The 32nd Annual Colleagues Spring Luncheon and Oscar de la Renta to Honor Catherine and India Oxenberg
Catherine and India Oxenberg to Receive the 2022 Colleagues Champion of Children Award
Los Angeles, CA, March 23, 2022 – The 32nd Annual Colleagues Spring Luncheon and Oscar de la Renta will present award-winning actress Catherine Oxenberg and her daughter India with The Colleagues Champion of Children Award, which honors those who have made a lasting impact on the lives of children.
The luncheon will take place at 11:00 am on Tuesday, April 19th at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and will include a fashion show from Oscar de la Renta’s Fall 2022 collection designed by creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. Television host and best-selling author Cristina Ferrare will host.
Catherine and India Oxenberg join an impressive list of prior Champion of Children Award recipients including former First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Betty Ford and Laura Bush and her two daughters Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush-Hager, Carol Burnett, Roma Downey, Princess Charlene of Monaco, James and Gloria Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Jane Seymour, Anjelica Huston and Robert Graham, California First Lady Maria Shriver, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.
Founded in 1950, The Colleagues, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, are a group of 65 active women and over 25 sustaining members who volunteer their time and expertise to support and raise funds for their sole beneficiary, the Children’s Institute, Inc. In their efforts to serve Los Angeles’ most vulnerable children harmed by community and family violence, abuse and neglect, the Colleagues have donated over $25 million to CII through their high-end resale and vintage clothing shop and their annual spring luncheon. In addition to direct services, CII reaches more children through professional training, research and other leadership activities working with more than 24,000 children and families each year. To learn more about the Colleagues and CII, please visit http://www.thecolleagues.com/ and www.childrensinstitute.org.
Catherine Oxenberg is an award-winning actress, author and women’s health advocate. Her memoir “Captive: A Mother’s Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult,” recounted the estrangement from her daughter, India, and her attempt to rescue her from the dangerous cult NXIVM. Catherine’s mission to rescue her daughter captured global media attention and was instrumental in bringing NXIVM to justice. A lifelong advocate for women’s issues she has is passionate in her desire to improve the conditions of women who live in suppressive cultures. An accomplished actress Catherine starred as Amanda Carrington on the hit ABC prime time soap opera “Dynasty.” She twice played Diana, Princess of Wales on screen, in “The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana” and “Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After,” and has appeared in numerous other films. Born in New York, and raised in London, she is the daughter of HRH Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and the granddaughter of Prince Paul, Prince Regent of Yugoslavia.
India Oxenberg is an advocate and the author of “Still Learning: A Memoir” on Audible, an intimate, first-person account of how she was lured into and, seven years later, escaped from the NXIVM cult, DOS. She starred as the subject of, and executive- produced, the four-part STARZ documentary series “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult.” Oxenberg is a part of RAINN’s National Leadership Council, comprised of individuals who are committed to RAINN’s mission of supporting survivors and ending sexual violence.
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world’s leading luxury goods brands. The New York based house, established in 1965 by its namesake, and currently under the creative direction of Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, produces a full line of women’s shoes, handbags, jewelry, eyewear, bridal, childrenswear, home décor and fragrance, in addition to its signature women’s ready-to-wear collection.
The luncheon is executive produced by Gary L. Pudney, and produced and directed by Scott H. Mauro. Colleagues member Anne Johnson is the Executive Chairman of the event.