Whoopi Goldberg is coming to Chicago for the annual Speaker Series Luncheon, presented by and benefiting Chicago House and Social Service Agency.
Goldberg, who calls Daytime Emmy Award-winning show The View (ABC-TV) her home, will be the third speaker in the series, following Madeline Albright and former President Bill Clinton. Goldberg's appearance is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4, at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, 17 E. Monroe, starting at 11:30 a.m.
"Our Inaugural Speaker Series Luncheon aimed to bring attention to and create dialogue surrounding Chicago House's mission and the core services that we provide to formerly homeless men, women, and children who are affected by AIDS," said Chicago House Manager of Special Events Jeremy Hilborn. "In continuing to offer a diverse voice behind our urgent mission, in the event's third year, we wanted to deviate from a political point of view and consider intellectual offerings from the world of entertainment, journalism, or sports.
"We ultimately landed on Whoopi, who has long associated herself with philanthropy, most notably her work in support of the homeless with Comic Relief in the 1980s. She supports Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, sits on the national board of DIFFA, and was honored with a GLAAD Award in 1999. We expect she will bring a new and diverse perspective on Chicago House, the state of HIV/AIDS and homelessness and our relevance to the big picture, with her own style of wit, humor and intelligence."
About 1,000 are expected to attend and the fundraising goal is $275,000. The combined fundraising in 2009 and 2010 was more than $300,000.
"Above and beyond raising unrestricted funds to support Chicago House's mission, the purpose of the Speaker Series is to bring a new and diverse outlook and to create discussion among media, our corporate partners, and allies in and outside the LGBT community about our mission and the urgent work we're doing," Hilborn said. "Whoopi [is] consistently gay-[friendly]. Last fall, she joined forces with other celebrities to do a series of Public Service Announcements for FightBackPac.com, which targeted New York politicians who voted against same-sex marriage, and [she] continues to rally for LGBT causes on-screen as a co-host on The View."
As Celie in 1985 film The Color Purple, Goldberg played one of the first lesbian/bisexual characters in a primary role in a mainstream film. She also starred as a lesbian in the 1994 film Boys on the Side, a character that still remains one of the few Black lesbians in a primary role in mainstream cinema.
"Whoopi's intelligence and range of expressive speaking abilities were what initially attracted us to her," Hilborn said. "In raising the bar this year to create a new and diverse intellectual offering, we wanted to use our third year to tell the story through someone else's eyes. President Clinton and Dr. Albright were the perfect individuals to pioneer the event in its infancy, and in future years we may continue to bring domestic and international political perspectives to the event. As millions of people tune in to daily to watch her moderate on ABC's The View, we too are very excited to hear Whoopi's viewpoint on the hot topics that are important to our community."
He added, "Whoopi can deliver a serious message in an optimistic way that everyone can relate to."
Hilborn, 34, who lives in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, is responsible for overseeing the event, which includes venue selection, contract negotiation, travel arrangements, and more. Plus, he oversees a team of production consultants, and also works on the event timeline, manages and trains staff, volunteers and table captains. Hilborn also manages printing, marketing, publicity, ticket sales, and more.
Hilborn, who is gay, has been at Chicago House for nine years.
"I'm looking forward to working with her team in the coming months to secure media interviews, and to debrief her on the ever-changing work that Chicago House does in support of people affected by AIDS," he said.