Arrive Magazine - March/April 2012

The DVF Awards The Diller-von Furstenberg Awards were created in partnership with The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation to recognize, honor and support the work of extraordinary women leaders. The DVF Awards are given to five women who have demonstrated leadership, strength and courage in their espective fields. The annual event takes place during the Women in the World Sum- mit, where past recipients of the $50,000 award include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (pictured far right, with daughter Chelsea), Franco-Colombian politician and anti-corruption activist Ingrid Betancourt, and children’s advocate Elizabeth Smart. Diane von Furstenberg (pictured near right)
presides over the event.

Condoleezza Rice, Meryl Streep, Cherie Blair and other eminent figures from business, politics and entertainment have joined Newsweek and The Daily Beast editor-in-chief Tina Brown onstage at the annual Women in the World Summit. They come together to celebrate the achievements of everyday women, like Amy Lehman, M.D., a former Chicago surgeon who founded the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic in a remote part of Africa. Or 16-year-old orphaned dancer Sokha Chen, who once foraged for food in a Phnom Penh garbage dump before being taken in by A New Day Cambodia, an organization whose primary focus is education.

“These are the kinds of stories people take away in their hearts and want to do
something about,” says Brown, who founded the event. “What really gets people
to care are the more personal narratives, the struggles and triumphs. They iden-
tify with these women, and in the course of that really become cognizant and
understand the issues. We very much wanted to bring that drama and journalistic
authenticity to the stage so that it would make people really pay attention.”
The summit is about solutions as well as stories. Participants have been involved
in helping to enact serious change, such as the establishment of a law in Cambodia
banning acid attacks or fostering economic growth in developing nations by pro-
viding business and management education to women entrepreneurs.

This year, the third invitation-only summit takes place March 8–10 in New York City, and participants include Angelina Jolie, Christine Lagarde and Gloria Steinem. Events can be watched via a live webcast at thedailybeast.com. Video highlights and reports recapping the panel discussions, interviews and theatrical performances from all of the summits will be available online.

The summits elicited such an outpouring of support that they led to the creation of the Women in the World Foundation. Those who would like to know more about the individuals and initiatives featured at the meeting and find out ways to get involved can visit womenintheworld.org. Issues can also be explored according to areas of interest such as education, health or the environment.