The 2024 Norman Vincent Peale Awards
Celebrating Mental and Spiritual Health
Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center is proud to host the 2024 Norman Vincent Peale Awards for Positive Thinking. This annual event, a key fundraiser and celebration of our mission, raises critical funds in support of Blanton-Peale’s urgent work to provide mental health care to people throughout New York City and to raise up the next generation of mental health professionals.
Honoring…
About the Honorees
James (Jim) Venetos is the Managing Director of The Venetos Group at JP Morgan Advisors, where he has worked for more than 40 years. Jim is a longtime friend of the Peale Family. As a Blanton-Peale supporter and champion of our work for 30 years, Jim shares our commitment to making therapy accessible and affordable for all. We are especially grateful for his support and are delighted to honor him with a Norman Vincent Peale Award.
After nine years as President and CEO of Blanton-Peale, Rev. Dr. Shari Brink will be retiring at the end of the year. During her tenure she doubled Blanton-Peale’s budget and physical space, and successfully managed the urgent transition to telehealth during the pandemic. The increased space and the addition of telehealth allowed nearly 1,100 clients to receive 33,000 sessions of therapy in 2023. We are tremendously grateful for Shari’s tireless work on behalf of Blanton-Peale and are proud to honor her together with Jim Venetos.
Questions? Email development@blantonpeale.org or call Rebecca Yaggy at 646-852-9773.
About the Awards
Dr. Peale, after whom the awards are named, founded Blanton-Peale, along with Dr. Smiley Blanton. The value he placed on positive thinking is in Blanton-Peale’s DNA and that’s what the awards celebrate. These tumultuous times have increased the urgency of Blanton-Peale’s promise to deliver affordable and accessible, holistic, and culturally-responsive mental health care to people throughout New York City. We are all recognizing the vital importance of mental health care and the Norman Vincent Peale Awards recognize individuals who exemplify the spirit of positive thinking that guided the founding of Blanton-Peale that is thriving today more than ever.
Thank You to Our Major Sponsors
Champion
David (Sandy) Pearson
Leader
Betty and David Harris
Jim and Natalie Venetos
Benefit Committee
Elizabeth Peale Allen
Richard J. Behn
Rev. Laurie J. Ferguson, Ph.D.
John M. Griem, Jr.
Betty and David Harris
John and Jenny Kang
Julia Kang-Reeves and Charles Reeves
Mary and Casey Kemper
Dr. Judy Kramer
Colin Laughlin and Jake Taylor-Laughlin
Lauren McGill
Alice B. Owens
Cliff Peale
David (Sandy) Pearson
The Riverside Church in the City of New York
John and Eleanor Rorer
Milton J. Venetos and Rhonda Jones
Natalie Venetos
Peter Venetos and Jay Baeza
Anastasia Venetos-Wahl and Sebastian Wahl
Susan and Bob Wei
Previous Awardees Include
- Lauren McGill, For transformational support of our mission
- Dr. Ashwin Vasan, NYC Health Commissioner
- Dr. Yung Duk Kim, Leader in Korean-American business & nonprofit communities in NYC
- Dr. Lisa Miller, Research scholar on spirituality in psychology
- Joe Namath, Legendary quarterback
- LinkedIn, Leader in Corporate Mindfulness
- Korean American Association of Greater New York, Leader in Korean American Advocacy
- FDNY EMS, One of the Country’s Largest and Most Highly Skilled Emergency Response Units
- Keyon Dooling, Former 12-Year NBA Player
- Aetna, a CVS Health business, Leader in Corporate Mindfulness
- Ron Powers, New York Times Bestselling Author
- Eileen Fisher, Fashion Icon & Change-Maker
- Drs. William & Hwain Lee, Philanthropists
- Aiyoung Choi, Entrepreneur, Mentor & Advocate
- James Earl Jones, Actor
- Colin Powell, Politician
- Sunny Kang, Philanthropist
