NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Dolly Parton was jokingly uncharitable after the crowd at the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy ceremony tried singing along with her during her acceptance speech at Gotham Hall.
鈥淭hat was terrible,鈥� the Grammy-winning country superstar said after a muted sing-along of 鈥淏ooks, Books,鈥� the song she wrote to support her Imagination Library initiative. That philanthropic program, which provides children under five a free book every month, was one of the reasons she was part of this year鈥檚 class of Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy honorees, as well as her donation to coronavirus vaccine research in 2020 that helped develop the Moderna vaccine.
鈥淚鈥檓 very proud and honored to be a part of anything that is going to make the world a better place,鈥� Parton said, adding that she was pleased to be celebrated along with Dallas entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, from the Oklahoma investment family.
The ceremony Thursday night celebrated the 20th anniversary of the award, which was established in 2001 as the 鈥淣obel Prize of philanthropy.鈥� To mark the milestone, which was postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carnegie institutions launched the Carnegie Catalyst award to 鈥渃elebrate the transformative power of human kindness.鈥� The award went to World Central Kitchen, the anti-hunger nonprofit founded by chef Jose Andres.
Stacy Schusterman, chair of the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, said she was proud to accept the award with her mother, Lynn, as the first mother-daughter team to be honored in the award鈥檚 history. However, she said there is also an urgent need for philanthropy to be more collaborative and to take on more challenges to improve society.
鈥淭he U.S. was founded with ideals we have yet to realize,鈥� she said in her acceptance speech. 鈥淲hen we say, 鈥楢ll men are created equal,鈥� it is clear 鈥榤en鈥� does not yet mean all Americans, including women, gender expansive people, and all ethnicities, races and religions.鈥�
The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation was established in 1987 to invest in systemic change in the United States and Israel on matters of justice and equity. When Charles died in 2000, Lynn Schusterman took over the foundation, expanding its work and becoming an outspoken advocate for inclusion, especially for the LGBTQ community. In 2018, their daughter Stacy Schusterman took over the foundation, which changed its name last year to Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
Schusterman Family Philanthropies donates more than $400 million annually in programs that focus on justice and equity in the United States and Israel, as well as work in reproductive equity, voting rights and criminal justice.
鈥淧hilanthropy alone cannot solve these problems,鈥� Stacy Schusterman said. 鈥淏ut we do have a huge responsibility to be a partner at the table 鈥� to work in partnership with the people and communities most impacted, to take risks and to find solutions.鈥�
Lyda Hill believes many solutions can come from science. 鈥淧eople will look back years from now and say, 鈥橭ne of the things the pandemic did was that it brought science to the forefront and it advanced medical research,鈥� Hill told the Associated Press in an interview before the ceremony. 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 just have half the population doing the research for Pete鈥檚 sake. We need the whole population involved. That鈥檚 why we started If/Then鈥� It鈥檚 a program to encourage young girls to go into science so they realize that鈥檚 a field they can go into. We need different thinking.鈥�
Manu Chandaria didn鈥檛 keep the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy around his neck for long. As soon as the photographs of him accepting the award were finished, he took the medal from his neck and put it around the neck of his great granddaughter. In his acceptance speech, he explained that it is important for philanthropists to pass on the reasons for giving to future generations.
The Chandaria Foundation was established in 1956, providing scholarships in Kenya, and has continued to expand to the point that now it builds education and healthcare infrastructure throughout Africa.
鈥淚n our giving, we want involvement,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just writing a check. And I think that this makes a lot of difference because the people know that these people are not going to just write a check and go away. We鈥檙e going to be there making very sure that the money is utilized properly and brings results.鈥�
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Glenn Gamboa, The Associated Press
