City Summit and Gala is an annual event founded by Ryan Long that brings together Hollywood celebrities, business leaders and philanthropists aiming to solve today's most pressing social and economic challenges.
City Gala Founder Ryan Long and Demi Moore
The 5th annual City Summit and Gala took place from February 7th through February 9th, 2020 at the Burbank Convention Center. The events were capped off by City Gala, the annual glamorous Oscars after-party. Recent appearances and honorees of City Summit and Gala have included: Colin Farrell, Halle Berry, Ashton Kutcher, Sir Richard Branson, Charlize Theron, James Cameron, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Matthew McConaughey, Quincy Jones, John Paul DeJoria, and John Travolta.
City Summit is a business acceleration event bringing together investors and executives of the highest level to explore socially-conscious entrepreneurship. This year's Summit featured entrepreneur Robert Herjavec. Herjavec is well known as one of the star investors on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. Herjavec spoke about his family’s plight and challenges as immigrants in Canada from Croatia. His family fled Croatia to escape the persecution of his father, who had been incarcerated for speaking out against the totalitarian regime. Herjavec went on to amass a fortune in the internet security software space.
City Gala 2020 presented its Inspiration Honor to Demi Moore. Not only is Moore an icon for her work as an actress, but she is a author, philanthropist and activist. Moore recently published her memoir “Inside Out”. The autobiography chronicles her path growing up in a small town in New Mexico and her travails in the male-dominated film industry fighting for equal pay and rights for women. Demi Moore is also a passionate philanthropist having co-founded Thorn, a non-profit foundation committed to eradicating sex trafficking and abuse. Ryan Long, the founder of City Summit and Gala commented: “Demi was inspiring to meet, particularly in how she revealed she found strength in vulnerability. I was excited to moderate the discussion with her: she is a legendary force of nature in entertainment and philanthropy.”
Richard Dreyfuss Speaking at City Gala
City Gala’s 2020 Legacy Honor was presented to actor Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss is of course a acting legend, having had multiple starring roles in acclaimed films such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mr. Holland’s Opus and The Goodbye Girl, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Dreyfuss spoke about the organization he founded in 2008, the Dreyfuss Civics Initiative. The Dreyfuss Civics Initiative is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that aims to revive the teaching of civics in American public education to empower future generations with the critical-thinking skills they need to fulfill the potential of American citizenship. The Initiative is now raising funds to produce media and content that will raise awareness for the cause and amplify the organization’s message.
