2018 Human Excellence Awards

A Leadership Development Conference to Help End Poverty

HONORING HEROES DELIVERING HIGH–IMPACT SOCIAL INNOVATION

We are Celebrating Hope, Community and Human Excellence
by Honoring Heroes in High Impact Social Innovation

June 19, 2018
AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Cambridge, MA USA

Sponsored by
​Hope Collaborative, Divine Will Foundation, and Science for Society

Keynote Speakers

Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, CEO and Founder of Barefoot College  
Sanjit “Bunker” Roy founded Barefoot College in 1972.  Bunker Roy has brought his vision of a world transformed to over 3.5 Million Ted Talk viewers, and to audiences worldwide who have learned from this visionary teacher, innovator, and social entrepreneur.

Mr. Roy sees opportunity and strength in poor communities where others see only despair and strife.  His work includes empowering rural woman and grandmothers to be solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors--a roadmap to income and impact that is startling in its transformative capacities.  

He started to make his barefoot mark 40 years ago when he founded the Barefoot College in India to support self-sufficiency for rural communities by focusing people on their innate capacities for working in  industries as complex as solar energy, water, education, health care, women's empowerment and wasteland development.  

Most of the school's students are illiterate women and men.  Today Barefoot College has expanded his organization's footprint globally with "barefoot campuses" in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. 
Sam Vaghar, CEO and Co-Founder of Millennium College Network
Sam Vaghar describes himself as a shy teenagergrowing up.  He came to Brandies University and was deeply moved by the problems of global poverty and injustice.  He found his voice and mission.  While a student he created a network to mobilize students to address issues related to extreme poverty.  Through small scale concerts and events, the group raised $5,000 for bed nets to prevent malaria.  But this was just the beginning.  

Sam co-founded the Millennium Campus Network that has since grown into a global non-profit convening and training 21st century social impact leaders, empowering student leaders across the United States with the resources they need to advance global development and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.  Through an innovative year-long experience, MCN helps young leaders find their voice and own their power for social impact on campus and in community. ​

MCN conferences enable students to share stories, make connections, and develop skills to launch undergraduates’ social impact careers. They practice skills from networking to ethical storytelling. They wrestled with big questions, like: should we be focusing our energies on Aid or Justice?

​Honoring Heroes in Social Innovation

Social Innovation Awards feature a variety of disciplines including innovation in dispensing health care, workers rights, food technologies, poverty reduction, education, gender equality, the arts, environmental protections, and more.  Gain knowledge from their wealth of experience bringing forth social change.  
Nancy Lindborg, President of the United States Institute of Peace

​Nancy Lindborg has served since February, 2015, as President of the United States Institute of Peace, an independent institution founded by Congress to provide practical solutions for preventing and resolving violent conflict around the world. She has spent most of her career working in fragile and conflict affected regions around the world. Prior to joining USIP, she served as the assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) at USAID. Ms. Lindborg led USAID teams focused on building resilience and democracy, managing and mitigating conflict and providing urgent humanitarian assistance. Ms. Lindborg led DCHA teams in response to the ongoing Syria Crisis, the droughts in Sahel and Horn of Africa, the Arab Spring, the Ebola response and numerous other global crises.
Eduardo Ochoa,
President to California State Univ. Monterey Bay

Eduardo Ochoa is currently president to California State University Monterey Bay. The university is a national leader in Service Learning which involves students in local community development through community-focused classes and volunteer activities. CSUMB is the only university in the country to be a two-time winner (2006 and 2010) of the United States President’s Award for Higher Education Community Service. It has been among the top five institutions in the country ever since this award was established. During the 2016-17 academic year, 2, 840 students in 118 courses provided 97,220 hours of service in 350 community agencies and schools throughout Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties. Prior to coming to CSUMB, Dr. Ochoa worked for two years for the Obama Administration as the assistant secretary of postgraduate education. Among the notable programs overseen by the ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education are institutional development programs for minority institutions, teacher development programs, and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. As president of CSUMB, one of his key objectives is to make the university a catalyst for cultural and economic development in the region. He is the founder of the Bright Futures Education Partnership, which is a community partnership of diverse members fostering progress in education outcomes for local students, from cradle to career, and improving the pipeline of quality talent within Monterey County, a county with a majority Hispanic population and with low incomes, low employment and stressed livelihoods for substantial numbers of county dwellers.  This 2015 partnership has yielded significantly improved results on seven dimensions for large numbers of young children and students, transforming their lives, The seven metrics and progress on these metrics can be seen at https://brightfuturesmc.org/en/7-community-goals.
Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera, Spiritual Leader 

Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera has served, as pastor, preacher, denominational executive, organization founder, and community builder. In the late-1960s through the 1970s, Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera was Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Sunset Park Re-development Housing Initiatives in Brooklyn. He was Community Coordinator of the Lutheran Medical Center and developed community outreach programs for clergy and community-based organizations. From 1975 to 1984, he was National Executive for the Hispanic Council of the Reformed Church in America. In 1992, he founded the Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC), which started as a division of the Manhattan-based NYC Mission Society, the NYC’s oldest and largest social service agency. His vision was to develop an organization that dealt with social justice issues from a holistic perspective. In the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, he worked as an educational advocate and trainer in School Districts No.1 and No. 4 in Manhattan, empowering parents to become partners in the educational process. As a result, parents were elected to school boards, school-based management teams, and other policy committees within educational systems. In 1999, after years as a public education reformer, Rev. Dr. Rivera led a team of community and education leaders to establish the Family Life Academy Charter School.
Mr. C. Sreenivas, Free Hospital Care for Poor Communities

