Award Presenters
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Tiffany Dufu President of the White House Project | Dr. Teguest Guerma Director General AMREF | Robert MacNeil Journalist, News Anchor and Author |
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Lynn Nottage Playwright and Lecturer | Kerry Washington Award-Winning Actress |
Moderator
| Invocation | ||
Adaora Udoji Journalist and on-air personality | Linda Tarry-Chard Minister Riverside Church |
Tiffany DufuPresenter - Abigail E. Disney
Tiffany Dufu is currently the President of the White House Project.
During her time at the The White House Project, Ms. Dufu has forged new partnerships, strengthened the Corporate Council, and refined the organization’s strategy. Having raised nearly $20 million toward the cause of women and girls, she has been featured in The Seattle Times, The New York Times, and NPR, and is a frequent speaker on women’s leadership and nonprofit fundraising.
Previously, Ms. Dufu worked as Associate Director of Development at the Seattle Girls’ School, a nonprofit education institution committed to giving all girls the power to be innovative, confident, critical thinkers. In another role as Major Gifts Officer at Simmons College, she managed a portfolio of more than 150 donors, and worked in recruitment to create a more diverse student body. She also served as a fellow for LeadBoston and a catalyst for the Commonwealth Compact project, working to make Greater Boston a desired destination for people of color and women. She currently serves on the board of Harlem 4 Kids. Ms. Dufu holds a B.A. and M.A. in English and a Certificate in Fundraising Management from the University of Washington.
Dr. Teguest GuermaPresenter - Johnson & Johnson
Dr. Guerma is currently Director General of the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF).
She is an Ethiopian national with an extensive career in public health and over 26 years experience with WHO (World Health Organization). Until her appointment to AMREF, Dr. Guerma worked as the Associate Director of HIV/AIDS department for the World Health Organization in Geneva where she was responsible for the overall WHO’s work on HIV/AIDS. Previously she served as the WHO representative to UN Headquarters, New York, USA and Gaborone, Botswana; HIV/AIDS and STI Regional Adviser WHO Regional office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo; acted as WHO Representative, Kathmandu Nepal among other roles.
Dr. Guerma started her career as a medical practitioner and infectious disease specialist in Senegal and Burundi in the mid-1980s. She holds a medical degree from the University of Reims and post-graduate degrees in Infectious Diseases and Bacteriology Virology from the University of Dakar. Dr Guerma also received a certificate in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University.
Robert MacNeilPresenter - Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Robert MacNeil is a popular American journalist, news anchor, and author.
Born and educated in Canada, Robert MacNeil was a journalist for forty years. In his career he has worked at Reuters News Agency, NBC News and the BBC, with his work culminating in twenty years as Executive Editor of the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour on PBS. He is the author of three novels, Burden of Desire, The Voyage and Breaking News; three memoirs, The Right Place at the Right Time, Wordstruck, and Looking For My Country; and co-author of The Story of English and the sequel, Do You Speak American? Since 1993 he has been Chairman of the MacDowell Colony. He and his wife Donna live in New York City.
Lynn NottagePresenter - Eve Ensler
Lynn Nottage is a playwright and lecturer.
Her most recent publications include: Ruined (TCG), Intimate Apparel and Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine: Two Plays (TCG) and Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Other Plays (TCG).
She is the recipient of the 2010 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play (Ruined),the Lee Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer.
Kerry WashingtonPresenter - Eve Ensler
Kerry Washington is an award-winning actress and humanitarian.
Winner of “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” for Ray at the NAACP Image Awards, Ms. Washington also garnered critical acclaim for her role in The Last King of Scotland opposite Forest Whitaker for which she was nominated for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” at the NAACP Image Awards. Most recently, Kerry Washington starred in Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls. Next up is The Details alongside Tobey Maguire, Ray Liotta and Laura Linney. In 2010, Washington made her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s provocative hit Race with James Spader and Jason Alan Grier.
Washington is an active member of the V-Counsel, an esteemed group of advisors to V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, and she serves on the board of Voices of a People’s History, a non-profit arts and education group which uses live performance and educational programs to illuminate the primary source material that inspired the book, Voices of a People's History of the United States. In November of 2009, Washington was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Originally from The Bronx, New York, Washington is a graduate of The Spence School. In 1998, she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from The George Washington University.
Adaora Udoji - Moderator
Adaora Udoji is an award-winning journalist and on-air personality.
Named one of the 25 most influential African Americans by Essence Magazine, Ms. Udoji has covered some of the most critical international and domestic stories of the past dozen years as an on-air correspondent. Raised in the United States and Nigeria, Ms. Udoji catapulted into the world of network news as producer of Cynthia McFadden's acclaimed coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial. She has delivered award-winning coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for ABC News, covered the last four presidential elections as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She was also among those who contributed to CNN receiving the Peabody Award for their heralded coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and a DuPont-Columbia University Award for their coverage of the Tsunami Disaster in South Asia.
She completed her undergraduate degree in political science and sociology at University of Michigan, and received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law. Udoji and her husband, NBC News correspondent Ron Allen, live in New York City with their daughter.
Linda Tarry-Chard - Invocation
Linda Tarry-Chard is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and served as the Minister for Social Justice at Broadway United Church of Christ. Currently she is the Associate Minister for Membership, Care and Parish Life at the Riverside Church in New York City.
Linda Tarry-Chard has been involved in public service for over 30 years and has held executive positions in voluntary child-care agencies and with the New York City Human Resources Administration. Her career has focused on the welfare of disadvantaged urban children and their families, diversity and social justice issues.
Linda Tarry-Chard holds a Master of Science in Education from Fordham University and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. In 1995, she broadened the population she serves to include women and children living in the townships and rural areas of South Africa. She is the founding President of Project People Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that develops training and employment projects for women and leadership projects for high school students in South Africa and the U.S.
