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Iyyappan dedicated his life to protecting and caring for abandoned children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

DR. ASHOK BANSKOTA 2016 HERO AWARD 2011 HEALTH AWARD Founder, Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled Children Nepal Dr. Ashok Banskota provides urgently-needed medical care to children in Nepal suffering from orthopedic disabilities.  After training and earning his board certification in New York, he found the medical situation in Nepal shockingly limited and primitive, particularly…

TRIVENI ACHARYA 2022 SALLY MANCHESTER RICCHIUTI PROTECTION AWARD 2015 HERO AWARD 2013 HUMANITARIAN AWARD President, The Rescue Foundation India and Bangladesh Triveni Acharya’s work as a journalist led her to a brothel in India where she met a 10-year-old girl who had been imprisoned, sexually assaulted and stripped of her rights. This experience drove Acharya…

Mead’s program provides prosthetic limbs and treatment for children with missing or deformed arms and legs.

Xu Yongguang is the founder of the China Youth Development Foundation, an organization promoting youth development in education, science and welfare.

BERTHA HOLT 2000 HUMANITARIAN AWARD Holt International Children’s Services Bulgaria, Kenya, Haiti and Uganda Mother of 14 children, eight of whom were adopted from Korea, Bertha Holt dedicated her time, effort and life to helping orphaned children around the world. Holt was a pioneer of inter-country adoption and an advocate for improved child welfare standards around…

DR. SHARAD KUMAR DICKSHEET 2001 HUMANITARIAN AWARD The India Project India The life of Dr. Sharad Kumar Dicksheet, was frought with many difficulties: a partially paralyzing car accident that left him in a wheelchair, terminal cancer in the larynx, and two severe heart attacks leaving him with only 17 percent residual heart capacity. Despite the…

Andal Damodaran is one of India’s greatest advocates of children’s rights, particularly in her actions to fight against child labor and female infanticide.

SHARON KIRKPATRICK 2002 HEALTH AWARD Traditional Birth Attendant Program Africa, Caribbean, India and Nepal Sharon Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., R.N., vice president for institutional advancement at Graceland University, has spent more than 25 years helping children in need by establishing mother-child healthcare programs in third world countries. She has helped children in need living in Africa, India,…

MAHENDRA MEHTA 2003 HEALTH AWARD Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust India As a child, Mahendra Mehta’s mother encouraged him to give his first earnings to the less fortunate. Throughout his lifetime, he continued to follow his mother’s wise words. Over two decades ago, Mahendra began the Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust with capital from his own family…

JETSUN PEMA 2003 HUMANITARIAN AWARD Tibetan Children’s Village Tibet Following the occupation of Tibet in 1959, a large number of Tibetan children were orphaned or separated from their families while fleeing their homeland. In 1960, a nursery was developed for 51 of the ill and malnourished child refugees in India. Today, after 43 years of…

GOPA KOTHARI 2004 HEALTH AWARD Child Eye Care Charitable Trust Mumbai, India As a pediatrician practicing in Mumbai, India, Gopa Kothari became aware of the devastating effects malnutrition and the lack of education were having on children living in urban slums. Kothari realized unless there was significant improvement in the health and living conditions in…

DR. SHANKAR MAN RAI 2005 HEALTH AWARD Interplast Surgical Outreach Program Kathmandu, Nepal Shankar Man Rai, M.D., a reconstructive plastic surgeon and native of Nepal, has devoted much of his life to providing free plastic surgeries to children with birth defects, cleft lips and palates, and burn injuries in areas of the world where these…

HUI-JUNG CHI 2005 HUMANITARIAN AWARD Garden of Hope Foundation Taiwan For the past 13 years, former journalist Hui-Jung Chi has played a tremendous role at the forefront of social reform and child advocacy in Taiwan. Boldly addressing issues such as child prostitution, domestic violence and sexual abuse, Chi’s voice has compelled the government of Taiwan…

OLGA MURRAY 2005 HUMANITARIAN AWARD Nepal Youth Foundation Nepal After retiring from her 37-year position as a research attorney for the California Supreme Court, Olga Murray realized her life’s work had just begun. While visiting the Himalayan Mountains, she discovered a world of overwhelming poverty. Millions of Nepalese people live with little electricity and few…

At a young age, Cherly Perera began to turn the tables of the child exploitation industry.

Sunitha is an Indian social activist whose organization rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society.

Nancy Harris works to reverse the life-threatening health challenges affecting the lives of nearly one million under-served Tibetan children.

Harnessing the power of youth around the world

Dr. Chaudhuri developed a breakthrough healthcare system to help India’s poorest, marginalized children.

Ms. Khurana believes if children can’t come to school, then the school must come to the children.

Two courageous journalists whose body of work has focused on children and women who are the victims of sexual abuse and slavery, physical violence, disease and cultural subservience

Danielle founded Kids For Peace, which provides opportunities for children to become service-oriented leaders, peace builders and environmental activists.

Dr. Young performs life-saving heart surgery to vulnerable children in Russia.