World of Children unlocks the future for vulnerable children by funding, elevating and educating the most effective changemakers for children worldwide.
Since 1998, the organization has dedicated more than $15 million to high-impact programs for children, led by nearly 130 Honorees working in over 70 countries. World of Children has been recognized by the media as the “Nobel Prize for Child Advocates” and is the only global recognition and funding program that exclusively focuses on a broad range of children’s issues including health, education, safety and human rights.
World of Children is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization with tax ID: 31-1772381.
In order to be eligible for funding, each organization is fully investigated by an independent, professional global security firm to ensure the work they submit on paper is the exactly the work being done in the field. We guarantee their work and we are the only nonprofit organization in the world to do this.
Approximately 25% of our Honorees are based in the United States. The remainder work around the world in more than 70 different countries from Papua New Guinea to Palestinian Territories to South Africa and South America.
The story of World of Children began in 1996 when Co-Founder Harry Leibowitz had an epiphany while he was recovering from cancer surgery at age 55. As he was watching the Pulitzer Prize announcements on TV, he realized that while there was a Pulitzer Prize for art and literature, a Nobel Prize for sciences and peace, and an Oscar for film, there were no awards for those who were tirelessly and selflessly serving children in need around the world.
That realization was a catalyst for Leibowitz. He subsequently founded World of Children and held the first Awards Ceremony in 1998 in Columbus, honoring seven nonprofit leaders and pledging to dedicate the rest of his life to creating a prestigious awards program to support social change makers helping children in need around the world.
Harry met his now wife of 15 years, Kay Isaacson-Leibowitz just before the second annual Awards Ceremony. Kay attended the event as a guest and quickly fell in love with Harry and World of Children. They’ve been on this mission together ever since—galvanizing a robust community of people who have dedicated their lives to giving back.
Both high-level executives, Kay and Harry left the corporate world behind to pursue their philanthropy. Before World of Children, Kay was a senior retail executive for mega-chains including Victoria’s Secret and Banana Republic, and Harry served as an executive at companies like Procter & Gamble and Esmark.