Mr. C Sreenivas (M Com & M Phil) is a dynamic social worker in Healthcare and Human Development, and for over 40 years has been instrumental in setting up and managing Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals in India. Most recently, he has been a driving force behind the two Sri Sathya Sai Sanjaveeni hospitals which focus on pediatric cardiology. This system has already provided over 5000 corrective open-heart surgeries for children with genetic heart defects and is also providing training and research in this area. A third hospital is set to be opened later this year with a fourth following in 2019. All services in this hospital are done completely free of cost.
Steve Sterling, President and CEO of Map International

Steve Stirling, Chief Executive Officer and President of MAP International. Since 1954, MAP International has provided life-changing medicine and health supplies to people living in resource-poor communities around the world. Recognized for its efficiency and stewardship, MAP International serves people in despair following disasters and those in need of hope who lack access to health supplies. Mr. Stirling is committed to helping disabled children in developing countries. His commitment springs from his own life story as a child who was abandoned at an orphanage when he contracted polio as a young child, in South Korea.

Youth Leaders

The conference also features youth leaders who share their experience becoming impactful, connected citizens.   Middle school, high school, and young adult students will be in attendance.  We will also broadcast youth leaders in from The Bay Area, New York, India, Mexico and other locations.

Believing in the Gifts of Humankind

Our goal is to spread the seeds of successful entrepreneurship and impact, so that more leaders and social entrepreneurs can better help society solve its mission critical problems. A second focus of the conference is to present models of corporate courage and partnership that have been successful in supporting leaders in social enterprise.
We create a valuable annual event that brings together capable talent and organizations who join a community of learning that continues throughout the year on an Internet platform that we are developing.

The goals and outputs of the day are the following:
  • Honor and Model human excellence in service to society
  • Broadcast and Advance the models and learnings of the conference
  • Connect and Work as a collaborative to create lasting partnerships between social entrepreneurs and corporations
  • The online platform will provide social mission organizations access to research, frameworks, funding sources, talent, and inspiring stories of leadership and change.
Admission is free thanks to
​generous donations from funders.
Schedule
Morning Welcome and Keynote Speakers
9:00     Orientation and Light Breakfast 
10:00  Kevin Sheehan, conference co-chair: Welcome and Introduction
10:10  Shyam Kamath, conference co-chair: Introduction Bunker Roy, Ending Poverty
10:20   Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot Campus: Keynote

Keynote Speakers Continued and Honoring Heroes
11:05   Winthrop Carty, Melton Foundation: Introduction of Sam Vaghar
11:25   Sam Vaghar, Millennium College Network, Keynote: Finding your Voice for Social Impact:
               Students can Change Themselves and the World  
12:00   Bunker Roy: Introduction of Honorees
                Film: Life of the Honorees, Corporate Courage
                Workshop Introductions
12:15   Lunch

60 Minute Concurrent Development Workshops
1:15     Concurrent Workshops
  • Nancy Lindborg, President of the United States Institute of Peace, Workshop: Peace is Possible – Peace is Practical  
  • Eduardo Ochoa, President of California State University, Monterey Bay, Workshop: Connecting to Impact Community
  • Rev. Ray Rivera, Family Life Academy Charter School Workshop: Leadership Comes From Within 
  • C. Sreenivas, Sri Sathya Sai Sanjaveeni Hospitals, Workshop: Your Higher Calling
  • Bunker Roy, Founder of Barefoot College Workshop: Grassroots Of Changes And Innovation
  • Kevin Sheehan, Co-Founder of Hope Collaborative Workshop: The Power Of You (The Power of We)
  • Steve Stirling, MAP: Overcoming Obstacles: What's Your Story?
  • Laura Stone, Purpose Stone Workshop: Thinking Outside the Box: Manifesting Your Potential. 
  • Sam Vaghar, Millennium College Network Workshop: Building Networks of Influence

Corporate Courage and Cultural Presentations
2:45     Corporate Courage Honoree Panels: Introduction, Joe Nevin and Shyam Kamath,
               Award Winners: Driscoll Inc., Gravity Payments, IBM, and State Street 
2:40     Concurrent Workshops
  • Peter Fay, Executive at IBM Accessibility, Workshop: Accessibility in Design
  • Kevin Murphy, Driscoll's Inc.: Transforming Communities through Entrepreneurship by Local Farmers
  • Richard Curtis, State Street Workshop: Human Excellence in the Corporate World
  • Jose Garcia, Gravity Payments Workshop: Treating People as People
​3:45   Ethan Lyle, COO Hope Collaborative, Concluding Remarks


Celebration Dinner (Separate Invitation)
6:30     David Cornsweet, Divine Will Foundation, will conduct ceremony honoring award recipients at the Harvard Faculty Club


It is up to the individual to create human excellence.  It is up to the community to nurture a garden –
Large enough and durable enough – to sustain human excellence everywhere and across generations.

Join Us!
To Learn More Contact:

Brittany Bethune, Manager of Communications and Special Projects, Hope Collaborative, 14 Clark Street, Belmont, Massachusetts, 02478 * bbethune@hopecollaborative.com * 617-826-9703

Kevin Sheehan, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Hope Collaborative, 14 Clark Street, Belmont, Massachusetts, 02478 KSheehan@HopeCollabroative.com * 617-826-9703