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THE MAKING OF THE AWARD WORKSHOP

BEVERLY HILLS 2009 PHOTOS

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ABU DHABI 2010 PHOTOS

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VIDEO GALLERY

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5 Under 25: Young Women Changing the World

So many young women around the world are evoking change locally, nationally and globally, it’s tough to pick just five. So TakePart limited this list to world-changing ladies who are still in their first quarter century. Even that restriction made for a tough selection.

Read on for a boost of inspiration, and living proof that youth is no barrier to making a difference.

THE SOCCKET TEAM
Jessica Lin, Jessica O. Matthews, Julia Silverman and Hemali Thakkar
Issue: Renewable Energy

In most African countries, more than 90 percent of the population lives off the grid with no access to electricity. And if you’ve been to Africa, you know that almost that many people play soccer whenever they get the chance. But it took four young women to realize that all the energy being used on the field could be used to power people’s homes.

The magic soccer ball created by Harvard students Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar is beautiful in its simplicity. The “sOccket” captures energy from kick, dribble, and throw, and stores it for later use. Kids can play a game, then bring the ball home and charge a LED lamp, cell phone or battery. They no longer need to use unhealthy and expensive kerosene lamps or walk three hours to charge their cell phones. And down the line, the founders hope the sOccket will move beyond single-family homes to power hospitals and schools. But think of the immediate impact the ball can have on individual kids: money is saved, families can afford to send their children to school, child labor decreases, and a better world emerges.

Learn more about renewable energy here.

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CARMINA MANCENON
Founder, Stitch Tomorrow
Issue: Microfinance

Through Stitch Tomorrow, a youth-led microfinance initiative in the Philippines and Indonesia, Carmina Mancenon, a 16-year-old from Tokyo, Japan is empowering underprivileged girls by helping them create fashion lines out of secondhand materials.

Stitch Tomorrow provides fashion and business education, capital and resources to help the girls turn their clothing design ideas into a reality. Experts are on hand to help the budding designers refine their concepts, create partnerships, find sponsors and show their fashion lines on the runway. This year, Mancenon brought her idea for Stitch Tomorrow to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As the youngest participant, she shared her hope for using fashion to bridge the gap between privileged and underprivileged youth around the world. Mancenon is just beginning her endeavor with Stitch Tomorrow and we can’t wait to see what happens next.

Learn more about microfinance here.

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MAGGIE DOYNE
Founder, The Blink Now Foundation
Issue: World Poverty

Trekking through the Himalayas after high school, Maggie Doyne met hundreds of orphaned and poverty-stricken Nepalese children. They stuck with her. Upon returning to her hometown of Mendham, New Jersey, she asked her community to help her build a safe and loving home for these children.

To Doyne’s surprise, her neighbors supported the idea—and we’re not talking about a little bake sale. With their support, Doyne and the local Nepalese community built the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, a home that provides young orphans, street children, child laborers, and abused children with an education, health care, and a loving place to grow up. Today, there are 25 children living in the home and 60 children are enrolled in school through the Kopila Outreach Program.

Learn more about world poverty here.

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ASHLEY RHODES-COURTER
Foster Care Advocate
Issue: Foster Care

Foster children are often called America’s forgotten children, but Ashley Rhodes-Courter has walked that line. And she’s dedicated her life to changing it. Placed in foster care at age 3, Rhodes-Courter shuffled in and out of 14 different placements until she was finally adopted nine years later.

Some of the foster homes she lived in were abusive. But there’s one she will never forget: Rhodes-Courter and 16 other children lived in a three-bedroom trailer with abusive foster parents. Today, Ashley is a college graduate dedicated to being a voice for the thousands of neglected and abused children in America’s foster care system. A motivational speaker, she recently published a book about her foster care experience called, Three Little Words. Rhodes-Courter has also helped raise more than $1 million for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and thousands for other groups like CASA–Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Learn more about foster care here.

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These five girls prove that no matter how young you are, if you’re passionate about a cause and take action, you’re old enough to make a difference.

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A PEEK AT OUR GUEST LIST...

