Hats Off To You™ let it go.
A signature evening where survivors, champions, and community gather to honor transformation. We don't celebrate survival. We celebrate what you built from the rubble.
Three years ago, we asked people to throw their hats in the air. They weren't ready for what would happen next.
Hats Off To You™ started as an event. It became a movement. Every year, we gather — survivors, champions, and the people who love them — and we do something powerful together.
We let go. We celebrate. We honor every person who refused to be defined by what happened to them. The hat you throw isn't just a hat. It's the bondage. The baggage. The unforgiveness. The shame. The silence.
When it leaves your hands —
so does everything it represented.
The hat represents the trauma. The baggage. The names you called yourself when no one was listening. The weight you've been carrying so long it started to feel like home. Tonight — it leaves with the hat. And you walk out lighter.
The Night, in three acts.
This is not a typical gala. There is no pretending here. No surface-level inspiration. This is a room full of people who have chosen transformation over survival — and they are celebrating that choice together.
The Gathering
Champagne, conversation, and the quiet electricity of people who have walked through fire. You'll meet survivors, founders, advocates, and the rare circle of those who decided their story would become someone else's survival guide.
The Honoring
Each year we honor a survivor whose story moves the whole room. Educators. Advocates. Quiet warriors. The dinner program is built around stories that don't ask for sympathy — they hand you a mirror.
The Hat Throw
Lights. Hands raised. A countdown. And on three — every hat in the room leaves at the same time. It is the most photographed, most felt, most talked-about moment in the foundation's history. You don't watch it. You take part in it.
Healing happens when those who have risen turn around and reach back.
Hats Off To You™ is made possible by people and brands who believe transformation deserves to be celebrated — and that no child should grow up without the language to protect themselves.
- Place your brand in a room with a deeply engaged, purpose-driven audience
- Directly fund prevention, education, and healing programs
- Recognition across event materials and 82 Ways channels
- Multiple partnership levels available
- Each year we honor a survivor whose journey moves the whole room
- Educators, advocates, and quiet warriors all welcome
- Submit a nomination on behalf of someone you love
- Honorees are celebrated on stage and in the program
- Every nomination is read with care
- Schools, churches, and community organizations welcome
- Connect to the Hard Topic Book Tour and Don’t Touch Me programs
- Volunteer opportunities for individuals and teams
- Spread the work beyond a single night
Stand with healing in public.
Sponsorship of Hats Off To You™ places your brand in the room with a purpose-driven, deeply engaged audience — and your support directly funds education, prevention, and healing programs for children and survivors.
This is not a logo on a banner. This is your brand standing with women and men who have chosen transformation, and the children who will be protected because you did.
Ready to stand with us?
Whether you're sponsoring, nominating a survivor, or bringing the work to your community — reach out and we’ll be in touch.
"When there are 82 ways to help, choosing just one is never enough."
Hats Off To You™ is one of the first five launch initiatives of the 82 Ways Foundation, founded by Dwayne Bowe and Dr. Theresa Bowe.
This is only the beginning. 82 Ways Foundation is being built as one parent nonprofit brand with 82 planned initiatives over the life of the organization. Hats Off To You™ stands alongside Don’t Touch Me, Heels & Motivation, The Huddle Project, and Hard Topic Book Tour as part of the first five initiatives moving the mission forward.
Together, these initiatives support a single mission: empowering the next generation to rise, thrive, and lead through awareness, education, advocacy, healing, and community-centered action.
Visit 82ways.org →