Thank you Honorees 

As adoptive parents, Deborra-lee Furness and Hugh Jackman have, for two decades, dedicated their philanthropic efforts, time, talent and energy towards children in foster care.

Deborra-lee Furness is an internationally acclaimed actress as well as a passionate advocate for vulnerable and abandoned children. Deborra-lee's humanitarian efforts for children is a driving force in her life. Deborra-lee is the co-founder of Hopeland, a global platform that has been established to raise awareness around vulnerable and abandoned children, mobilizing and influencing leaders across government, business and civil society, to create innovative solutions and policies that will ensure children will belong in a safe loving home. Deborra-lee is also founder of Adopt Change in Australia that works towards every child in Australia growing up in a safe, nurturing and permanent family home.

Hugh Jackman is an Academy Award -nominated, Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning performer who serves on the board of Adopt Change. He is currently playing the role of Harold Hill on Broadway. Hugh will next be seen in the feature film The Son (directed by Florian Zeller, also starring Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby). Hugh works alongside of Deborra-lee in her global efforts to create greater equity, peace and justice for children.

In 2022 Deborra-lee received the esteemed Order of Australia, was honored in 2017 with United Nations Women for Peace Leadership Award, in 2018 the Tribeca Film Festival Disruptors Award, and most recently the EPIQ Women's Advocacy Award. Deborra-lee is also a regular main stage speaker at Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, NYC. In 2015, Deborra-lee was honored in Washington as Advocate of the Year by Kidsave. And was named NSW Australian of the year, 2015. The Joint Council USA honored Deborra-lee with the prestigious award of Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption in Washington DC.

A Sense of Home honors Regina Louse 

Thank you Regina Louise for reaching out to A Sense of Home to join our board and for allowing us to honor you at our 2022 gala.

Regina Louise is an American author, child advocate, teacher, coach and highly sought-after motivational speaker, who is best known for successfully navigating through more than thirty foster home placements as a ward of the California Juvenile Court system. Regina lived in over 30 foster homes, group homes and psychiatric facilities before age 18. She now speaks and coaches organizations and individuals on issues of trauma and personal development, and is a foster care abolitionist. - but at age 41 she was finally adopted by the woman who had been denied the opportunity three decades ago.

Recently Regina was the recipient of the prestigious Christopher Award, given to producers for stories that "affirm the human spirit." In 2019 she received the Jordan Award for service in transforming foster care through advocacy and the arts; the Community Service Award for Children and Families from the Seneca Foundation; and the NAIMC Vision award" She is the author of the bestselling memoirs Somebody's Someone and Someone Has Led This Child to Believe. A Lifetime movie, I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story, is based on her life and was nominated for a 2020 NAACP Award for Best Director.
In 2011, wanting to honor a pledge she made to herself as a young foster child and to support her son who was struggling in college, Regina returned to college. She graduated summa cum laude from the California Institute of Integral Studies and then went on to the University of California, Riverside, to earn an MFA in creative writing and writing for the performing arts.

Drawing from her own experience of taking herself from a childhood in solitary confinement in a residential treatment center to college and the creation of several successful businesses, in her new book, Permission Granted: Kick-Ass Strategies to Bootstrap Your Way to Unconditional Self-Love, Regina demonstrates how to dream and achieve no matter what.

Regina's work in the theater was nominated for two NAACP Theater Awards. Currently a Hoffman Process teacher, she also leads workshops and has speaking engagements around the country. She is often featured in magazines and on news out- lets, including Good Morning America, PBS, BBC, NBC, CNN, NPR, HLN, and many others.

Please read more at https://www.iamreginalouise.com/