Jackie Robinson Foundation to Honor Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., UNINTERRUPTED & SpringHill Entertainment CEO Maverick Carter, and Award-Winning Pianist/Composer Kris Bowers at Annual ROBIE Awards Dinner

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Salamander Hotels & Resorts
Sheila C. Johnson will serve as Event Chairperson

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/JR100?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#JR100lt;/agt;–The Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) today announced the
recipients of the 2019 ROBIE Awards, which will be presented at its
annual Awards Dinner on Monday, March 4th at the New York Marriott
Marquis. The event pays tribute to individuals who embody the
humanitarian ideals of Jackie Robinson, while raising funds for the
Jackie Robinson Foundation.


For 45 years, JRF has provided generous four-year scholarships,
year-round mentoring and leadership development opportunities to
talented college students, known as JRF Scholars. The opening of
the Jackie Robinson Museum in December of this year expands the
Foundation’s mission and will educate and inspire the public about the
life and legacy of American hero Jackie Robinson.


The highly anticipated ROBIE Awards Dinner is part of the Foundation’s
year-long Jackie Robinson Centennial Celebration, honoring the 100th
anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s birth and leading up to the opening of
the Jackie Robinson Museum at the end of the year.


Robert D. Manfred, Jr., Commissioner of Baseball, will receive the
Foundation’s ROBIE Achievement in Industry Award for his extraordinary
contributions to baseball and his commitment to preserving the legacy of
Jackie Robinson. Maverick Carter, CEO of LRMR Ventures, SpringHill
Entertainment and UNINTERRUPTED, will also receive the ROBIE Achievement
in Industry Award for his transformational work in business and
entertainment and for his continued support of the LeBron James Family
Foundation and After School All Stars. Kristopher Bowers, the Emmy
award-winning pianist and composer, known most recently for his work on
the 2018 film, “Green Book” will be recognized with the ROBIE
Pioneer Award for his award-winning musical compositions. The event
chairperson is former ROBIE award winner, JRF board member emeritus and
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Salamander Hotels & Resorts,
Sheila C. Johnson.


“Each one of these honorees has impacted society not only through their
exceptional professional accomplishments, but through their commitment
to equal opportunity and sharing the fruits of their success with
underserved communities,” said JRF president Della Britton Baeza. “We
are proud to pay tribute to this trio of influential people who honor
the legacy of Jackie Robinson and serve as impeccable role models for
our Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars and Extra Innings Fellows.”


The ROBIE Awards Dinner has recognized many of the most celebrated names
in business, politics, education, media, sports and the arts, including Henry
L. “Hank” Aaron, Clive Davis, Michael Jordan, George Lucas, Claire
Smith, J.W. Marriott, Jr., Rita Moreno, Tyler Perry, Bishop Desmond
Tutu, Jessye Norman, Mariano Rivera, Stephen Ross, Robin Roberts, Allan
H. (Bud) Selig, Ruth J. Simmons, Robert F. Smith, and Stevie
Wonder.


2019 ROBIE Awards Dinner sponsors include Sheila C. Johnson, Steve and
Myrna Greenberg, Martin L. Edelman, Esq., FOX Sports Supports, New Era
Cap Company, Praxair, Inc., Strada Education Network, The Guardian Life
Insurance Company of America, Henry and Billye Aaron, Allen & Company,
LLC, BNY Mellon, The Coca-Cola Company, GE, The National Basketball
Association, Nike, Inc., Omnicom Group, Inc., Perella Weinberg Partners,
Unilever, and Alice and Joe Torre. For additional information on
sponsorship and ticket opportunities visit: https://www.jackierobinson.org/support/awards-dinner/


The 2019 Honorees


Robert D. Manfred, Jr.


