Ambassador Samantha Power Joins the Aurora Prize Selection Committee

ArmInfo.Today, the Aurora  Humanitarian Initiative announces Former United States Ambassador to  the United Nations Samantha Power as the newest member of the Aurora  Prize for Awakening Humanity Selection Committee.  As a part of the  Selection Committee, Ambassador Power will join the other esteemed  humanitarians, human rights activists and former heads of state to  determine future recipients for the annual $1.1 million Aurora Prize.

"We are very excited to welcome Ambassador Power to the Aurora Prize  Selection Committee. With her notable experience on the world stage,  she has made great strides in aiding those in the developing world  and standing up for the most vulnerable members of our global  community," said Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian  Initiative. "With her unparalleled expertise in human rights around  the world, we are honored that she will review Aurora Prize  nominations and help shape the future of the Aurora Prize."

Ambassador Samantha Power served as the 28th U.S. Permanent  Representative to the United Nations and as a member of President  Obama's cabinet, and became known as one of the country's foremost  thinkers on foreign policy. Prior to her work at the United Nations,  she served on the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant  to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and  Human Rights, where she focused on atrocity prevention, United  Nations reform, LGBT and women's rights and the promotion of  religious freedom, among other issues. She also authored the Pulitzer  Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of  Genocide." Given her influential work in human rights and democracy,  she has been recognized several times over, including as one of  TIME's "100 Most Influential People" and Foreign Policy's "Top 100  Global Thinkers."

"The Aurora Prize and its laureates recognize that, while it is  essential to remember past atrocities, we each have the power to  assist those who are saving lives in the present," said Ambassador  Power. "I take great pride in being part of the Prize's Selection  Committee, which seeks to honor those who make great sacrifices to  help others, and who find a way to mobilize human kindness and  persevere amid steep odds." She will join current Aurora Prize  Selection Committee members Nobel Laureates Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi  and Leymah Gbowee; former president of Ireland Mary Robinson; former  president of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo; human rights activist Hina  Jilani; Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at  Imperial College London Lord Ara Darzi; President Emeritus of the  International Crisis Group and former foreign minister of Australia  Gareth Evans; Medecins sans Frontieres Founder Bernard Kouchner;  President of Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian; and  Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney  The  Aurora Prize, now in its third year, was founded on behalf of the  survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors.  The Selection Committee will convene in Berlin, Germany on December  4, 2017 to review nominations from this year's process, which  gathered 750 submissions from 115 countries. Concurrent to their  meeting in Berlin, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative will host its  first Aurora Dialogues outside of Armenia, titled "Millions on The  Move:  Need for Development and Integration." The Aurora Dialogues  Berlin is a joint effort of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative,  Global Perspectives Initiative, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Stiftung  Mercator, and will be held on December 4-5, 2017. Speakers will  address the state of the global migration crisis and look at the role  of different actors in advancing positive change.

The 2018 Aurora Prize finalists will be announced on April 24, 2018,  the day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The Aurora  Prize, established on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian  Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, provides the laureate  with a $100,000 grant and the opportunity to continue the cycle of  giving by nominating organizations to receive a $1,000,000 award. The  third annual Prize will be announced on June 10, 2018, at a ceremony  in Armenia.