“Hope is a muscle. Resilience is a learned behavior.”
This was one of the many powerful lessons given at the Hillary Clinton Awards in Georgetown University (this one from Secretary Clinton herself!), which the Elevate Prize Foundation was proudly a part of this year.
The HRC Awards is an annual ceremony put together by the Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace and Security that honors trailblazing women whose work is making the world more peaceful and stable. This year, they honored Palestinian and Israeli partner organizations Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace for their work to build a peaceful resolution.
For the first time in the history of this ceremony, in addition to the award, both organizations received $25,000 in unrestricted funds as part of our Elevate Prize GET LOUD initiative.
“Tired of wars and tired of death, we decided to create a partnership —without pointing fingers or blaming each other and speaking in a loud voice — saying that Palestinian mothers and Israeli mothers refuse to have their children killed,” said Reem Hajajreh, founder of Women of The Sun, when accepting the award.
Together, the two organizations work hand-in-hand, even creating the “Mothers Call“, in 2019, calling for an end to the cycle of bloodshed and ultimately for peace.
“We can see in history that when women from both sides come together, good things can happen and sustainable peace can ensue,” said Angela Scharf, Women Wage Peace’s foreign relations coordinator, when accepting the award.
As our CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram said on stage, “It would be nearly impossible to find two change agents as brave and worthy of visibility and support as Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace.”
Welcome to the Elevate family, Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace! We’re honored to have you.
