2013 ATFL GALA AWARD NIGHT HONOREES

Nijad I. Fares is the Chairman of Link Group, L.L.C. and WEDGE Equities, L.L.C., as well as a director of the WEDGE Group Incorporated, a Houston-based international investment firm with interests in real estate, manufacturing and oilfield services. He also served on the Houston Police Officers’ Pension System, a public board with over $2 billion under management. He has served on the Houston Katrina Relief Fund Board and the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund Board. In 2011, Mr. Fares was named to the Board of Governors of the Middle East Institute. He is a member of the Professional Board of Advisors of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In addition, he was a senior board member of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a member of Tufts University’s Veterinary Board of Overseers. In 2011, Mr. Fares was appointed a Knight in the Pontifical Order of St. Gregory by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. Mr. Fares lives in Houston with his wife and four children.

Congressman Richard Hanna was elected on Nov. 2, 2010 to represent the 24th District of New York in the United States House of Representatives. After graduating with honors in Economics and Political Science from Reed College in Portland, Ore., he started Hanna Construction and worked on small residential projects. Over the next 27 years Hanna Construction grew to employ more than 450 people – many from the construction trades – and successfully complete a myriad of multi-million dollar commercial and municipal projects in Upstate New York. Hanna is a 25-year member of the Operating Engineers Local 545. He is a licensed pilot with high performance and sea plane certifications. In cooperation with The Women’s Fund of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc., Congressman Hanna in 2004 founded “Annie’s Fund.” The fund was created to help women make positive changes at critical points in their lives through one-time grants. Congressman Hanna and his wife, Kim, live in Barneveld and have two children.

Rosalind Elias, an international opera star and a mezzo-soprano, made her debut in 1954 at the Metropolitan Opera, where she has performed more than 680 times over 42 years. She was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1929 as the youngest of 13 children. She created the iconic roles of Erika in the 1958 premiere of the Samuel Barber opera Vanessa and Charmian in the 1966 premiere of the Samuel Barber opera Antony and Cleopatra. Her major roles include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, and Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 82 in the 2012 revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. She lives in New York with her husband of 43 years, Zuhayr Moghrabi.

Special Guest: Dr. Charles Elachi, Director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Hotel Accommodations

For reservations from April 2-6, 2013 at the Fairmont Washington, DC Hotel (site of the Gala), call 1-800-441-1414 and state code"The American Task Force for Lebanon" for a nightly rate of $259 (+14.5% occupancy tax) for single/double room. The cut-off date for the group rate at the Fairmont is Tuesday, March 12, 2013.

Special room rates are available at the Club Quarters Washington, 839 17th Street, NW, Washington DC (about a 7-minute taxi ride from the Fairmont Washington, DC Hotel). Call Club Quarters Member Services at 203-905-2100 and use the member name "ATFL-American Task Force" when making reservations. Club Quarters Members Services will give you the room rate, based upon type of room and availability.