Tribute Dinner 2025
Monday, November 3rd · 6:30 PM
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Join us for the Episcopal Charities Annual Tribute Dinner on Monday, November 3, 2025, starting at 6:30 pm. We will gather at The Cathedral of St. John The Divine, located at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, to honor our founders, including Debevoise and Plimpton LLP, our Founding Counsel, together with Founding Board member William H. Herrman, & and Former Board Member, Philip D. Sherman.
Founding Board Member, The Honorable Laura Taylor Swain, is this year’s recipient of the Community Service Award.
Please Join Us As We Celebrate Our Honorees
HONORING OUR FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS
DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP
FOUNDING COUNSEL TO EPISCOPAL CHARITIES OF NEW YORK
In recognition of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP for their unwavering commitment to Episcopal Charities’ mission; for their critical pro bono work drafting the foundational governing documents for Episcopal Charities at the time of its founding; for their leadership role in the area of law, particularly in the private equity and mergers and acquisitions spaces; for their market-leading practices and their global perspective on all legal matters; for their creative approach to legal challenges allowing them to achieve optimal results; for their collegial work ethic allowing all colleagues to feel respected; for their collaborative approach across disciplines and regions; for the dedication, cohesiveness, and superior quality they bring to all of their work worldwide; and in celebration of their devotion to helping underserved communities,
PHILIP DERRICK SHERMAN
IN MEMORIAM
Phil joined our board at a pivotal time for Episcopal Charities. In 2012, we were seeking stability following the financial crisis while responding to accelerating needs from grantee partners. After a career as a leader addressing complex problems often in post-war and developing economies, Phil turned his energy and extraordinary mind to hunger, homelessness, youth education, and other Episcopal Charities work areas across the vast geographic footprint of the Diocese of New York. Phil Sherman served on our Board from 2012 to 2019. He is remembered by fellow Board directors and staff as an exceptionally engaged and thoughtful person who thrived as a problem solver and cared deeply about our mission, especially about our work related to food access. In addition to being generous with his time and intellect, he and his wife of 59 years, Birgitta, have been extraordinary supporters of Episcopal Charities. Philip Derrick Sherman was born in New York City and attended the University of Michigan, before being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship that took him to India. He returned in 1964 and attended the Harvard Business School. Phil then joined a predecessor of Citigroup and had increasingly senior roles that took him to Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Italy and Germany, among other places. A late career move took him to Singapore for a decade. We will miss our dear friend, Phil. He gave us so much for so long. We are grateful for his leadership, commitment, and generosity.
JIM & ELAINE LUTHY BRENNAN
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
THE HONORABLE
LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN
FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER
CHIEF JUDGE US DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY
Judge Laura Taylor Swain graduated from Hunter College High School in New York City in 1975; and earned her B.A. degree in government from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1979, and her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1982. Upon graduating from law school, Swain clerked for Chief Judge Constance Baker Motley on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1982 to 1983. Swain then worked as an associate and, later, counsel with the New York office of the international law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where she focused on ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employment law. In 1996,Swain was appointed as a judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. In 1998, she became a founding board member of the Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education, a non-profit organization. Swain was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as a U.S. District Judge in 2000. In this role, Swain has presided over numerous high-profile matters, including U.S. v. O’Hara, the criminal prosecution of several former employees of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Swain became Chief Judge of the Southern District in 2021. In 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Swain under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act to preside over the debt restructuring cases in the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis. Swain has received numerous honors and awards throughout her legal career, including the Servant of Justice Award from the Guild of St. Ives of the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 2008, the Cecelia H. Goetz Award from the New York Institute of Credit in 2016, the Edward Weinfeld Award from the New York County Lawyers Association in 2019, the Lawrence P. King Award from the Commercial Law League of America in 2021, the Hon. Jane Bolin Award from the Judicial Friends in 2022, the 2025 Distinguished Graduate Award from Hunter College High School, and honorary law degrees from Suffolk University Law School (2008) and Fordham University Law School (2022. Swain served on the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996, making her the first woman, and the first person of color, to serve in that capacity. She chaired the Advisory Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure between 2007 and 2010. As a founding board member of Episcopal Charities, we are forever grateful to Laura Taylor Swain for her unwavering support over the years.
WILLIAM H. HERRMAN
IN MEMORIAM
A life-long New Yorker, Bill was a professional investor for over 60 years; he retired from Cannell & Co. not long before he passed away. A founding member of the Episcopal Charities Board of Directors, he was instrumental in the shape the organization took during those early years. Bill was dedicated to the mission of Episcopal Charities and he had a lasting impact on the organization. A graduate of The Collegiate School, Brown University and The Wharton School, Bill was a lifelong supporter of those schools. He gave his time to a myriad of institutions, including The Collegiate School, The Church of the Heavenly Rest, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, The Hospital Chaplaincy, General Theological Seminary and Episcopal Charities. Bill treasured his summers at the Jersey shore and the time he spent at the Ocean Beach Club. A beloved father and grandfather, he had 2 children, Ali and Will, and 4 grandchildren.
Benefactor Table $100,000
3 Premier Tables for 10;
Feature print and live program recognition
Builder Table $50,000
2 Premium Tables for 10;
Print and live program recognition
Underwriter Table $25,000
1 Prime Table for 10;
Print program recognition
Patron Table $12,000
1 Preferred table for 10;
Print program recognition
Sustainer Table $8,000
1 Table for 10;
Print program recognition
Partner Tickets $5,000
2 Prime Tickets;
Print program recognition
Supporter Ticket $2,500
1 Preferred Ticket
Donor Ticket $800
1 Ticket
Young Professional $450
Young Professional
Clergy Ticket $300
1 Clergy Ticket
Clergy Table $3,000
Clergy Table for 10;
Print program recognition
Our Honorary Co-Chairs
WOLCOTT B DUNHAM JR.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
THE REV. TERENCE ELSBERRY
Christ Church Greenwich
This year donations for the Tribute Dinner may be directed, at the donor’s discretion, to a new endowment being formed to honor our founders, who we will be celebrating at the dinner. The new endowment, called The Founders Endowment, will provide perpetual support for grant-making.
