Voices Gala 2023

Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change.

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Join us Friday, April 28, from 6pm — 9pm for our annual gala at the Fayetteville Public Library Event Center! We will shine a light on survivors and all the individuals and organizations that work every day to bring awareness and aid to them. 


Community will be the focal point of this year's event, taking place during National Crime Victims' Rights Week (April 23–29), and promoting public awareness around the rights and services available for all victims of crime. According to our 2022 impact report, one-third of the sexual assault survivors we served last year had also experienced at least one other victimization type. It's clear that the work we do at NWA Center for Sexual Assault goes hand-in-hand with the many incredible organizations doing good work in Northwest Arkansas. We invite the public to come recognize and celebrate this critical community.


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Special Guests

  • Melanie Palmer

    Melanie began social justice work in the memory of her childhood friends, Susanne and Kathryn Fluke, and her college friend, April Love—all of whom lost their lives to gender-based violence. Melanie joined the NWA Center for Sexual Assault team as a volunteer advocate in 2005, shortly after April's death. Survivors, staff, and other volunteers taught her about courage, commitment, and creativity—and set her on a career path working toward a safer community.


    Since then, Melanie has volunteered alongside the center's team to raise funds, conduct community education, recruit leadership, design programs, and support staff. She is a former Development Director and Executive Director of the NWA Women's Shelter and a statewide trainer for the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault. 


    Melanie is a bridge-builder, and she has a particular passion for addressing systemic inequities in partnership with other professionals who support survivors, including Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, counselors, DEI professionals, social service agencies, law enforcement, and the philanthropic community. She is a current board member of the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 


    Melanie is currently a primary caretaker for her two daughters, Elise and Cora. She also works as a fundraising consultant, specializing in supporting emerging fundraising professionals, community-led organizations, and organizations working with survivors of violence.

  • Jen Brockman

    Jen Brockman is the Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center at the University of Kansas. She has worked in the field of victim advocacy and gender based violence prevention since 2001, in three different states at community programs, flagship institutes, and state coalitions. During her career Jen worked as the Sex Crimes Investigation Trainer for the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault and is a certified Law Enforcement Trainer in Sexual Violence and Domestic Violence. Jen is the recipient of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Visionary Voice Award and the Arkansas Attorney General’s Crime Victim Advocate of the Year Award. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Drury University in Criminology and Sociology and a Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.

  • Simone Lewis

    Simone R. Lewis is a Central Arkansas native and a lover of all things banking, photography and Batman. By day she is a Business Loan Officer and by night(and sometimes on weekends) she is a spoken word and digital mixed media artist known as Cobris. Her work has been featured in Up The Staircase Quarterly  and the UALR Equinox. She has performed in venues around the world and is a Southern Fried Poetry Haiku Deathmatch winner, finalist in the Toronto poetry slam and  a former Rocktown Slam winner and team member. She is currently working on her first chapbook. 

This year, we have the great honor of awarding Melanie Palmer as our 2023 Roger Collins Beacon of Hope. We'll hear directly from Melanie at the event—her story and her life's work—and we're thrilled to gather with members of the community to celebrate her special achievement.


Jen Brockman, Director at the Sexual Assault Prevention & Education Center at KU, will be delivering this year's keynote. Jen is a former colleague of Melanie—their connection spanning several years—and her own ties to NWA Center for Sexual Assault make Jen the perfect fit for the evening's festivities. We're excited to host Jen and celebrate Melanie with her!


Simone Lewis, a fabulous former member of our board, will be performing spoken word in the evening's segment, and current board member, Anthony DiNicola, will again take the stage and emcee the program alongside Good Day NWA's own Jaclyn House.


Jeron Marshall and The Band will provide live musical entertainment during the full cocktail hour (dancing is most certainly encouraged!), and dinner and drinks will be provided by Nate Walls of Secondhand Smoke. Nate, too, is a former member of our board, and we're thrilled to have him involved this year!


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Event Sponsorship

Our sponsorship packages include your logo on all digital and print materials, recognition in our annual report, and tickets to the gala. Please view our sponsorship tiers here.


Unable to attend? You can still support and make a donation here.


For any event or sponsorship questions, please reach out to: sandra@nwasexualassault.org.

Event Policies

  • Covid Policy

    In the event of health or safety-related restrictions, we will communicate our contingency plans.


    As always, we continue to follow the Covid safety guidelines as outlined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, we ask that any registrants who feel ill or exhibit symptoms of illness prior to the event please remain at home.

  • Refund Policy

    At this time, all ticket purchases are non-refundable unless the event is rescheduled or canceled.


    If you're unable to attend the gala, we recommend donating your ticket, as space at the Fayetteville Public Library Event Center will be limited, and the goal of our event is to raise awareness for a cause very near and dear to our hearts.


    For questions regarding either of the above policies, please contact sandra@nwasexualassault.org.

  • Parking

    Parking is available in the attached parking garage and in the parking lot on the south side of the Fayetteville Public Library. 


    Please note: if parking in the garage, you can only get into the building from the 100- and 200-level doors. The Event Center is located on level 100.

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