Israeli aid worker wins Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award

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Israeli aid worker wins Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award
IsraAID chief Navonel Glick is one of six recipients of citation for his work on crises throughout the world

BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF August 9, 2016, 7:02 pm

IsraAID's Navonel Glick (Facebook photo)

The head of Israeli international aid group IsraAID has won the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for 2016, for his work to provide relief in areas of crisis throughout the world.

Twenty-nine-year-old Navonel Glick will be presented the annual award in September, the Jewish Chronicle reported, along with five other under-thirty humanitarians who the Muhammad Ali Center deems to be role models “transforming communities and bringing about positive change in the world.”

IsraAID, founded in 2001, is known for its response to high profile disasters around the globe. The genesis of its work goes back to the Rwandan genocide, and it was the first international team on the ground in Haiti.

In addition to serving in Japan, the Philippines, and South Sudan, IsraAID was in the United States during Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, the Colorado floods and the Arkansas tornado. In recent years it has assisted Syrian refugees landing on Europe’s beaches after perilous voyages at sea.


IsraAID volunteers deliver baby slings to Syrian and Afghan refugees on the Hungarian-Serbian border, September 15, 2015. (Photo: IsraAID)

The team arrives on the scene highly organized, ready to implement medical or psycho-social care, community-building strategies, cleanup, or whatever is needed.

The Israeli-Canadian Glick is IsraAID’s Chief Operating Officer and manages the organization’s daily operations from Tel Aviv.

He has worked in the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Nepal, in disaster relief and in efforts to alleviate poverty.


In this May 25, 1965, file photo, heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, stands over challenger Sonny Liston, shouting and gesturing shortly after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/John Rooney, File)

This year’s awards ceremony will commemorate Ali, who died in June at the age of 74 after decades of battling Parkinson’s Disease. Known for his charitable work, Ali was honored by a range of institutions, including Amnesty International and the United Nations. He was also granted the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-president George W. Bush in 2005.

The awards ceremony will take place on September 17 in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the Muhammad Ali Center’s website.

 

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Six win Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards
Kirby Adams, @kirbylouisville10:49 a.m. EDT August 6, 2016

(Photo: Alton Strupp/The Courier-Journal)

This year, six young adults will be honored at the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, hosted by MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, in September.

Each of the recipients will receive an award that mirrors one of Muhammad Ali’s six core principles – confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality – which aligns with their respective fields of work.

The fourth annual award ceremony will take place on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Marriott Louisville Downtown and will also serve as a tribute to the late, Muhammad Ali, who died June 3.

The recipients are:

Josh Nesbit, 29, Waterford, Virginia, will receive the Confidence Award.He is the co-founder and CEO of Medic Mobile, a nonprofit organization that builds mobile and web tools for community health workers, clinic staff, and families in the hardest-to-reach communities. These tools now help over 12,000 health workers provide care for 10 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has received numerous fellowships and awards, including being name by Forbes as one of the world’s 30 top social entrepreneurs.

Shawana Shah, 23, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, will receive the Conviction Award. Shawana established Da Hawwa Lur, a non-profit aimed at ending gender-based violence, providing free legal and psychological support to victims of gender-based violence, enhancing women leadership, and promoting peace. She also established the Working Women Union in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, which now provides 300 women, home-based and domestic workers, a platform to fight for their rights. Shawana is a member of IHEYO, Child Rights Movement KP and AWID International.

Curt Bowen, 29, Boise, Idaho will receive the Dedication Award for his environmental work and rural development in Guatemala. He is the executive director and co-founder of Semilla Nueva, a non-profit that develops locally-led farmer education programs that increase the income, rebuild the soils, and improve the food security of Guatemala’s rural poor. He is the recipient of the Ignite Good Millennial Impact Challenge, Ashoka Emerging Innovators award, and Forbes 2015 30 Under 30.

Jakob Schillinger, 26, Tuebingen, Germany,will receive the Giving Award. Jakob co-founded OneDollarGlasses with the vision to bring affordable eyewear to over 150 million people in need. The social venture uses new manual technology to locally produce high-quality prescription eyeglasses for a cost of less than one dollar per pair. Today, the company employs around 80 people in Burkina Faso, Brazil, Bolivia, Benin, Malawi and Mexico, and has produced and sold more than 30,000 glasses. This year, Jakob was put on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for Social Entrepreneurs in Europe.

Tina Hovsepian, 29, Los Angeles, will receive the Respect Award. She is the founder and executive director of Cardborigami, a non-profit that supports those who have lost their homes due to poverty, natural disasters, or other crises. Based in LA, her local work also includes a job creation program called #YOUTHPLOYMENT that hires homeless youth as paid interns to build shelters. To date, Tina has helped rebuild roads, schools, libraries, and homes; positively impacting over 470 students and their families. Toyota recently titled her ‘Mother of Invention.’

Navonel Glick (Voni), 29, Tel Aviv, Israelwill be honored for Spirituality Award for his work as chief operating officer of IsraAID. Prior to his current role, Voni served as IsraAID’s programs director, leading disaster-response missions across the world, including the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, Sierra Leone after the Ebola outbreak, and Northern Iraq since the emergence of the Islamic State. An Israeli/Canadian citizen, Voni completed an International Baccalaureate in France in 2004, before attending McGill University in Montreal.

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.