Overview The Headstrong Gala is The Headstrong Project's annual New York benefit at Pier Sixty on the Chelsea Piers, and the 2025 night, hosted by Seth Meyers with President Bill Clinton presenting its Moral Courage Award, raised more than $4 million for veterans' mental health care. The money pays for trauma-focused therapy that Headstrong gives veterans, service members and their families confidentially and at no cost to them. Headstrong was founded in 2012 in partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine, and by late 2025 it had a network of more than 315 licensed clinicians across 18 states and Washington, D.C., plus telehealth nationwide. On site The evening opens with a VIP cocktail reception, with a meet-and-greet and a VIP photo line for sponsor guests, then sits down for the program. Arrivals come through a step and repeat. Sponsor logos run on the stage screens and in the printed journal, and premium seating goes to the top tiers. The 2025 gala ran from 6 to 9:30 p.m.; the 2026 night was booked at Pier Sixty again, from 6 to 11. Audience Headstrong describes the room as leaders from across sectors, clinicians, service members and veterans, and its supporters. Veterans are there as guests rather than only as the subject of the night: a sponsor-a-veteran ticket seats a veteran and a guest. Actors Ryan Eggold and Jocko Sims were in the 2025 audience. Talent and Influencers In 2025 President Clinton gave the Moral Courage Award to Frank Larkin, a former Navy SEAL who took up suicide prevention for veterans after his son Ryan died by suicide in 2017. Co-founder Zach Iscol spoke, and Shoshana Bean and Al Rabil were also part of the night. For 2026 Headstrong named Ric and Suzanne Kayne as honorees, for decades of philanthropy. Track record Headstrong delivered more than 44,000 clinical sessions in 2024, added in-person care in North Carolina and Ohio, and set up a Scientific Advisory Board. Its 2025 sponsorship letter put the share of clients returning for follow-up care at 97%. By late 2025 it had delivered more than 250,000 therapy sessions and served more than 6,500 veterans, service members and family members. Brand presence Sponsorship runs in named tiers, from Hope up through Honor, Duty, Courage, Loyalty and Champion to a single presenting sponsor, who gets a representative in the gala program, the largest seated block, a mention in the press release and quarterly briefings from Headstrong's CEO. The Champion sponsor takes the VIP cocktail reception. Upper tiers add co-branded video or livestream content and a co-branded gift for guests. Carlisle Companies presented the 2025 program. All but $300 of each ticket is tax-deductible.