07.30.24
MEDIA ADVISORY
Awardees for 2024 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards announced
Shaquille O’Neal Named Humanitarian of the Year; Honorees also Include Bryan Stevenson, Nile Rodgers
LOUISVILLE, KY (July 30, 2024) – The 11th annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards will take place on Saturday, November 9, and boasts another esteemed panel of honorees. The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, the Center’s largest annual fundraiser, incorporates two categories: Seasoned Awards, honoring individuals who have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to humanitarianism, and Six Core Principles Awards, presented to young adults 30 years of age or younger.
The Seasoned Awardees are:
Shaquille O’Neal – Humanitarian of the Year
Shaquille O’Neal is considered to be one of the most dominant basketball players in NBA history. At 7 ft 1 in tall, Shaq’s larger-than-life personality and powerful athleticism have resulted in worldwide adulation and one of the most passionate fan bases in sports and entertainment. O’Neal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. Shaq’s individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year. Off the court, Shaquille’s accolades rival his athletic accomplishments, having found success in acting, music, television and gaming. Currently, Shaq is an analyst on Inside The NBA. Philanthropically, Shaquille has raised millions of dollars for charity. He is a national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which his relationship dates back to his youth in New Jersey. He is also a member of the national Board of Directors for Communities in Schools. In 2019, Shaquille established The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation. The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation creates pathways for underserved youth to help them achieve their full potential. The Foundation works to instill hope and bring about change in communities, collectively shaping a brighter future for our children.
Bryan Stevenson – Lifetime Achievement
Bryan Stevenson is a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults. Stevenson has argued and won multiple cases at the United States Supreme Court. He and his staff have won reversals, relief, or release from prison for over 140 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row and won relief for hundreds of others wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced. His work has won him numerous awards including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Prize; the National Medal of Liberty from the American Civil Liberties Union and he was named to the Time 100 in 2015. He also received the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize from the King Center in Atlanta in 2018. Stevenson has received over 50 honorary doctoral degrees, including degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oxford University. He is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, “Just Mercy,” which was named by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Best Books of Nonfiction for 2014. Mr. Stevenson is also the subject of the Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary True Justice. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government.
Nile Rodgers – Global Citizenship
Iconic songwriter, producer, musician and philanthropist Nile Rodgers has carved a path and career rooted in pop culture like no one else. A Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and a multiple Grammy Award winner, Rodgers continues to rack up awards and honors to this day – most recently for his work with Beyoncé. He has worked with legends like David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran. He’s used his talents, influence and connections to build a bridge between music and philanthropy by participating in numerous historic fundraising efforts, including LIVE AID, We Are The World, “We Are Family” rerecorded after 9/11, and the Concert for Ukraine. Rodgers co-founded the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) after 9/11 to start the healing process. It quickly evolved into an organization dedicated to the vision of a global family by creating and supporting programs that promote cultural diversity while nurturing, mentoring, and amplifying the vision, talents and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world. WAFF is focused on empowering young people globally through its acclaimed youth leadership, storytelling and mentoring program, Three Dot Dash; Youth To The Front Fund, designed to support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), youth at the forefront of fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice; and Youth To The Table, bringing youth voices to decision making tables that are shaping humanity’s future. Most recently, Rodgers received the 2024 World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award for his extraordinary efforts to make the world a more peaceful, equal and inclusive place through his music, his exemplary commitment to fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice, and by championing innovative youth voices to decision-making tables.
Dawne Gee – Kentucky Humanitarian
As a native of Louisville, Dawne Gee is an Emmy-award winning journalist with a career that spans over three decades in broadcast journalism and radio. She is a tireless advocate for a countless number of nonprofits in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Gee has been recognized with the 2009 Lyman T. Johnson Distinguished Leadership Award and the Chestnut Street YMCA Black Achiever’s Program honored her as the Adult Achiever of the Year in 2019. In 2019 Louisville Forum also recognized Gee for quietly and generously giving to the Louisville community in countless ways. In 2023, Gee received the city of Louisville’s Keeper of the Dream Award for exemplifying the ideals of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision. Gee was also honored with the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Fort Knox, Kentucky for lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service. In 2015 Gee founded the nonprofit “A Recipe to End Hunger & Need to initially focus on ending childhood hunger. Since the pandemic it has shifted its support to meet the needs not only of children but families who find themselves asking for assistance often for the first time.
