Pacific Palisade resident Laura Ornest, an award-winning television/radio reporter and producer, and entertainment journalist, producer and author, Melissa Rivers will serve as Event Chair and Mistress of Ceremonies at the 21stAnniversary Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards onThursday, April 27th. The annual ceremony is taking place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom.
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, which is celebrating 75 years of service to the community, will be honoring music icon Judy Collins, “Touched With Fire” writer/director Paul Dalio, and actress/filmmaker Anna Akana. The evening is expected to raise over a half million dollars for Didi Hirsch, a leading non-profit provider of free community mental health and substance use services for children and adults. The agency is also home to the nation’s first Suicide Prevention Center, a national leader in training, research and services.
Event Chair Laura Ornest, first launched her broadcasting career as a sportscaster for CKNW radio in Vancouver in 1981 and a year later, hosted CBC Television’s 11 PM nightly news sportscast and a weekend sports show, making her the first female TV sportscaster in Western Canada. She has earned several Golden Mikes and Associated Press awards for her work and has since come to produce shows for E! Television, CNN, and CBS. She currently interviews, writes and produces features on the arts for KUSC Classical Radio 91.5. Inspired by her own family’s experience with mental illness, Ornest has served on the Board for Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services since 1999.
Entertainment Journalist/Producer/Author and Pacific Palisades resident Melissa Rivers is the evening’s emcee. Melissa,who was a college student when her father, television producer Edgar Rosenberg died by suicide, has been a suicide prevention advocate for many years. Last year, Melissa was honored by Didi Hirsch with the Beatrice Stern Media Award at the organization’s Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards.
For additional information or to purchase tickets, please go to www.erasingthestigma.org  or call (310) 659-5517. To see a highlight reel of past events, go to https://youtu.be/fw8NusHc5XwÂ
