. Kennedy has advocated issues that impact the quality of life for families, especially women and children, and has encouraged participation in the political process. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) recently honored her with the Excellency in Advocacy and Activism Award at the 2015 Research and Hope Awards, and the Women’s Guild Cedars-Sinai announced her as the recipient of the “Woman of the 21st Century Award” in 2013.

“I echo Chairman Abraham’s sentiments,” said ATFL President Edward M. Gabriel. “We cannot think of a more deserving person to honor than Mrs. Kennedy. As an American organization, we are proud of her Lebanese heritage and her focus on improving the quality of life for families, especially women and children.”

The ATFL is looking forward to honoring Mrs. Kennedy, not only because of her Lebanese heritage, but also because of her commitment to public service, which she shared with her late husband Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

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About the American Task Force for Lebanon:

The ATFL was founded by prominent Lebanese Americans in 1987 and incorporated in 1989, and has since worked to connect Americans of Lebanese heritage, and promote the national unity, security, and prosperity of a free and democratic Lebanon. The group was instrumental in the 1990s in urging the US to lift its 10-year travel ban on Lebanon, and has undertaken a number of humanitarian initiatives, including cluster-bomb clearance and demining efforts and purchasing 13 ambulances for the Lebanese Red Cross. Since violence broke out in Syria in 2011, the ATFL has worked to mitigate the humanitarian crisis caused by an influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon and has worked to raise awareness of the refugee situation. The ATFL has also urged the US to substantially increase security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces, Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, and General Security. The ATFL advocates for religious coexistence and the protection of vulnerable religious communities in the Middle East.