Joining those Seasoned Awardees will be six young international humanitarians doing work in their countries and communities which embodies one of Muhammad Ali’s Six Core Principles: Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect, and Spirituality.
Deja Foxx (23) of the United States overcame adversity from a young age, having experienced homelessness at the age of 15. In her freshman year at Columbia University, she founded GenZ Girl Gang, whose mission is to redefine sisterhood for a new generation through bridging generational gaps, creating and sharing opportunities, and learning from and teaching each other. Deja is also a warrior for reproductive health and education, having helped win a unanimous victory in favor of comprehensive sex education in their city’s largest school district.
Sophia Kianni (22) of Iran is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international youth-led nonprofit working to make the climate movement more accessible to those who don’t speak English. Climate Cardinals aims to educate and empower a diverse coalition of people to tackle the climate crisis.
Shah Chowdhury and Mohammad Yasir (28) of Bangladesh are the co-founders of Footsteps, a next generation organization currently empowering over 600,000 people across Bangladesh with safe water and sanitation access, disaster resilience, and improved public health services, especially for the marginalized communities. Since 2013, Footsteps has acted as a catalyst for hundreds of marginalized communities in helping them overcome their social challenges by building their capacity and potential; empowering communities by integrating the right set of skills and technologies to overcome their social challenges.
Lianna Genovese (24) founded ImaginAble Solutions in 2019, a social impact company that creates assistive technology to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Her mission is to improve accessibility by creating innovative technologies and accessible design to break down barriers and make communication, recreation, and rehabilitation accessible to all. This led to her invention called “Guided Hands,” an assistive device that enables people with limited fine motor skills to write, paint, draw and access technology. A portion of each sale helps provide the products to families in need.
Richa Gupta (28) is an educator and social entrepreneur from India. She is the CEO & co- founder of Labhya Foundation, a visionary nonprofit that has pioneered the well-being movement in India. They are dedicated to institutionalizing programs that improve the quality of education and well-being for children. Labhya currently impacts 2.4 million vulnerable children enabling them to tackle poverty and become effective learners.
Charlot Magayi (30) is the founder and CEO of Mukuru Clean Stoves, a product to help mothers keep their children safe, save on fuel consumption, and reduce household air pollution. When her two-year-old daughter suffered a severe burn injury caused by a traditional stove, Charlot was moved to provide safer cooking technologies for her community. Mukuru Clean Stoves repurposes locally sourced waste metal to manufacture improved, efficient and reliable cookstoves. Charlot believes in a toxin- and smoke-free world and has dedicated her time, skills, and experience to fighting household air pollution.
If you are interested in sponsoring the event or reserving a table for 8, please email Erin Herbert (eherbert@alicenter.org). Individual tickets will go on sale in September.
To involve the larger Louisville community and introduce them to the 2024 honorees, the Ali Center will hold a public event on November 8. More information on that event to follow.
Notes to Media:
Credential requests are now open!
Please submit your information here: https://alicenter.org/awards/media-credential-form/ by Monday, October 30.
Photos of Awardees here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0zkbetqei289p0u8e7sbx/ALILSYZxmlVsW4mIlizeDC4?rlkey=85fi0wpkq95fdqrphss0gn48e&st=h5u41kyl&dl=0
Photo Credit for Shaquille O’Neal
James Macari for Authentic Brand Group
The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards are made possible through the generous support of all the corporate and individual donors who support this event.
Contact:
Annie Moore
Muhammad Ali Center
amoore@alicenter.org
502.992.5338 or 812.786.1072 mobile
