Mona Locke, former First Lady of Washington State, served as Master of Ceremonies, and the fundraising appeal was by former United States Attorney, Michael D. McKay. The featured speaker was Denis Hayes, President of the Bullitt Foundation. Denis has been a lifelong advocate for the environment. He achieved widespread recognition at the young age of 24, having been National Coordinator for the first Earth Day. During the Carter Administration, he directed the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He is the recipient of the Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Public service and numerous other honors and distinctions from a wide range of national and international organizations.

The 2008 recipient of the Thomas C. Wales Award for Passionate Citizenship was Harry H. Schneider. Harry is a Seattle-based lawyer who helped lead the legal team that defended Salim Hamdan, a Guantanamo detainee. Harry’s work on the case has taken six years, has moved up and down through the federal court system (including a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court), and led finally to reconstituted trials before military panels at Guantanamo. The vigorous pro bono defense though initially criticized by the Justice Department, was eventually recognized as a landmark case upholding civil liberties. Harry was introduced at the dinner by U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who described the far-reaching significance of the case and praised Harry’s courage in undertaking it.

Four other Puget Sound community leaders received recognition from the Foundation as 2008 honorees: Chris Fontana, KC Golden, Betsy Lieberman, and Craig Rennebohm.