Superproducer and N.E.R.D. frontman Pharrell Williams has been chosen to serve as an event chair for journalist Soledad O’Brien and banker Brad Raymond’s “New Orleans in the Hamptons” fundraising event for their Soledad O’Brien + Brad Raymond Foundation. The inaugural event took place on August 12 in Bridgehampton.

The foundation is dedicated to providing promising young women with the means to overcome obstacles and provide opportunities through scholarships. An award-winning broadcast figure, O’Brien has built her journalistic career by lending a voice to under-served communities, and know very well the difficulties facing the scores of young women who merely lack proper resources.

The festive event –the first for the foundation – embraced the can-do spirit of New Orleans and featured touching and inspiring stories from young women who have benefited from the foundation.

Pharrell Williams is joined by fellow early supporters Dick Parsons and Cicely Tyson as event chairs. The event also featured a live jazz concert by New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, who is also Chairman of the foundation’s board of directors.

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