NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Appeal of
Conscience Foundation, an interfaith organization, which has
brought together corporate and religious leaders for more than half
a century who are dedicated to religious freedom, human rights and
tolerance, and its president and founder Rabbi Arthur Schneier presented the 2017 Appeal of
Conscience Awards to three prominent global corporate leaders
from the United States,
Europe and Asia at the 52nd Annual Appeal of
Conscience Awards at the New York Hilton on Monday evening,
September 18th. The
honorees were: Brian
Moynihan, Chairman and CEO, Bank of America,
Paul Polman, CEO,
Unilever and Masayoshi Son,
Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group.
"Governments across the globe need the cooperation and guidance
of corporate visionary leaders and courageous religious leaders who
are committed to a civic and moral partnership in facing the
challenges of a turbulent, volatile world in transition," said
Rabbi Arthur Schneier. "It is
essential that corporate leaders follow the example of our three
honorees in their efforts to better our world."
"Appeal of Conscience Foundation is pleased to recognize
Brian T. Moynihan, a man of faith
and a corporate leader with a sense of social responsibility, who,
by deed and action, has advanced human dignity by encouraging a
standard in global diversity and inclusion," said Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO, Kraft Group,
Principal Owner of the New England Patriots and a Presiding
Chairman of the Awards Dinner.
"I'm pleased to accept this award on behalf of my Bank of
America teammates. All of us at tonight's dinner recognize the
work of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and Rabbi Arthur Schneier's principle that tolerance is
how society keeps its balance," said Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO, Bank of
America. "My teammates and I work each day to provide great
service to our clients, good returns for our shareholders, and
responsible, sustainable growth for the communities we serve. We
also know that having courageous conversations around difficult
issues fosters tolerance and enables us to live our purpose."
"Appeal of Conscience Foundation is proud to honor Paul Polman whose vision has established an
unprecedented standard in which the global business community
accepts responsibility and commitment to use its resources and vast
reach to create a positive impact worldwide," said Jerry Speyer, Chairman, Tishman Speyer and a Presiding Chairman of the
Awards Dinner.
"It's clear to me that business has a part to play in regaining
our common purpose. In fact, I don't believe we can fix our broken
society or our degraded environment without business. I'm
encouraged because many businesses are stepping up. It is
significant tonight, for example, that you have chosen to recognize
three business leaders," said Paul
Polman, CEO of Unilever. "A growing number of
leaders are speaking out on everything from LGBT rights to climate
change to civic protection; there is a rising tide of business
leaders who see their role as putting their companies to the
service of society, and not the other way around. But we need more
and the task is urgent."
"Appeal of Conscience Foundation proudly recognizes Masayoshi Son for channeling his successes into
improving the lives of men and women across the globe," said
Stephen A. Schwarzman,
Chairman and CEO of Blackstone, and a Presiding Chairman of the
Awards Dinner. "A visionary business leader, he has used
information technology to build bridges for peaceful coexistence
among nations and used philanthropy to alleviate suffering and to
better the future of humanity."
"I am very honored and flattered to receive this Award," said
Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO
of SoftBank Group Corp. "I founded SoftBank in 1981 to use
power of the Information Revolution to make people happy, but there
is much more we need to do," he added. "We recently created the
SoftBank Vision Fund to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurs
across the technology industry, and we believe they will address
some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. My hope is that we
can really deliver something meaningful to humanity over the long,
long-term."
Christine Lagarde,
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund stated,
"Making growth more inclusive and sustainable requires smart
leadership, courage, and—above all—cooperation. I am optimistic
that with organizations that seek to heal divisions and encourage
dialogue, such as the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, and strong
leaders such as those being honored tonight, we can make the world
a more peaceful and prosperous place and advance on
SustainableDevelopment Goals."
Leaders of the Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Jewish,
Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist religions were in attendance and
greetings were extended on behalf of Pope Francis, by Archbishop
Paul Richard Gallagher,
Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, "Rabbi Arthur Schneier, yours has been a life dedicated
to witnessing and teaching religious freedom, mutual respect and
acceptance, and peaceful co-existence… in the firm belief that
freedom, democracy and human rights are what will give the
countries and nations of the world their best hope for peace and
security, the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights, and
shared prosperity. Pope Francis fully shares your conviction that a
crime committed in the name of religion is the greatest crime
against religion itself."
The Honorary Co-Chairs of the Awards Dinner were Dr.
Henry A. Kissinger, John D. Negroponte, Peter G. Peterson and Paul A. Volcker.
Those serving as Dinner Co-Chairs included Len Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman Access
Industries; John A. Catsimatidis,
Chairman, President and CEO, The Red Apple Group; Michael L. Corbat, CEO, Citigroup; Paul J. Fribourg, Chairman and CEO, Continental
Grain Company; Alex Gorsky, Chairman
and CEO, Johnson & Johnson; Muhtar
Kent, Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Coca-Cola
Company; Ronald S. Lauder,
President, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation; Maurice Lévy, President
of the Supervisory Board, Publicis Groupe; Andrew N. Liveris, Executive Chairman,
DowDuPont; Hon. Earle I. Mack,
Senior Partner, The Mack Company; K. Rupert
Murdoch, Executive Chairman, News Corp.; Anthony J. Pratt, Global Chairman, Pratt Industries; Rev. Dr. Fred R. Anderson, Pastor Emeritus, Madison
Avenue Presbyterian Church; Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic
Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy
See to the United Nations; Archbishop Khajag Barsamian,
Primate of Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America;
Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of America and Primate, Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South
America; The Most Rev. Nicholas
DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn; Cardinal Timothy
M. Dolan, Archbishop of New
York; Imam Mohamed Magid, Executive Imam, All
Dulles Area Muslim Society; Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus
of Washington; Rev. Joseph O'Hare, S.J., President Emeritus,
Fordham University; and Rev. Dr.
Robert A. Rimbo, Bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The invocation was delivered by H.E. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of
Washington DC, and Vice President
of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and the benediction by
Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of Greek Orthodox Church.
The international event brought together over 700 prominent
leaders of business, religious and public life, foreign statesmen
and the diplomatic corps in support of over half a century of the
global interfaith Appeal of Conscience Foundation activities on
behalf of religious freedom, human rights and tolerance and
peaceful coexistence for over half a century.
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