Participants in a child protection project organized by Juliette Gimon Courage Award winner Mavi Kalem in Turkey. (Photo credit: Global Fund for Children)
The Global Fund for Children announced today the winners of its inaugural Juliette Gimon Courage Awards, recognizing innovative grassroots organizations Asociación Generando (ASOGEN) and Mavi Kalem for their work to advance children’s rights in the face of political and social adversity.
Global Fund for Children gives the annual Courage Awards through the Juliette Gimon Fund for Courageous Leadership – a more than $1 million endowment made possible by the Hewlett Foundation and other donors – in honor of Juliette Gimon.
A former board chair of Global Fund for Children, former Hewlett Foundation board member, and a Hewlett family member, Juliette was committed to improving the lives of children and youth around the world, and to enhancing the effectiveness of global philanthropy.
In 2001, Juliette co-founded the Global Philanthropy Forum, a peer-learning network of philanthropists committed to advancing international causes. Shortly thereafter, when she was just 30 years old, Juliette joined Global Fund for Children’s board of directors and served as board chair from 2007 to 2011. Her wisdom, insights, and profound concern for children helped shape Global Fund for Children, changing hundreds of thousands of young lives across the globe.
In 2016, Juliette was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died on February 24, 2018, at the age of 45. Her legacy lives on through the Juliette Gimon Fund for Courageous Leadership and this year’s Courage Awards recipients, Mavi Kalem and ASOGEN: two organizations boldly improving the lives of young people around the world.
Mavi Kalem has spent nearly two decades mobilizing community volunteers to empower impoverished women and children in Istanbul, including rapidly adapting to meet the needs of Turkey’s growing Syrian refugee population.
In the Guatemalan states of Chimaltenango, Sacatepéquez, and Sololá, ASOGEN is the only community-based organization to offer survivors of gender-based violence the legal aid, medical services, and psychological support they urgently need.
