GLOBAL DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION 

Denver 

News: Award-winning actors Jane Lynch and Jeremy Renner are just two of the celebrities scheduled to be in Denver on Oct. 18 when the Denver-based Global Down Syndrome Foundation presents its 2025 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show. 

Lynch, recipient of five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Kevin Iannucci, an actor with Down syndrome who has appeared in films that include “Champions” and “The Best of Enemies,” will receive the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award.  

Renner, who has appeared in “The Hurt Locker,” “The Avengers” and a couple of “Mission Impossible” movies, nearly lost his life in 2023 after being run over by a Snow Cat. At BBBY he will join Jessica Biel, John C. McGinley, Alexis Floyd, Max Carver, Niko Terho, Amanda Booth, Matthew Von der Ahe and a host of show-biz colleagues to walk the fashion runway with 22 teens and kiddos with Down syndrome. 

That group includes Zaya Biel, Clarissa Capuano, Chase Perry, Louie Rotella and the GLOBAL’s 2025 Ambassador, Guion Macsovits.  

Lynch’s dedication to advocacy and inclusion regarding Down syndrome gained public attention when she played Sue Sylvester on the television show “Glee.” Her real-life sister, Sharon Lynch, who has Down syndrome, inspired the role of Lynch’s TV sister, Jean Sylvester, that was played by actress Robin Trocki. 

BBBY 2025 is being chaired by Jay Mills, Kiana Akina and Andy and Meg Kauth. 

Mills is the founder, owner and chief executive officer of Jay’s Valet Parking and a member of GLOBAL’s board of directors; Akina is client services manager at CBRE; Andy Kauth is senior vice president/wealth management for UBS Financial Services; his wife is the founder of Memoro: Creative Consulting. 

9News anchors Kim Christiansen and Phil Lipof will emcee the event that begins at 5 p.m. at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. Tickets are $1,300 for VIP; $750 for individual and $350 for Down syndrome family members. They can be reserved by visiting BeBeautifulBeYourself.org 

About the organization: The Denver-based Global Down Syndrome Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through research, medical care, education and advocacy. It was established in 2009 by John J. Sie and his late wife, Anna. The Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show is the single-largest annual fundraiser of its type, with proceeds helping to support the foundation’s affiliates on the Anschutz Medical Campus: the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the CU Alzheimer’s & Cognition Center and the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The foundation also organizes and funds various programs, conferences and grants that focus on Down syndrome and those living with it. 

Website: globaldownsyndrome.org 

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