Hargrove Foundation Summit and Gala Grows to a Full Day With Mac McAnally, Ben Raines, Lulu Gribbin

MOBILE, Ala. — The Hargrove Foundation Summit and Gala is growing into an all-day affair this year. For its 11th annual signature event, set for Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Battle House Hotel in downtown Mobile, the foundation will for the first time add a daytime summit of speakers to its traditional evening gala, which will be headlined by singer-songwriter Mac McAnally.

The new format brings three featured speakers to the stage before the evening celebration: author and filmmaker Ben Raines, best known for finding the wreck of the slave ship Clotilda; youth advocate and adaptive athlete Lulu Gribbin, a shark attack survivor who pushed for a federal beach-safety law; and international speaker Sebastian Terry, creator of the 100things movement.

Micki Kohn, president of the Hargrove Foundation Board of Directors, said the expansion marks a turning point for the event.

“The Summit & Gala represents an exciting new chapter for the Hargrove Foundation. By expanding to a full day of programming, we can introduce more voices, share more impactful stories and create new opportunities for our community to connect with the mission of the Foundation. We look forward to welcoming supporters, partners and guests for an unforgettable day of inspiration and celebration.”

Hargrove Foundation Summit and Gala at a glance

• What: 11th annual Hargrove Foundation Summit & Gala
• When: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026
• Where: Battle House Hotel, downtown Mobile
• Summit: Begins at 11:30 a.m. with an opening luncheon featuring Ben Raines, followed by speakers Lulu Gribbin and Sebastian Terry
• Gala: Opens at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception, followed by a seated dinner and a performance by Mac McAnally
• How to take part: The foundation is encouraging supporters to reserve tables and sponsorships early

Opening luncheon: Ben Raines and the Clotilda

The summit opens at 11:30 a.m. with a luncheon featuring Raines, an award-winning journalist, filmmaker and author of “The Last Slave Ship.” Raines is widely known for his role in locating the remains of the Clotilda, the last ship known to have brought enslaved Africans to the United States.

The Clotilda arrived in Mobile Bay in 1860, more than half a century after Congress banned the importation of enslaved people in 1808. The voyage was financed by Mobile businessman Timothy Meaher and commanded by Capt. William Foster. After the roughly 110 captives aboard were taken off the schooner, the vessel was burned and scuttled in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to hide evidence of the illegal voyage. Many of the people brought on the ship later founded Africatown, the community north of downtown Mobile where their descendants still live. The Alabama Historical Commission confirmed the wreck’s identity in 2019, a discovery that drew national and international attention and renewed interest in Africatown’s history.

Raines has spent much of his career documenting Alabama’s natural and cultural history, from the wildlife of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to the state’s coastal past, and his work has been featured widely in national outlets. He is also the author of “Saving America’s Amazon,” a book about the natural riches of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and the filmmaker behind “The Underwater Forest,” a documentary about an ancient cypress forest preserved beneath the Gulf off the Alabama coast. For a Mobile audience, his story is a local one: the Clotilda’s wreck lies in waters just upriver from the hotel where he will speak.

Lulu Gribbin: turning survival into service

Summit guests will also hear from Lulu Gribbin, founder of the Lulu Strong Foundation. Gribbin, a teenager from Mountain Brook, was seriously injured in a shark attack off the Florida Panhandle in 2024. Rather than step away from public life, she turned the experience into a mission of advocacy and service, sharing her recovery publicly and championing other amputees.

She helped lead the effort behind Lulu’s Law, which was signed into federal law in 2026. The law is aimed at improving shark attack alert systems and public safety at the beach, a subject of keen interest along the Alabama and Florida coasts, where millions of visitors swim every year. Her story of resilience has drawn attention across the country.

Sebastian Terry and the 100things movement

The third featured speaker, Sebastian Terry, created the global 100things movement. After the loss of a close friend led him to reevaluate his life, Terry set out to complete a list of 100 personal goals. The journey that followed has inspired millions of people around the world and made him a sought-after speaker on personal transformation, purpose and peak performance.

Terry has shared his message with organizations including Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America and McKesson. His appearance gives the summit a forward-looking, motivational close to its daytime program.

Evening gala with Mac McAnally

The gala opens at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception, followed by a seated dinner and a special performance by Mac McAnally, the celebrated singer-songwriter, producer and longtime member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band.

McAnally has been named the Country Music Association’s Musician of the Year 10 times and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His songs have been recorded by artists including Kenny Chesney, Alabama, Jimmy Buffett and Luke Combs, and he is regarded as one of Nashville’s most respected songwriters and collaborators. Born in Red Bay, Alabama, and raised in Belmont, Mississippi, McAnally has long ties to the Gulf Coast through his decades of work with Buffett, whose music helped define the region’s laid-back beach culture.

McAnally’s connection to the coast runs deep. Buffett, who grew up in Mobile and Fairhope, built a career on songs about Gulf Coast life, and McAnally spent decades on stage beside him. For gala guests, the performance offers a rare chance to hear a writer of hit songs in an intimate ballroom setting rather than an arena.

A tradition of notable speakers

The 2026 Summit & Gala builds on a tradition of bringing well-known speakers to Mobile in support of the foundation’s charitable work. Past keynote speakers have included:

• Former NASA astronauts Mike Massimino and Garrett Reisman
• Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a disabled airliner on the Hudson River in 2009 and later served as a U.S. ambassador
• Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski
• Two-sport star Bo Jackson
• Sarah Thomas, the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl
• Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state

Adding a daytime summit allows the foundation to feature several speakers in one day instead of a single keynote.

About the Hargrove Foundation

The Hargrove Foundation is the charitable arm associated with Hargrove Engineers + Constructors, the Mobile-based, employee-owned engineering and construction firm that serves industrial clients across the country. The foundation’s mission is to support education, health and human services, arts and culture and qualified sports activities in the communities where Hargrove operates.

The foundation draws its support from donors, partners and Hargrove employees, whom the company calls teammates. Through that support, it works to create opportunities for success and development in Mobile and in other communities where the firm has offices and projects.

The foundation is inviting the community to join in celebrating that mission at this year’s event, and it is encouraging supporters to reserve tables and sponsorships early for what organizers describe as a day of inspiration, impact and community celebration.

About the Battle House Hotel

The venue adds its own history to the day. The Battle House Hotel, on Royal Street in the heart of downtown Mobile, is one of the city’s landmark buildings. The current hotel opened in 1908, replacing an earlier Battle House that had stood on the site since the 1850s, and it is known for its domed lobby skylight and grand ballrooms. After years of sitting empty, the hotel was restored and reopened in 2007 and has since become a favored setting for galas, weddings and civic events in the Port City.

What happens next

With the date less than a month away, the foundation is now booking tables and sponsorships for both the daytime summit and the evening gala. Supporters interested in attending or sponsoring can contact the Hargrove Foundation directly for details on reservations and sponsorship levels.

For the foundation, the expanded format is a test of how far its signature night can grow. By pairing a historian of Mobile’s most consequential shipwreck, a young survivor who changed federal law, a globe-trotting motivational speaker and one of Nashville’s most respected songwriters, organizers hope the day will reach new audiences and bring more support to the causes the foundation serves.