HOST OF THE EVENING – Billy Bush
Honored Celebrity Guests include:

Lifetime Achievement Award – Morgan Freeman

Best Buddies – Nancy O’Dell
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – Teri Hatcher
DoSomething.org – Brett Ratner
Lollipop Theater Network – Billy Bush
Playing for Change – Norman Lear
Stand up to Cancer – Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds
The Art of Elysium – Joel Madden
The Blind Project – Annalynne McCord
Women’s Sports Foundation – Laila Ali

Celebrity Presenters
Lionel Richie
Maureen McCormick
Rodney Peete
Lori Loughlin
Matt Lanter
Laura Ziskin
Nic Cannon
Dennis Haysbert
Janeen Mansour (Founder)
James Denton
Rachel Nichols

Performers
Brian McKnight
Monica
Benji Madden
Julio Iglasias Jr.
Emily Bear
Timothy Mitchum
Harold Wheeler Band

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LOOK TO THE STARS HELPS PROMOTE HOLLYWOOD PHILANTROPHY AT NOBLE AWARDS

Look to the Stars is pleased to announce that we will work year-round with The Noble Awards to promote philanthropy in Hollywood.

The inaugural Noble Awards, took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, October 18, Morgan Freeman received The Lifetime Achievement Award. The two-hour event, hosted by “Access Hollywood’s” Billy Bush, honored nine charities and celebrities who actively support them, elevating awareness of these organizations and the significant impact of their work.

Celebrities who accepted awards on behalf of the charities being honored included Laila Ali (Women’s Sports Foundation), Billy Bush (Lollipop Theater Network), Kenny Edmonds (Stand Up To Cancer), Teri Hatcher (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles), Norman Lear (Playing for Change), Joel Madden (The Art of Elysium), AnnaLynne McCord (The Blind Project), Nancy O’Dell (Best Buddies International) and Brett Ratner (DoSomething.org). During the ceremony, each were presented with an award sculpture, designed by Antonio Banderas, with personal touches added by children who participated in The Art of Elysium workshop at the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Brian McKnight and Julio Iglesias, Jr., along with Emily Bear and Timothy Mitchum and Monica provided live musical performances throughout the evening.

“We are delighted to present these nine distinguished charities and their celebrity supporters with the inaugural Noble Award,” stated Janeen Mansour, founder of The Noble Awards. “With the presentation of The Noble Awards, our goal is to turn the spotlight back onto these celebrities and charities to provide recognition, to educate, to inspire, and to encourage even more support from the Hollywood community and the public at large.”

Morgan Freeman received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless work and dedication to over a dozen non-profits. Freeman’s diverse charitable efforts include working with American Red Cross, Artists for a New South Africa, the Campaign for Female Education, Earth Biofuels, Grenada Relief Fund, Mississippi Animal Rescue League and Mississippi State College of Veterinary Medicine. Freeman has also done PSAs for Sierra Club, and a number of Entertainment Industry Foundation campaigns, covering issues like colon cancer prevention, health care reform and volunteerism.

“The Entertainment Industry Foundation is pleased to be a part of the inaugural Noble Awards,” said Lisa Paulsen, President and CEO of Entertainment Industry Foundation. “We are honored and so proud to present our dear friend and exceptional actor Morgan Freeman with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding charitable work and ongoing contributions to so many important social causes.”

The Noble Awards kicked off the “Be A Noble” Movement, a perennial effort to encourage each and every person to “Be A Noble,” and inspire them to give back and take action with a purpose on a global scale. Some of these initiatives include:

Look to the Stars will work year-round with The Noble Awards to promote philanthropy in Hollywood.
As part of next year’s Cup with a Cause program, 7-Eleven, in collaboration with The Noble Awards, will produce a series of celebrity-designed coffee cups featured in stores nationwide. A minimum of $250,000 will go towards each participating celebrity’s charity of choice. During The Noble Awards’ cocktail hour, guests will be asked to design cups as part of the program.
Participant Media and Takepart.com, the official “action” platform for the Awards, have partnered with the “Be A Noble” Movement to provide the Foundation with a web platform to showcase the work of all the organizations they are honoring throughout the year.
ONEHOPE Wine has bottled an award-winning varietal of wine to be labeled “NOBLE.” 100% of all proceeds from each bottle will go towards the “Be A Noble” Movement, to be distributed among the honored charities.
Rumblefish Jewelry will design a jewelry line based on The Noble Awards and “Be A Noble” Movement, where a percentage of sales will be donated to Noble charities.
Additional partners include EIF/iParticipate, The Hollywood Reporter, Audi, Beverly Hilton, Mobile Cause, Rosenthal and GoodSearch.

As the film industry has the Oscars, television the Emmys and the music industry the Grammy Awards, the charity community and its most dedicated Hollywood supporters will gain global recognition with the The Noble Awards. Produced on behalf of the Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a non-profit organization. The Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation launched a year-round movement to BE A NOBLE to better unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, influencers, media and everyday citizens in order to create an effective forum for change and service. For more information, please visit www.thenobleawards.org.

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