WASHINGTON, DC – The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation announced today that Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Chief Washington Correspondent, will serve as emcee for the 2025 James W. Foley Freedom Awards to be held on April 29 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. A veteran political correspondent for NBC News, Mitchell has covered every presidential campaign since 1980 for the network in addition to reporting on intelligence and national security issues across all NBC News and MSNBC properties.
The Foley Foundation also announced today that the Bring Our Families Home Campaign will present WNBA Champion, Olympic gold medalist, author, and former wrongful detainee Brittney Griner and Phoenix Mercury President Vince Kozar with its BOFH Campaign Advocacy Champion Award at the Freedom Awards event.
Griner was wrongfully detained in Russia for 294 days before being released in a prisoner exchange. BOFH campaigned for Griner’s freedom throughout her imprisonment. After her release, Griner and the Phoenix Mercury, under the leadership of Vince Kozar, partnered with the family-led BOFH Campaign, composed of individuals advocating for the release of their loved ones held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. Together, Griner and Kozar employed a creative array of advocacy strategies to raise public awareness of Americans unjustly held captive abroad.
Benjamin Gray, Executive Director of the Foley Foundation, said, “We are honored to have Andrea Mitchell, an award-winning veteran journalist, host our annual awards gala and fundraiser. Additionally, as a symbol of our strengthening partnership with the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, we are pleased to highlight the Campaign families’ tireless advocacy for the freedom of their loved ones and the firm support they received from Brittney Griner and Vince Kozar that shone a light on the inhumane practice of using human lives as bargaining chips in relations between nations.”
The Freedom Awards honor the legacy of James Foley, an American conflict journalist who while reporting in Syria was kidnapped by ISIS terrorists in 2012 and then brutally murdered by the group in 2014. This year’s award winners, announced earlier, are Judy Woodruff, Legacy Achievement Award; Joshua Geltzer, American Hostage Freedom Award; Christiane Amanpour, World Press Freedom Award; Pari Ibrahim, Humanitarian Award; and Sandrea Hwang, Robert A. Levinson Excellence in Government Service Award.
Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased at https://www.foleyfreedomawards.org
