View photos from the 2009 Women of Concern Awards Luncheon.
Last year’s Women of Concern Awards luncheon, held on June 3 at the Hilton Hotel in New York City, was an outstanding success. Thanks to the generous support of our attendees and donors, this year’s event will help fund desperately needed health programs for vulnerable mothers, infants, and small children in the world’s poorest countries.
Special guest emcee and Emmy award-winning NBC correspondent, Lynda Baquero, clearly played a part in helping to draw the more than 300 guests who gathered to support Concern’s efforts to improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable women and girls and to pay tribute to two women of outstanding accomplishment: Beth A. Brooke and Loretta Brennan Glucksman.
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Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Lynda Baquero, Joanne Smyth, Beth A. Brooke |
Baquero welcomed the two women, who she said were being celebrated for their generosity and leadership which they continued to demonstrate throughout their careers. She went on to call on Tom Moran, Chairman of the Concern Board who introduced the two honorees.
Beth A. Brooke, Global Vice Chair, Public Policy, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement at Ernst & Young was presented with Concern’s 2009 “Woman of the Year Leadership Award”, and Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chairperson, The American Ireland Fund was honored with Concern’s “2009 Woman of the Year Humanitarian Award.”
Concern was thrilled to be able to celebrate both of these extraordinary women for their commitment to social responsibility, their contribution to public service, and their efforts to empower women throughout the world. Ms. Glucksman and Ms. Brooke were each presented with contemporary handmade sculptures carved out of 4,500-year-old Irish bog oak.
Joanne Smyth, Assistant Country Director for Concern in Rwanda, spoke of her recent experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where she witnessed the profound courage and resilience of women displaced by conflict—many of whom are often victims of sexual violence. She described violence against women as an all-too-common weapon of war. She talked of the quiet strength of so many of the Congolese women she met, includinga local woman who often did cleaning for the Concern office in Goma. This woman had "fled her home some weeks previously and had never told anybody because it wasn’t anything that unusual. What I found extraordinary was that no matter what the circumstances, this woman, and many thousands like her found the strength to keep going.” Ms. Smyth urged the audience to think about what the word displacement means: “It means you have run from your home, and left everything you own."
Since January, 250,000 people have fled fighting in DRC, and this is in addition to the 800,000 that were already displaced. Ms. Smyth emphasized, “Just one eight-dollar mosquito net, a hygiene kit, or a kitchen set, can have, in lots of cases, a lifesaving impact.”
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Joan Carroll, Joan Squires, Lynda Baquero , Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Beth A. Brooke, Joanne Smyth |
Beth Brooke spoke about how her role as the Public Delegate to the 2009 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: "I believe that partnerships between NGOs like Concern and local people are critical to making our efforts self-sustaining ... If you invest in women in remote parts of the world, research has shown that they reinvest 90 percent back. I’m hopeful that this economic crisis will provide opportunities to embrace new models of leadership that include all people around the world, because, in the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 'Talent is universally distributed, but opportunity is not.'”
Ms. Brooke spoke of Ernst & Young’s Corporate Fellows Program, which she leads and was a champion in launching. The program develops businesses in poor countries from the ground up by working with local business owners. Ernst & Young business personnel are sent to the field for three months to help these budding entrepreneurs to take control of their businesses and turn a profit.
Loretta Brennan Glucksman spoke of the importance of public service and of raising awareness of social issues. She has been a leader in both areas through her work as a producer in public broadcasting, and through her support of the process of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. She acknowledged her daughter as a great influence, and thanked Siobhan Walsh for her tireless work as Executive Director of Concern Worldwide US. She graciously accepted the "Woman of the Year Humanitarian Award," saying,“I’m humbled to receive this great honor from Concern. Tom Moran has a compelling passion for the work this organization does."
Concern’s special thanks go to cameraman, editor, and producer Jimmy Garland for creating the video profiling Concern’s work helping the most vulnerable people lift themselves out of poverty in the world’s most challenging environments.
The event would not have been possible without the hard work of our Luncheon Committee, a talented team of dedicated volunteers. We thank them for graciously and generously providing their time and expertise to make this year’s luncheon a success.
Most of all, we would like to thank everyone who attended the Seventh Annual Women of Concern Awards Luncheon. With your support, we are empowering some of the poorest and most disadvantaged women in the world to achieve a better future for themselves and their children.