Nobel Peace Prize Winner Receives Award In Arvada

From New Dimension of Hope: Anthony Angelini gave the opening address when New Dimension of Hope (ND Hope) presented its Third Annual Leaders Overcoming Obstacles to Peace (LOOP) award at the Arvada Center in Arvada, Colorado, Saturday, August 18, 2018. Angelini is a board member of ND Hope and this is his second time he has been asked to give the opening address

This year’s recipient was Leymah Gbowee earned the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in leading a women’s peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, which helped to bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her brave efforts to end the war, bringing women together and inspiring them to use their voices, helped usher in a period of peace and enabled a free election in 2005. The award commemorates those who have persevered through significant adversity in humanitarian efforts.

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Gbowee has been involved in NDHope since its inception, helping the organization raise money through her letter and support. She was also in Liberia when they opened their first school. Unfortunately, in July 2016, the school was destroyed by corrupt officials, an action that Gbowee public denounced, calling it a human rights violation. This LOOP Awards ceremony raised funding to build a new school for over 100 rural schoolchildren. Gbowee currently speaks internationally to advance women’s rights. She is the executive director of the Women, Peace and Security program at Columbia University in New York, N.Y.
Ebenezer Norman started A New Dimension of Hope (NDHope) in 2010. The nonprofit builds schools in Liberia, a West African country that lacks a formal educational system. Norman is completing his second school in Meh Meh Town, a rural village near Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, in an area that was badly affected by a civil war, and in the more immediate past, devastated by Ebola.

“I grew up in West Africa, and I’m about service and giving back to humanity,” Norman said recently. “I have to build schools for children who won’t otherwise receive an education. We’re all here for a purpose. I want to be part of the movement to change the fate of Africa.”

“Tonight’s LOOP award winner knows a lot about overcoming obstacles,” said Angelini. “Her accolades and accomplishments in ending the Liberian civil war are well known to everyone in this room. But what you may not know is her overwhelming and unwavering support for our little organization. When I first met Leymah, Norman and I were in Liberia trying to finish the last touches on the first school and we went to her office to invite her to the ribbon cutting. She sat at her desk hand making care packages for children in her organization and accepted our invitation with open arms. We are celebrating tonight because there will always be obstacles to peace, but there will not always be leaders to overcome them.”

This was in 2015 when Angelini traveled to Liberia, West Africa. He placed the first book, “Oh! The Places You’ll Go!” on the shelf in the school’s library and gave the dedication speech. In California, Angelini also serves on the board of directors for the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley as Director of Hospitality, on the Gold Coast Performing Arts Association Board as Treasurer, and on the Thousand Oaks Cultural Affairs Commission ad-hoc committee for the 2018 Excellence in the Arts Awards. Most recently, Angelini was honored as the Outstanding Youth Volunteer from the Association of Fundraising professionals. He is a resident of Newbury Park, and is a 23-year-old student at UCLA and has been a humanitarian and activist since the age of 6, when he donated his birthday presents to the victims of 9/11. Since then, he has been heavily involved in political activism and humanitarian work both in the Los Angeles area and abroad.

Images via New Dimension of Hope