White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Celebrating 20 Years: 2011 Garden Brunch

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David and Susan Axelrod (middle) and Rupert Murdoch (right)

2011 represented a remarkable year of change for the Garden Brunch. The event moved from its historic location in the Palisades of Washington, D.C. to a new location: the historic Georgetown Beall-Washington House, the residence of Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham. Co-presented by the residence’s current owner, Mark Ein, the Garden Brunch spread itself out into yet another staple of Washington’s architectural history.

Hollywood guests included Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black, “Glee” star Matthew Morrison, “Gossip Girl’s” Chase Crawford, The Social Network’s Joe Mazzello, Jeremy Piven and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Also representing the entertainment industry were Joan Rivers, Morgan Fairchild and Rosario Dawson among others.

Attending their first Brunch, Sarah and Todd Palin made a huge impression. Seen mingling with President Obama’s political strategist David Axelrod, CURE epilepsy’s Susan Axelrod and many other Washington correspondents–both White House and political.

Olympic snowboarder phenom Shaun White was visible among the crowd, as were media moguls like Sean Parker, David Carr and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

The brunch happeneda week before Mother’s Day, which let co-chairs Wendi Murdoch and Susan Axelrod take the opportunity to honor all mothers by honoring The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy at the reception. Take a look at the video below:

2011 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch from whcinsider on Vimeo.

Party Time Begins for the WH Correspondents' Dinner Weekend

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Hollywood and Washington were in top form last night as celebrities, politicians and reporters worked the party circuit.

Spotted at the Google/Hollywood Reporter party were Kerry Washington, Kate Upton, Woody Harrelson, and Kyle MacLachlan reuniting with “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and other starts from the ABC hit sitcom “Modern Family,” were at the Time/People cocktail party, and Charlize Theron was holding court at the National Journal & Atlantic’s Funny or Die party.

The annual Garden Brunch is the next big even on the agenda, before the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner tonight.

White House Corespondents Brunch: CURE and White Ribbon Alliance Summer Hits

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The 2011 WHC Garden Brunch featured two great organizations, CURE Epilepsy and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. Our honorary co-chairs Susan Axelrod and Wendi Murdoch led the push for advocacy and results.

2011 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch from whcinsider on Vimeo.

Thanks to your generous donations, CURE Epilepsy is having a record-breaking year in raising funds to find a cure. Your dollars are making a difference. Recently, a CURE-Funded Project had a major breakthrough. UC Irvine and French researchers identified a central switch responsible for the transformation of healthy brain cells into epileptic ones, opening the way to both treat and prevent temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsy affects 1 to 2 percent of the world’s population, and TLE is the most common form of the disorder in adults. Among adult neurologic conditions, only migraine headaches are more prevalent. TLE is resistant to treatment in 30 percent of cases.

“We’re quite excited about this discovery,” UCI neurologist and neuroscientist Dr. Tallie Z. Baram said. “Understanding how previous brain infections, seizures or injuries can interact with the cellular machinery to cause epilepsy is a crucial step toward designing drugs to prevent the process. We don’t want to just treat people with epilepsy. We hope to develop medicines that will prevent epilepsy from occurring – and influence the lives of millions of people around the globe.”

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood is using the month of July to encourage leaders to recognize the importance of health workers. There is a shortage of more than 3.5 million health workers across the globe and millions of existing health workers lack the support, equipment, and training they need to provide quality care. These nurses, doctors, midwives and community health workers are vital for progress on global health and development and for ensuring the millennium development goals are met.

In September, decision-makers will convene at the United Nations General Assembly to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals. It will be an opportunity for governments to announce substantial and specific commitments to support and invest in health workers. By sharing your voice on these issues, together change can be made.

Here is our photo gallery including David and Susan Axelrod, Rupert and Wendi Murdoch, Sarah and Todd Palin, Matthew Morrison, Jeremy Piven, Bill and Bernie Daley, Tina Tchen, Eric Podwall, Chelsea Handler, T. Boone Pickens and many other notables.

We are proud to support the work of CURE Epilepsy and the White Ribbon Alliance, and encourage you to do the same by clicking on the links below.