June 6, 2006
Angeles Arrien
Foundation awards $75,000 in grants to celebrate 10 years of success in
fostering cross-cultural initiatives
Circle of Bridge-Makers
honorees exemplars in
preserving cultural heritage, environmental sustainability and intergenerational
leadership
San Francisco
,
CA
, June 10, 2006 – Three remarkable
individuals whose outstanding efforts have contributed to cultural change are
being honored by the
Angeles Arrien
Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research, a non-profit foundation
that fosters and promotes cross-cultural knowledge and wisdom to support human
sustainability. This year Angeles Arrien will be presenting Liliana Madrigal,
Mark Gerzon and Zainab Salbi with a Circle
of Bridge-Makers grant at the Foundation’s 10th anniversary
celebrations being held on June 10 at the
Mill
Valley
Community Center
. Each will receive $25,000. The Circle of Bridge-Makers grant was established
to support individuals engaged in projects that promote understanding and
generosity between generations, genders, cultures, communities, and ancient and
modern wisdom.
According to Arrien, who is an award winning cultural
anthropologist, author, educator and consultant, the Circle of Bridge-Makers
grants are an integral part of a the Foundation’s efforts to help a society
that is at a global tipping point with respect to “sensitive dependence” –
where even the smallest of changes in a system can dramatically affect its
long-term behavior or outcome. “In Chaos Theory, this is known as the
Butterfly Effect,” she explains. “In a world where 9400 languages have
already been lost, if we can make small positive changes to support cultural and
linguistic heritage that remains, we can make an enormous difference to human
diversity.”
“The individuals we are honoring tonight truly exemplify
how a single person’s dedication to preserving cultural heritage,
environmental sustainability and/or intergenerational leadership can ultimately change the world we live in,” she adds. “They
are exceptional people whose commitment has had a profound impact on shaping our
culture.”
This year’s recipients represent a diverse cross-section
in terms of their work and the impact their efforts have had on fostering human
sustainability – from preserving Amazon rainforests to fostering global
cooperation on a global scale to helping women from war torn countries rebuild
their communities. They are:
Liliana Madrigal – Liliana Madrigal has devoted more than 20 years
of her life emphasizing a grassroots approach to bio-cultural conservation
management in
Latin America
that focuses on indigenous peoples. A committed leader and innovator in this
field, she is currently the executive director of the Amazon Conservation Team,
a group that works in partnership with indigenous people in conserving
biodiversity, health and culture in tropical
America
. Madrigal is also a founding member of Conservation International in
Washington
,
DC
, an organization committed to conserving the earth’s living natural heritage
and global biodiversity and to demonstrating that human societies are able to
live harmoniously with nature. She was previously the director of the Nature
Conservancy, a leading international, nonprofit agency dedicated to preserving
the diversity of life on earth, where she worked on the consolidation of the
Costa Rican state system of protected areas.
Mark Gerzon - Mark Gerzon has dedicated more than 20 years to
projects focused on building a more just, peaceful and sustainable word by
helping competing groups come together and find alignment around shared goals
and values. His work with foreign and
U.S.
governments has been recognized internationally for its creative and
constructive impact. Today, Gerzon is President of the Mediators Foundation,
where he focuses on convening and facilitating trans-partisan dialogs between
representatives across the political spectrum to help them explore new and more
producing ways of engaging in the political process. He is also the founder and
co-director of the Global Leadership Network, a group of global leadership
experts who are working together to develop a book, workshop and educational
curriculum to foster a generation of leaders who know how to build bridges
across differences, rather than walls that reinforce them.
Zainab Salbi - Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, and
author of Between Two World: Escape from
Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, Salbi has
dedicated her life to the belief that stronger women build stronger nations. As
a survivor of war in her native
Iraq
, Salbi is a world recognized activist and social entrepreneur who is
committed to rebuilding women’s lives and their
communities after war. Since Salbi founded Women for Women International in
1993, tens of thousands of women have joined a quiet but strong movement to help
women survivors of wars and civil strife to rebuild their lives. One by one,
55,000 women survivors of war have begun to contribute to the political and
economic health of their societies through Salbi’s work. She has received
countless accolades and awards for her efforts, including Time Magazine’s
Innovator of the Month and Forbes Magazines’ Trailblazer Award in 2005. In
1995, President Clinton honored at a White House ceremony for her humanitarian
work.
About
the Angeles Arrien Foundation
Established in 1996, the Angeles
Arrien Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the preservation of
indigenous wisdoms, environmental sustainability, multi-cultural bridging and
intergenerational leadership through financial aid, seminars, educational
programs and other cross-cultural initiatives. The Foundation has reached over
25 countries, awarded over 70 scholarships, and funded 150 national and
international projects that have made a difference in their communities and
counties.
For further information, please
contact Angeles Arrien or Tenzin Lhadron at:
Angeles
Arrien Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research ,
P O Box 1278
,
Sausalito
,
CA
94966
, 415-331-1890, or at office@angelesarrien.com
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