Thanks to the families, staff, guests, and sponsors for a successful Night at the Pier 2013!

View pictures from the evening on our Facebook page.

Dan Bucatinsky stepped into the spotlight when he wrote, produced, and starred in the indie romantic comedy, All Over the Guy.  In 2003 he and producing partner Lisa Kudrow founded Is Or Isn't Entertainment, which  has produced the cult, Emmy-nominated HBO comedy, The Comeback, acclaimed NBC docu-series Who Do You Think You Are? And the original online web series Web Therapy, in which Bucatinsky also stars.  Web Therapy has just completed its second critically-acclaimed season in its groundbreaking half-hour format for Showtime and was recently picked up for a third.

Dan Bucatinsky became a best-selling author when his autobiographical tales of parenthood, "Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight?" arrived in bookstores June, 2012.   He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and has recently been honored by the American Fertility Association with an Advocacy Award for his vocal support of adoption and family equality.

As a writer/producer Bucatinsky is a Consulting Producer on the ninth season of Grey’s Anatomy and has also Co-Executive Produced the NBC dramedy Lipstick Jungle. 

As an actor, Dan plays James on the new Shonda Rhimes series, Scandal.  Television audiences will also remember him from Grey’s Anatomy, In Plain Sight, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Weeds.  Film roles include I Love Your Work, Under the Tuscan Sun,as well as Bounce and The Opposite of Sex, both directed by his husband, Web Therapy co-creator and director, Don Roos.  Bucatinsky and Roos live with their two children in California.  

Jennifer Chrisler served as Executive Director of Family Equality Council from 2005 to 2013.  Under Jenn’s leadership, Family Equality Council grew into the leading policy advocate on federal and state issues that impact today’s modern families, including foster care and adoption, safe schools, family medical leave, parenting protections, domestic partnership and marriage.

In 2006, Chrisler mobilized hundreds of LGBT-headed families to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington, DC.  The groundbreaking event received national attention from the media and represented the single largest example of LGBT family visibility in American history.  She secured important victories at the federal level including the changing of federal forms to recognize today's diverse families by securing important protections such as access to family medical leave and the extension of benefits for LGBT federal employees and their children. Most importantly, under her leadership Family Equality Council brought unprecedented levels of visibility for parents who are LGBT and their children.

Chrisler’s extensive nonprofit management skills are derived from her years of experience as a fundraising consultant, finance director and director of corporate communications in political organizations and LGBT groups. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in early childhood education from Smith College, where she has recently returned to serve as Vice President for Alumnae Relations and Executive Director of the Alumnae Association of Smith College (AASC).  She and her spouse, former Massachusetts State Senator Cheryl Jacques, are parents to twins, Tim and Tom and son, Matthew.

A partner in the Litigation Department, Roberta ("Robbie") A. Kaplan has been described in a profile in Lawdragon as a “pressure junkie” who “thrives on looking at the big picture” whether “in the gay-marriage legal fight or high-profile corporate scandals.” Ms. Kaplan has been chosen by the National Law Journal as one of the top "40 Under 40" lawyers in the United States, as a New York “Super Lawyer,” and as one of the 500 leading litigators in the United States.

Ms. Kaplan has extensive experience representing major corporate clients such as Fitch Ratings, in complex, high profile matters.

Ms. Kaplan currently represents Edith Windsor in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), a federal statute that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Ms. Kaplan’s client had to pay $363,000 in federal estate tax because of DOMA. As a result of Ms. Windsor’s case, the U.S. Department of Justice, in a historic decision, announced that it has concluded that heightened scrutiny should apply to laws that discriminate against gay men and lesbians, and that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional. Ms. Kaplan argued that case before the United States Supreme Court on March 27, 2013.

Ms. Kaplan's work has been honored by a number of organizations, including the New York City Council, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Columbia Law School Women’s Association, The New York County Lawyers Association, and the National Organization for Women.

Ms. Kaplan is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School.

Event Chairs

William Sherr
Frank Bua
Jennifer Hatch

Event Vice Chair

Bernadette Coveney Smith

Host Committee

Macky Alston & Nick Gottlieb • Dr. Howard Babushkin & Cataldo Urso • Douglas Carter Beane & Lewis Flinn • Kim & Natalie Bergman • Alan Bernstein • Phil & Odile Birsh • Susan Boolbol MD & Pam Godwin • Erik Botsford & Steven Manson • Katia Bouazza & Primavera Salvá • Erica & Marek Bowers • Jay & Valerie Brown • Frank Bua & Scott Carroll • Luigi Caiola & Sean McGill • Kelli Carpenter & Anne Steele • Gregg Cartagine & Reed Chaikin • Anthony Chiafullo & Adam Gindi • Meg Columbia-Walsh • Mark Corpron • Bernadette & Jennifer Coveney Smith • Dina Curet • Chris Daniel & Jim Schnobrich • Scott Davenport • Jeannine Dooley & Marcia Mule • Scott Ellis • Clifford Finn • Bill Fischer • Steven Frank & Mark Lerner • Steven Fuchs & Brian Lancaster • Daniel Gallagher & Peter Shearer • Darius Grant • Alex Habib & Mark Hostetter • Will Halm & Marcellin Simard • Jen Hatch & Sue Smith • BJ Holt • James Huniford • David Huntington • Suazanne Iasenza & Barbara Ryan • Gregg Kaminsky & Daniel MacDonald • Tracey Katchtick-Anders & Paige Koudijs • Roberta Katz • Fran Lichtman & Randy Rabney • Mike Lubin • Nancy Lyons • Brian Maloney & Stelian Serban • Jamie Marks & Mark Scott • Ed Maynard • Tim Meyer & Mark Funk • Karen & Ricardo Pascoe • L. Glenn Poppleton • Liz Porter & Sue Truitt • Karen Primack & Joan Segall • Brad Prunty & Tony Russo • Joe Quenqua • Ralph Randazzo • Jordan Roth & Richie Jackson • Nick Scandalios & Ric Swezey • Robin Schudmak & Amy Stevenson • Brian Sheerin & Ken Weissenberg • William Sherr & Estevan Garcia • James Stawniczy & Hector Vazquezt • Richard Vaughn & Tommy Woelfel • Mindi Wernick