UN Women for Peace Association’s (UNWFPA) Annual Awards Luncheon, in celebration of International Women’s Day, was as inspirational as ever.
Luncheon Chairs were Ray Kelly and Alice Tisch, and other guests included Deborra-Lee Jackman, Kat Graham, Karolína Kurková, and Annalynne McCord.
Held at United Nations Headquarters, this year, UNWFPA honored five distinguished individuals: actor, writer, and activist Ben Stiller (UNWFPA Advocacy Award), fashion designer Naeem Khan (Women’s Empowerment Award), philanthropistsAlbert and Deidre Pujols (Humanitarian Award), and Think Equal Founder and CEO Leslee Udwin (Activism in Arts and Education Award).
“I’m grateful to the UN Women for Peace Association, or, as I look to call it, UN-WOOF-PAH, for this incredible honor,” joked Ben Stiller. “I stand before you as the son of a mother, and the father of a daughter…I, like all men, owe my existence to women. These two women have had an incredible experience on me. One nurtured me, fed me, and taught me simple tasks like tieing my shoes. How my teenage daughter found the time to do these things while going to high school is a testament to her strength and patience. In reality, my mother was the most important voice in my life.”
UNWFPA’s full Board of Directors is Dame Muna Rihani Al-Nasser (Founder and Chair), Barbara Winston (President), Rema DuPont (VicePresident), Michal Grayevsky (Treasurer), Valbona Neritani, and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff.
UNWFPA’s President, Barbara Winston thanked all involved. She declared, “We dream of a world in which all are prosperous, who can take good care of their children and in which there is no war.” She continued: “We need to promote the intersection of humanity with technology with the decisions only people you can provide. The United Nations Women for Peace Association has a mission to educate, to advance and champion giving a voice and platform to the empowerment of women and girls.”
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff presented the “Changemakers and Educators Award” to Marc Brackett, Ph.D and Robin Stern, Ph.D. from the Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University for their work in integrating social and emotional well-being into schools, families and communities. Winston Wolkoff, Brackett and Stern also announced that they would be launching the Social Emotional Learning program with UNWFPA and Facebook Education.
Pictured:
Ben Stiller, Alice Tisch, Ray Kelly
Karolina Kurkova