June 9, 2011 - Inspiring Action: Real Stories of Social Change

These FREE public programs are presented by the Stowe Center and are taking place across Farmington Avenue at Immanuel Congregational, 10 Woodland Street, Hartford, Connecticut. 

Inspiration to Action Fair 

3:00 - 4:00pm

The Inspiration to Action Fair is comprised of grassroots human rights organizations showcasing their work to actively create social change. Participating organizations include:

• Artists for World Peace
• CONNSACS
• Connecticut Health Foundation
• Free the Slaves
• Health Justice Connecticut
• Mother's Day Movement
• Not for Sale
• Pax Educare
• PeaceJam
• The Purpose Project
• World Affairs Council of Connecticut
• Local high school human rights groups
• and more!

Inspiring Action: Real Stories of Social Change

4:00 - 5:30pm

Taking the successful salon format to a new level.  What can you do to improve the lives of women and girls? A conversation featuring Stowe Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn will be joined by change-making catalysts Shannon McNamara and Eva Housman in an interactive dialogue on creating social change.  Laurie Perez of Fox News will moderate. 

Kristof and WuDunn will discuss the stories behind their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide. Shannon McNamara founded SHARE after visiting Africa when she was 15 years old. SHARE creates libraries and donates books in Africa to empower girls in Africa through education. Eva Hausman is the co-founder of the Mother's Day Movement, which raises money to help women in need both around the world and here at home. The organization encourages others to rethink their giving on Mother's Day and contribute to the lives of women everywhere.

The interactive panel discussion, following our popular Salon format, will engage the entire audience in a discussion on turning oppression into opportunity worldwide. Share your stories and ideas for creating positive change, or just follow along, on Facebook and Twitter. The program will also stream live from our website.

Featured Guest Bios

Laurie Perez - Moderator
Award-winning reporter Laurie Perez is native of South Windsor. She's thrilled to be working in Connecticut covering stories that affect the communities and people she loves. Prior to Fox 61, Laurie worked as a reporter at WSPA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina. Her first job was reporting at the CBS affiliate KEPR-TV in Kennewick, Washington. Laurie has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She earned her undergraduate degree at Tufts University and is a graduate of the Loomis Chaffee School. Laurie is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. In Washington, South Carolina and here in Connecticut Laurie has been honored for her writing and interviewing. She has been nominated the past three years for the Emmy for Best Overall Reporter in New England. Laurie is the host of Fox CT's weekly political show "The Real Story."

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn - Inaugural Stowe Prize Winners

Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism; they won for their coverage of China as New York Times correspondents. 

They received the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement and many other prizes including the George Polk and Overseas Press Club Award. Mr. Kristof won a second Pulitzer for “his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur.”  He has also served as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, and as associate managing editor. 

At the Times, Ms. WuDunn worked as a business editor and as a foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Beijing. Ms. WuDunn, now a banking executive, worked at The New York Times on both the business and news sides. She has been a foreign correspondent in Asia, a business editor and a television anchor. She is the first Asian – American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.

Shannon McNamara - founder of SHARE

Shannon McNamara, at age 15, founded SHARE (shareinafrica.org), a nonprofit organization supporting girl’s education in Africa.  Passionate about gender equality and girls’ literacy, Shannon has led SHARE in the creation of libraries, after-school reading classes for girls, and a variety of other projects.  This has resulted in 8000 students being given a chance to improve their reading skills, and 600 girls becoming empowered through the SHARE programs.  SHARE’s motto is “Today a Reader and Tomorrow a Leader” .

Shannon 's efforts have been recognized by the national and international community through awards and media attention.  She was honored to be a guest speaker at The White House on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.  She was also named a 2011-12 Global Teen Leader for the We Are Family Foundation’s Three Dot Dash Initiative.  This July will mark Shannon's fourth summer of doing field work for SHARE in Tanzania.  In addition to her work with SHARE, Shannon serves on the United Nations Teen Advisory Board to promote girls’ issue in the developing world through their Girl Up campaign.  Shannon is also a National Girl Scout Consultant for Girl Scouts of the USA. Prior to her service work in Africa, Shannon volunteered in Peru, Costa Rica, and India.  

Eva Hausman - co-founder of The Mothers' Day Movement

Eva Hausman has been a social entrepreneur long before there was even a name for it. For most of her adult life, she has attempted to inspire others to do projects that make a difference for people in the world.

Eva taught Social Studies for 31 years at the Junior High and High School levels. Her professional and community activities have been committed to the elimination of racial, religious and gender discrimination. She was honored by the Greenberg Center of the University of Hartford for her work in Holocaust education.

At Simsbury High School, she advised the Diversity and Human Relations clubs and she was the faculty advisor for the “Names Can Really Hurt” program. She is a trainer for the Anti-Defamation League “World of Difference Institute” and has served on the State of Connecticut Board of the Anti-Defamation League and on its Education Committee.

 As an educator, Eva was passionate about exposing her students to the outside world which led to the development of inter-racial and inter-generational programming. In 2003 she received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Simsbury chapters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. 

As Chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Social Justice Task Force, Eva led a Moslem, Jewish and Christian coalition to aid Bosnian refugees and assisted in the resettlement of Soviet immigrants to the Hartford area in the 1990's. Currently she serves as Chair of the Human Relations Commission of the Town of Simsbury. 

Eva's 2010 campaign to educate and fund the Fistula Foundation led to the co-founding of the Mothers' Day Movement with her daughter Kim and 3 other women. The Mothers' Day Movement 2011 campaign raised over $135,000 to benefit women, children and thereby families in Kibera, a slum outside of Nairobi, Africa. (www.MothersDayMovement.org) 

Eva received her B.A. in American Studies from Elmira College and Masters Degree from Trinity College while raising her daughters, Kim and Lisa .She attended Summer Institutes at Harvard University where she studied Civic Literacy. She has been married to Irwin Hausman for 45 years.

Bicentennial Weekend Sponsors

Presenting Sponsors

Connecticut Health Foundation

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Gold Sponsor

Comcast

Silver Sponsor

Aetna

Northeast Utilities

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Bronze Sponsor

Arrow Prescription Center

Cloud and Robinson Development 

LAZ Parking

PCC Technology

Media Sponsors

Fox CT/ CT One Media

The Hartford Advocate

WNPR  Connecticut Public Broadcasting