On Sunday night at the Emmy’s George Clooney was presented with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award! He gave the following speech that we at ASR thought was pretty remarkable. In a matter of 2 minutes – he reminded millions of viewers of ASR’s mission! Thanks, Mr. Clooney.
Lindsay Huff, ASR Special Projects, ASR Founder Andrea Herz Payne, and Elizabeth Markovitch, new ASR Director of Development
On March 9, 2010, the women of ASR attended the Los Angeles Business Journal’s annual awards luncheon.
We had the privilege of meeting personally 2010 Business Person of the Year and LABJ Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Soon-Shiong. Surgeon, researcher, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, he is a remarkable, humble man with an equally remarkable story.
Born and raised in South Africa at a time when apartheid was still epidemic, Soon-Shiong began his medical career at a very young age in South Africa. Receiving half the pay of his Caucasian counterparts, he shone in his endeavors, overcame the oppressions of apartheid, emigrated to Canada and then The United States where he has become one of the most innovative scientists of our time, changing the face of medicine.
In the 1980′s, Soon Shiong performed the first cell transplants to produce insulin in a diabetic. He subsequently invented Abraxane, the first breast cancer drug based on nanparticle technology. His new-found material wealth not only catapulted him into the ranks of America’s wealthiest individuals, it has inspired extraordinary philanthropy. Soon-Shiong and his wife Michele Chan started their own foundation which has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to local hospitals, and is assisting in the planned reopening of South LA’s MLK Jr. Hospital and in the improvement of Skid Row Medical Care. In his seemingly extemporaneous acceptance speech we heard wonderful and humorous examples of his innovation and insight into the healthcare industry through technological improvements.
We got reacquainted with social media and internet marketing guru Torsten Kunert who has joined the ranks of those contributing their significant knowledge and expertise to the ASR team. Tunert was in attendance with business partners Robert Star and Irvine Zysensky; they have an important iPhone application in the works – we’ll update you in the future.
We also had the privilege of speaking with LABJ publisher Matt Toledo and Editor Charles Crumpley. As new subscribers, ASR appreciated the opportunity to thank them for the extensive, informative, and interesting coverage of our community. The day was a unique, fascinating experience for us, gaining the perspective of local entrepreneurs and interacting with members of the wide-ranging Los Angeles business world.
Update: LABJ will be publishing an article about ASR in their March 22, 2010, issue! We will be posting it here as soon as it is released! Stay tuned…
On February 28, 2010, ASR attended an event for Youth for Human Rights International where we were honored to meet Ben Skinner, author of A Crime so Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery. A Carr Center for Human Rights Policy fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School and winner of the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Skinner is both academic and activist.
Skinner’s own first-hand experience with slavery began in 2003 while in Sudan on an assignment for Newsweek. He met a young man, Muong Nyong, a former slave who was Skinner’s own age but who had spent half his life in bondage. Nyong inspired Skinner to seek out more people like him. Thus began the journey that has made Skinner the first person in history to have observed the sale of human beings on four continents.
Scholars estimate the total number of modern-day slaves is greater than at any point in history – Skinner places it at potentially twenty-seven million human beings. But as Skinner points out, that number means little, unless we clarify the meaning of slavery. He formulated a specific definition: slaves are forced to work, under threat of violence, for no pay beyond subsistence.
Though the number of slaves defies comprehension and is growing, finding them is challenging and at times dangerous. Often going undercover, Skinner has infiltrated trafficking networks, slave quarries, urban child markets and illegal brothels. These experiences and insights are chronicled in A Crime So Monstrous.
After the presentation, ASR also met with Skinner’s guest, fellow Angeleno Maria Suarez of CAST-LA (Coalition of Abolition of Slavery and Trafficking- Los Angeles). Maria moved the audience to tears with her story of being trafficked at age 15- in Los Angeles. Lured by the promise of a job, Maria was imprisoned into domestic servitude and abuse for 5 1/ 2 years – in Los Angeles, then wrongfully imprisoned for 22 1/2 years for the murder of her enslaver. Upon her release, she was threatened with deportation. Maria’s name was cleared, a green card granted, and with a radiant smile and spirit, she is dedicating her life to educating families, and especially young women, both here and in small villages abroad, of the dangers of human trafficking.
It was a thought-provoking morning and ASR felt privileged to bear witness to some of the tragedies of human trafficking.