Robert D. Manfred, Jr. is the 10th Commissioner in the history of Major
League Baseball. Since Manfred began as Commissioner, MLB has concluded
a new five-year collective bargaining agreement, continuing the sport’s
unprecedented era of 26 consecutive years of labor peace through 2021,
and a landmark transaction in which The Walt Disney Company acquired a
75% stake in BAMTech, a leading technology services and video streaming
company created by MLB. Manfred’s goals for the industry include the
expansion of youth participation, international growth, improved pace of
game, the infusion of technology into the game, increased marketing of
the game’s young stars and furtherance of the game’s diversity goals. In
particular, the creation of the PLAY BALL initiative in 2015 has led to
significant gains in youth participation, including 49.1% growth in
casual forms of baseball. Additionally, under Manfred’s leadership, MLB
has formed core partnerships with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Stand
up to Cancer and, of course, the Jackie Robinson Foundation.


Maverick Carter


With an extensive background in marketing and business development,
Carter serves as CEO of LRMR Ventures, the venture company he helped
build that oversees all of his and LeBron James’ investments and
business assets including the companies they co-founded – SpringHill
Entertainment and UNINTERRUPTED. As their CEO, Carter oversees the
expanding entertainment companies’ overall strategic directions,
spearheads their new business and content development partnerships, and
guides their growing multi-platform global distribution efforts.
Throughout his professional journey, Carter has always made youth and
his community a priority. Through his work with the LeBron James Family
Foundation and After School All Stars, Carter has helped create the
generational change he and LeBron James envisioned since they were just
kids from Akron.


Kristopher Bowers


Emmy-winning composer, Kris Bowers, scores compositions that step beyond
the traditional boundaries of genre to form new and thrilling music.
Bowers currently scores Netflix’s critically acclaimed “Dear White
People,” and Shonda Rhimes’ “For The People,” starring Hope Davis. He
completed the score for Peter Farrelly’s latest drama, “Green Book,”
starring Academy Award-winner Mahershala Ali and Academy Award-nominee
Viggo Mortensen. In addition to scoring the film, Bowers was the
piano-playing double for Ali and performed all the on-camera piano
playing in the film. Bowers has scored a wide range of films including
Amazon’s TV movie “The Snowy Day,” for which Bowers won a Daytime Emmy.
In addition to composing for film and television, Bowers has recorded
and performed with artists such as Q-Tip, Aretha Franklin, Marcus
Miller, José James, Ludacris, Christian Rich, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. He
was commissioned by the Alvin Ailey dance company to create an original
composition for “Untitled America,” a modern ballet piece that shines a
light on the impact of the prison system on Africa-American families.
The ballet was choreographed by Kyle Abraham, a MacArthur Genius Grant
winner, with whom Bowers is a long-time collaborator.


About the Jackie Robinson Foundation


For 45 years, the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) has continued
Robinson’s commitment to equal opportunity by addressing the achievement
gap in higher education and is poised to expand its rich legacy with the
opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City in December 2019.


Founded in 1973 by Rachel Robinson, JRF has advanced higher education
for minority students by providing generous, four-year scholarships and
comprehensive support services to highly motivated minority students
attending colleges and universities throughout the country. JRF’s
efforts have led to a consistent 98% graduation rate among JRF Scholars.
JRF has disbursed over $85 million in grants and direct program support
to 1500 students who have attended over 260 different colleges and
universities across the country. JRF alumni are leaders in their
communities and across a broad range of professional fields –and are
true ambassadors of Jackie Robinson’s legacy of service and
humanitarianism.


Expanding its mission of education and the Robinson legacy, JRF is
engaged in constructing the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City
scheduled to open in December 2019. The Museum, which will include a
robust online component, will chronicle Jackie Robinson’s storied
athletic career and his social impact across society through artifacts,
state-of-the-art exhibits, film and other media, and interactive
programming. This physical tribute to Jackie Robinson will serve as a
destination for those seeking innovative, educational programming and a
venue for vibrant dialogue on critical social issues. For more
information, visit www.JackieRobinson.org


Contacts

Scott Miranda on behalf of the Jackie Robinson Foundation –
914-806-6771