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The Asia Foundation Honors Yo-Yo Ma, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Dr. Eun Mee Kim at Annual Leadership Awards

San Francisco, November 4, 2021 — On November 9, 2021, The Asia Foundation will celebrate Leaders on the Frontlines: Leaders for a Better World, honoring Yo-Yo Ma, Dr. Eun Mee Kim, and The Rockefeller Foundation for modeling courage, innovation, and perseverance as leaders and advancing our collective vision for a better world.

The Asia Foundation’s annual leadership awards include the Chang-Lin Tien Distinguished Leadership Award, President’s Leadership Award, and Philanthropic Leadership Award, which honor prominent individuals and organizations who demonstrate creativity and possibility in an increasingly complex world. Yo-Yo Ma, the world’s preeminent cellist, is a learner, listener, UN Messenger of Peace, trustee of the World Economic Forum, and the Silk Road Ensemble founder. Dr. Kim is president of Ewha Womans University, the world’s largest female educational institute and one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea. Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, will accept the Philanthropic Leadership Award on behalf of the Foundation for their efforts to advance a global green recovery, expand access to reliable power, improve healthcare in rural areas, and advance sustainable finance to improve lives for millions of people in Asia. Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations and the 2018 Chang-Lin Tien Distinguished Leadership Award recipient, will also join us at the event. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy, and water.

The event will feature the 2020-2021 Asia Foundation Development Fellows, who are honing their leadership skills through an intensive yearlong program preparing them to address the critical issues facing Asia. The Development Fellows program is at the heart of The Asia Foundation’s mission, bringing exceptional individuals into a robust network of emerging leaders working to improve lives across Asia. This event inaugurates LeadNext, a brand-new program focused on global citizenship for the 21st century, with leaders aged 18-25 from across Asia and the U.S.

The Asia Foundation thanks our generous corporate supporter, Kirkland & Ellis.

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote international cooperation.

Learn more about past honorees.

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