"As long as violence against women, sexual or otherwise, remains strictly and exclusively a women’s issue, it will always be an issue. We men must own this and we must recognize it as vital to our own survival. And we must help our brothers see it as such."

- Ben Affleck, 2009 Presenter

"An event like this can really make a difference. I have seen it in the faces of those women who know that they're not laboring in vain. I've seen it in the networks that have been created to support them. And I've seen it in the changed attitudes of governments and leaders."

- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

"In honoring me, you are honoring the 700,000 women who are standing behind me. You may not see them, but they are here in spirit — their stories, their struggles and their triumphs echo throughout this hall."

- Jaya Arunachalam, 2005 Honoree

"It is an award to recognize the full human rights of our girls and of our women, but most of all, it is a reminder of the remaining task for equality, development and peace in our respective nations."

- Mu Sochua, 2005 Honoree

"This award, you must know, is going to protect my life...No one can silence me because I have new friends — you are my friends — and you are watching over me."

- Anabella de Leon, 2003 Honoree

Global Leadership Awards

 

 

11th Vital Voices Annual Global Leadership Awards

June 6, 2012

Opera House

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

6:30 pm VIP Reception  •  7:30 pm Awards Presentation  •  9:00 pm Buffet Supper

 

The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women leaders around the world who are the unsung heroines working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity, and protect human rights. This year on June 6, at the Opera House of the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of the very first Vital Voices conference held in Vienna, Austria. This conference spearheaded the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative and led to the inception of Vital Voices Global Partnership.

To inquire about sponsorship information for the 2012 Vital Voices Global Leadership awards, please contact Jennifer Morris. 

 

About the Awards

The annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women’s leadership around the world. Every year since 2002, we have gathered at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to recognize women who are strengthening democracy, increasing economic opportunity and preserving human rights.

They are social entrepreneurs, political representatives, businesswomen, human rights defenders and civil society advocates. From remote villages and wired cities, they promote equality, peace and prosperity as innovators who transcend barriers to move whole communities forward.

They are the women we invest in; theirs is the leadership that improves our world.

 

Thanks to these and all of our 2011 sponsors: 

The Paul E. Singer Foundation