MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT: ADL Partners Against Hate Luncheon
WHERE: JW Marriott Marquis Miami (street)
WHEN: Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 11:30am – 1:30pm
December 5, 2024… ADL is proud to announce its annual Partners Against Hate Luncheon Event in Miami, where it will present Jurisprudence and Community Champion Awards to three leaders who exemplify the principles and mission upon which ADL was founded. It will build on ADL’s decades-long legacy of celebrating members of Miami’s legal community.
Melanie E. Damian of Damian | Valori | Culmo and Julie Braman Kane of Colson Hicks Eidson will receive the ADL Florida Jurisprudence Awards, and bestselling author Brad Meltzer will receive the Community Champion Award in memory of the Miami Dolphins’ Jason Jenkins.
The event will be held at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami on Wednesday, February 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“While the voices of antisemitism and bigotry are growing louder, the voices of Melanie, Julie, and Brad are echoing throughout Miami and beyond. We are thrilled to celebrate them as South Florida leaders who are true partners in fighting hate for good,” said ADL Florida Interim Regional Director Lonny Wilk.
About the Community Champion Honoree
The Community Champion Award is given in memory of Jason Jenkins, an ADL Florida Regional Board Member, and Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs for the Miami Dolphins. Jenkins dedicated his life to advocating for others and celebrating inclusivity. Learn more about this remarkable friend and mentor.
Brad Meltzer will receive the Community Champion Award in recognition of his tremendous contributions as an author, television host and speaker. He is the Emmy-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod and 12 other bestselling thrillers. He’s written non-fiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series, which inspired the TV show on PBS KIDS, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. His books have been on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction, Advice, Children’s Books and even comic books, for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award. Brad is also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel and is responsible for helping find a missing 9/11 flag with his show, Brad Meltzer’s Lost History. His books have been read by multiple U.S. Presidents. The Hollywood Reporter put him on their list of the 25 Most Powerful Authors. And his recent commencement address at the University of Michigan has been called “one of the best of all time.”
About the Jurisprudence Award Honorees
Melanie E. Damian, a partner at Damian | Valori | Culmo, represents public and private companies and individuals in a variety of complex business and securities litigation. She counsels companies on corporate governance matters and serves as counsel to special litigation committees performing internal investigations in response to shareholder derivative demands. She also represents officers and directors in corporate and securities litigation matters. She is a Past Chair of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar and Past President of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) Florida Chapter. She is listed as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in the state of Florida by Florida Super Lawyers® magazine, and has also been included in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite and the Top Lawyers in South Florida Legal Guide since 2004. Additionally, she is active in child advocacy and is co-founder of the non-profit Educate Tomorrow and currently serves as the founding Chair of the Board of the SEED School of Miami. She has received numerous awards for her service.
Julie Braman Kane is a partner at Colson Hicks Eidson, where she has practiced since 1993. Ms. Kane’s litigation practice emphasizes representation of plaintiffs in products liability, personal injury, class action and business tort litigation. She is a past President of the American Association for Justice, and she founded and co-chaired AAJ’s Voters Protection Action Committee (VPAC), which provides thousands of lawyers nationwide for legal work related to election protection. She remains active in the Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers, of which she is a past President. She serves various organizations in different capacities addressing diversity and inclusion issues, including service on the Southern District of Florida Fairness & Diversity Committee chaired by the SDFL Public Defender. She received the 2024 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award, the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2017 Masterson Award for professionalism from the Florida Justice Association, the 2017 ABA TIPS Pursuit of Justice Award, and she was recognized as one of the Top 20 2015 South Florida Women in Law by the Daily Business Review.
For more information about the event and the honorees, please visit http://adl.org/partnersagainsthate2025.
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913 to protect the Jewish people, ADL works to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all. In the face of rising antisemitism and extremism, we protect, advocate and educate, through a mix of programs and services using the latest innovations and technology, and seek to create a world without hate.