Dr. Wangari Maathai
Empowerment and the Escape from Poverty

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 7pm

The first woman from Africa to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Wangari Maathai has worked tirelessly over the past 30 years to empower peasant farmers, create a sustainable environment, promote democratic values, and establish a more equitable balance of power between women and men in her native Kenya.The Green Belt Movement, a grassroots nongovernmental organization pioneered by Dr. Maathai in 1976, has worked with local communities to establish over 6,000 tree nurseries and plant more than 30 million trees. In December 2002, with 98% of the vote in Kenya’s first free and fair election in decades, Dr. Maathai was elected to Kenya’s Parliament. She was subsequently appointed by Kenya’s president as Assistant Minister for the Environment.

Find out more about Dr. Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement.

Ambassador Tony Hall
Changing the Face of Hunger

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, the longest serving US congressional representative from the third district of Ohio from 1978-2002, and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, Tony Hall is one of the leading advocates for hunger relief programs and improving international human rights conditions in the world. Ambassador Hall, author of the book Changing the Face of Hunger, is currently senior advisor for Opportunity International’s “$1 Billion for 100 Million People,” a microfinance program that will provide small business loans to 60 million people in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Find out more about Ambassador Tony Hall.