On Friday, November 11, The New England Center for Children (NECC) will host its annual Children of Promise Gala.  Hundreds of business leaders, philanthropists, friends, and families will gather at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston to raise funds for autism education and research.

Since 2015, the Children of Promise Gala has attracted hundreds of supporters to Boston for an evening featuring live and silent auctions, dinner, dancing, and stories of inspiration. Last year’s gala raised a record $1.1 million to supports NECC’s Annual Fund. This year, NECC will celebrate the organization’s growth and global impact.

“When you look at all of the ways NECC has spread across the globe – whether it be through one of the more than 2,500 staff alumni whose training at NECC led them to open autism centers in other countries or through our ACE© ABA Software System that has more than 11,000 users across the world – it is hard to believe it started from the vision of one man in a small town in Massachusetts,” said Jessica Sassi, PhD, BCBA-D, LABA, executive director of NECC Southborough. “This night will not only celebrate NECC’s global growth but honor NECC founder and CEO Vincent Strully, Jr., who will step down as CEO next year after 48 years of dedication that changed the lives of thousands of children with autism across the globe.”

Strully and a group of colleagues established the first program that would later become NECC in 1975 at the Taunton State Hospital with just $30,000 in start-up funds. From there, it has grown to an award-winning autism education center and research institute now based in Southborough, MA. Committed to creating a world where autism is not a barrier to happiness, growth, and independence, NECC’s community of teachers, researchers, and clinicians provide comprehensive services including day and residential programs, partner classrooms in public school systems, consulting services, and the ACE® ABA Software System. By providing industry-leading staff professional development opportunities, specifically with on-campus graduate degree partnership programs, NECC has helped produce highly qualified autism educators and researchers who impact the lives of children with autism around the world.

In addition to its headquarters in Southborough, NECC operates a center in Abu Dhabi, UAE, has opened clinics in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and offers consulting services throughout the Gulf. The gala program will highlight NECC’s sister center in Abu Dhabi while also shining a spotlight on several successful staff alumni ventures in other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Ghana, and Iceland.

For more information, to purchase tickets, or to inquire about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, please visit www.necc.org/gala or contact Marianne Gibson at [email protected].