Since 2010, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg has hosted her eponymous DVF Awards with the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation. The purpose: to recognize amazing women who have dedicated themselves to transforming the lives of other women around the world.
Five awards are given out each year. Two "International Awards" to women who are “advancing the social, economic, and political position of women in their countries"; one "Inspiration Award," given to a woman who has fought against adversity and created positive change; and the Lifetime Leadership Award, which last year, went to Jane Goodall.
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The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation awards each honoree $50,000, to go toward the organization they work with and further their mission. And every year, five honorees gather with a group of extraordinary individuals (last year’s guest list included Karlie Kloss, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Seth Meyers) to be celebrated at The DVF Awards Ceremony at the United Nations in New York City.
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The 9th Annual DVF Awards will take place Friday, April 13, 2018, and InStyle is proud to exclusively announce the nominees for the last award category: the People’s Voice Awards. These five extraordinary women who are working hard to transform the lives of women worldwide, and one of them will be recognized for their achievements at the awards ceremony.
Voting begins March 7, 2018 and runs through March 25th on DVFAwards.com. Read about the nominees here—and don't forget to vote!
Erin Loos Cutraro, Founder and CEO, She Should Run
She Should Run is a non-partisan organization working to increase the number of women running for office in the United States. Since it started in 2011, nearly 40,000 women have been encouraged to run for office through the organization. Its goal is to get 250,000 women running for office by 2030.
“My work in founding and growing She Should Run stems from my dedication to seeing women realize their potential in leadership," Cutraro tells InStyle. "She Should Run has grown from a simple, virtual recruitment tool to a community of thousands of women exploring a run for office. And now we've set our sights on getting 250,000 women to run by 2030. To see how far She Should Run has come and to have that work recognized by a trailblazer like Diane von Furstenberg is an honor. The more spotlight we put on women running for office, the more we ensure that women and girls see elected office as not only possible but inevitable.”
Luma Mufleh, CEO and Founding Director, Fugees Family, Inc.
Fugees Family, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of soccer, education, and community to empower refugee children to successfully integrate into the United States. Luma is a 2016 Top 10 CNN Hero whose story has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, ESPN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Forbes and more.
“I am honored to be nominated for this award," Mufleh says. "I have dedicated over a decade of my life to empowering refugee kids to feel capable and in controI of their own destinies. I hope that this nomination will spread awareness of the immense strength and resilience our refugee community possesses.”
Laura Hackney and Jessica Hubley, Co-Founders, AnnieCannons, Inc.
AnnieCannons is a non-governmental organization working to transform survivors of human trafficking into software professionals to sustain a lifetime free of exploitation. With a model built on innovation and collaboration, the organization goes beyond coding boot camp, providing long-term employment and free in-house childcare, ultimately giving survivors the resources they need to succeed.
"We’re proud see our efforts recognized by someone whose life’s work shares many common factors with our mission at AnnieCannons," Laura Hackley tells us. "We are especially proud to be nominated for a DVF People’s Voice Award alongside such incredible leaders."
"For AnnieCannons, the DVF’s People's Voice Award gives us a unique and exciting opportunity to empower our students, graduates, allies, and supporters from all walks of life to transform the passion they have for our mission into the capital we need to support its growth," adds Jessica Hubley.
Georgie Smith, Founder, A Sense of Home
A Sense of Home is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles that is dedicated to building homes, community, and a new start for children exiting the foster care system. In just over three years, ASOH has created 280 homes, changing the lives of 410 young people. Georgie Smith has hired an all-former-foster-youth staff to run the organization, empowering the once disenfranchised to become leaders of sustainable change.
"A Sense of Home provides dignity, hope, and a foundation from which aged-out foster youth can build a future," Smith says. "ASOH is the first of its kind model in the world, enveloping the most disenfranchised young people in love from the community and elevates their voices. The DVF People’s Voice Award greatly further elevates their voices and lets them know that they matter, are valued, and are to be celebrated having overcome against all odds."
