Ambassador for Development through Performance

17 Apr Ambassador for Development through Performance

April 17, 2010

Anyone who knows me and/or visits this site knows I’m an avid supporter of the All Stars Project and have been since it began some decades ago. The All Stars’ program are exquisite applications of the social therapeutic approach to human development because they are uniquely suited to the conditions that young people—especially those who are poor or “of color”—face today. So it was a special honor to be recognized this week at the All Stars Project’s National Gala Benefit, “Out of Crisis: Helping the World’s Youth to Grow.”

At the Lincoln Center event (which raised $3 million), I was given the All Stars Ambassador for Development award  by All Stars’ Board Chair Rich Sokolow and Dr. Elouise Joseph, youth programs manager for the Bay area All Stars and a member of the team I led in March bringing the All Stars’ approach to play to teachers in China.

What made the honor even more meaningful was that it was followed by the 2010 Bridge Building Awards for Leadership in Community Relations, presented to five countries for their exemplary leadership in providing aid to Haiti in the aftermath of January’s devastating earthquake.  All Stars’ youth leaders presented the awards to: Ambassador Osmar V. Chohfi, Consul General of Brazil in New York;  John McNab, Deputy Consul General of Canada in New York; Ambassador Pedro Núñez Mosquera, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations; Philippe Lalliot, Consul General of France in New York and Asaf Shariv, Consul General of Israel in New York. And Haiti’s Consul General in New York, Felix Augustin, accepted them. It was an honor to be in such company.