WASHINGTON, D.C., May 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vital Voices Global Partnership (Vital Voices) is combining two of its most beloved annual events into one spectacular week of inspiration and action with the Vital Voices Festival and 23rd Global Leadership Awards, taking place on May 29 and 30 in Washington, DC. These events will bring together and honor world leaders, activists, actors, supporters and journalists from around the globe.
“With a record–breaking number of elections to be held in 2024, expanding global crises and a wave of authoritarian regimes threatening to pull us backwards, women around the world are rising to meet this moment in every region,” said Vital Voices President and CEO Alyse Nelson. “Vital Voices is proud to honor the women defending progress and leading powerful movements for human rights, peace and justice.”
Held on May 29 and 30 at the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership—the world’s first embassy for women—in Washington, DC, the festival serves as a homecoming for our network of women leaders, partners, and supporters from around the world. Festival speakers of note include Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Vital Voices co–founder, who will moderate a panel on women defending democracy, Entrepreneur and Vital Voices Board Member Diane von Furstenberg, Author, Actor and Director Amber Tamblyn, who will moderate a panel discussing the critical role of male allies in the fight for gender equality and combating gender–based violence, and more. CNN International Correspondent Jomana Karadsheh will speak on a panel exploring peacebuilding efforts amidst the Gaza–Israel conflict alongside Arwa Damon, founder and president of International Network for Aid, Relief & Assistance (INARA). The festival will also include Ambassador–at–Large for Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State Geeta Rao Gupta; Daughters for Earth Co–Founder Zainab Salbi; Co–Founder & CEO of The American Sunlight Project and Adjunct Professor, Syracuse University Nina Jankowicz; Feminist, Activist and Author of The Resilience Myth Soraya Chemaly; three–time NYT Bestselling Author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, and many more.
The 23rd Annual Global Leadership Awards at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on May 30 will honor and pay tribute to five women and one organization whose leadership is helping move the world forward: Nobel Laureate and Rappler Co–founder and CEO Maria Ressa for her unwavering commitment to fight for press freedom in the Philippines, President of the Marshall Islands Hilda Heine for her work on the front lines of climate change, Diplomat and Feminist Aya Chebbi, whose blogging and voice for democracy rose to prominence during the Tunisian Revolution, Activist Nika Kovač for building coalitions to transform legal precedent on gender and economic inequalities in Slovenia, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia Susana Muhamad for her sustainability and environmental conservation work, and non–profit SafeCity Global. Secretary Clinton and Diane von Furstenberg will also present at the Global Leadership Awards.
The Vital Voices festival is open by invitation only. The Global Leadership Awards is open to members of the public who reserve a seat. Ticketing and more information about the Vital Voices Festival and Global Leadership Awards can be found at www.vitalvoices.org.
About Vital Voices Global Partnership
Now celebrating 27 years, Vital Voices Global Partnership has directly invested in more than 20,000 women leaders across 185 countries and territories since its inception in 1997. Driven by the universal truth that women are the key to progress in their communities and nations cannot move forward without women in leadership positions, Vital Voices has provided early support for leaders who went on to become Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, U.S. Youth Poet Laureates, prime ministers, award–winning innovators, pioneering human rights defenders, and breakthrough social entrepreneurs, including Amanda Gorman and Malala Yousafzai. In an effort to advance and expand this work, in 2022 Vital Voices opened the doors to the world’s first global embassy for women, the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership. It is a first–of–its–kind space that allows for convening, innovation, planning, and action—all in the pursuit of serving women leaders who are taking on the world’s greatest challenges.
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