The 2014 Next Generation Awards
Honoring Sarah McBride, Hassan Naveed, Desiree Raught and Carl Streed Jr.
With spring finally having taken hold in the nation’s capital, it’s a wonderful time to celebrate growth and potential. You’d be hard-pressed to find four individuals to better embody that sort of hope and optimism than the four being recognized as the Next Generation Leadership Foundation’s 2014 honorees.
Photo by Julian Vankim
These four amazing young people are Sarah McBride, Hassan Naveed, Desiree Raught and Carl Streed Jr. All younger than 30, each has already accomplished much. Keeping in the nature of the award, each is expected to do so much more. These stars have only begun their ascension.
The season’s themes of transformation and growth are also reflected in the award itself. When the first cohort of young, LGBT leaders was honored, in 2009, the Metro Weekly Next Generation Awards were an expression of the magazine alone. Now in their sixth year, the awards are the jewels in the Next Generation Leadership Foundation’s crown. While Metro Weekly remains an enthusiastic supporter of the annual awards, they now belong to this new foundation, launched in 2013 by Metro Weekly‘s former co-publisher and editor-in-chief, Sean Bugg. As the president and executive director of this new foundation, Bugg has made a full-time commitment to supporting LGBT leaders at the start of their careers. Now, beyond the annual awards, NGLF will be hosting 20 young people for a mid-June week in Washington. These dynamic youths will be given access to the halls of power on Capitol Hill, meet LGBT leaders in areas of commerce and community, and enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to engage with one another as they begin to stitch together those professional networks that will intersect their lives for decades to come. They will be the cohort to launch this “leadership camp,” set to be an annual offering.
In the meantime, the following profiles will provide at least a bit of insight into four promising LGBT leaders you’ll want to keep an eye on as they journey forward toward a brighter future for the whole of the community.
The sixth annual Next Generation Awards, presented by Metro Weekly, will be held Friday, May 16, at Beacon Bar & Grill, 1615 Rhode Island Ave. NW, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available for a $20 tax-deductible donation at NGLF.org.
Photo by Julian Vankim
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