Podcast appearances and mentions of aurora humanitarian initiative

What do you do when you leave the U.S. Agency for International Development? In the case of my next guest, you stay in the field of humanitarian assistance. He was national security advisor to the U.S. AID administrator. And he's the new director of communications, advocacy, and impact at the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Colin Thomas-Jensen joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do you do when you leave the U.S. Agency for International Development? In the case of my next guest, you stay in the field of humanitarian assistance. He was national security advisor to the U.S. AID administrator. And he's the new director of communications, advocacy, and impact at the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Colin Thomas-Jensen joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you make an institution that's both a museum and a memorial — at the same time?How are exhibitions like theater? Is a museum a group experience, or a personal one — or is that a trick question? When is it time to trust your gut? Why is collaboration so important? When is a single milk can the most important object in a museum? How can one single, simple philosophy inform everyone's work, from the curators to the team making mounts for the artifacts? How are the principles of making a memorial museum different from other types of museums — or are they so different after all?Alice Greenwald (Principal of Memory Matters, LLC, and past President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Making a Memorial Museum.”Along the way: spackling, reverence, and what happens when a museum director leaves their office door open.Talking Points:0. What is a Memorial Museum?1. Start With Authenticity2. It's About Storytelling 3. Museums Are Not Books 4. Practice Conscientious Listening5. Trust Your Gut6. Collaboration is RequiredHow to Listen:Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio:Alice M. Greenwald is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of museum practice, with expertise in history, ethnic heritage, and memorial museums. Currently the principal of Memory Matters, LLC, providing strategic advice to museums, memorial projects, senior executives, and boards, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum from 2017-2022 and from 2006 to 2016, as the organization's Founding Museum Director and Executive Vice President for Exhibitions, Collections and Education. Previously, she was Associate Museum Director, Museum Programs, at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Alice serves on the boards of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial Foundation and is a Trustee Emerita at Central Synagogue in New York City. She is First Vice President of The Lotos Club, and in January 2024, concluded her service as a board member of the International Council of Museums-US. She holds an M.A. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and a B.A with concentrations in English Literature and Anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College, where she delivered the commencement address to the class of 2007. About MtM:Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com Links for This Episode:Alice by Email:alice.m.greenwald@gmail.com Alice at Memory Matters:https://www.memorymattersllc.com National September 11th Memorial & Museum:https://www.911memorial.org United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:https://www.ushmm.org Links for MtM, the Podcast:https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger alger@cgpartnersllc.com https://www.cgpartnersllc.com Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few.Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

The New York Times called him "Jesus Christ." He is Dr. Tom Catena, the 2017 Laureate of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the only doctor caring for 750,000 patients in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. He joins Salpi Ghazarian, Director of the Institute of Armenian Studies at USC, in this episode of Unpacking Armenian Studies. To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit armenian.usc.edu.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Tom Catena, the current Chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, about his work at the Mother Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan. The people of Sudan’s Nuba Mountains have long been marginalized by the government of Sudan under the regime of Omar Al-Bashir. Since the... The post The Heart of Nuba: A Conversation With Doctor Tom Catena appeared first on Matters of State - International Relations Podcast.

Sunitha Krishnan literally rescues girls from sex slavery. She is the founder of the Indian NGO Prajwala which both physically removes girls from sexual bondage and provides social, medical and psychological support for their rehabilitation.  She's been beaten. She's been jailed. But nevertheless she persists.  And as she tells me in our conversation what motivates her in this dangerous work is anger. And that anger stems from her own experience with sexual assault at the age of 15, when she was the victim of a gang rape.    I met Sunitha Krishnan in June in Yerevan, Armenia where she was being recognized for her heroic work by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.  She was one of three finalists for the 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. And though she did not end up winning that award, it went to a Rohingya human rights lawyer named Kyaw Hla Aung, her work in the slums of of India gained wider attention.     Sunitha Krishnan is a true hero and it was an honor to get to know her. 

For many years Tom Catena was the only doctor in the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan. This is an area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. In 2011 it was the site of intense fighting between government forces and local groups aligned with the South.   Throughout this fighting, which lasted for years, Tom Catena ran the Mother of Mercy Hospital. He saw thousands upon thousands of patients every year under the most difficult of circumstances. His hospital was bombed, his house was targeted, but Tom Catena never left. And he is still working there to this day.    I caught up with Tom in Yerevan, Armenia where he was on hand to participate in events around the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.  Last year, Tom won this prize, which is conferred by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. This is a group established by Armenian and Armenian-American philanthropists in honor of the survivors of the Armenian genocide. The idea behind the prize is to honor individuals who are standing up for human rights, often without much recognition and in extremely difficult circumstances. The winner this year was a Rohignya human rights lawyer named Kyaw Hla Aung.    I had the honor of participating in events around Yerevan last week and collecting some great interviews with fascinating people that I look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks. 

Maggy Barankitse is the founder of Maison Shalom, an orphanage and school that was created in Burundi in the wake of the Civil War there in the 1990s. Like in neighboring Rwanda, the conflict in Burundi involved acts of genocide pitting ethnic groups against each other.   The conflict came to Maggy's town on October 24th 1993. At the time, Maggy was working as a secretary in the local catholic diocese in her hometown of Ruyigi, Burundi. What happened was an act of unspeakable cruelty and I am going to read directly the description of events from the website of Maison Shalom.    "In the autumn of 1993, an atmosphere of uneasiness had settled over the country. In Ruyigi, disaster struck on 24 October. To exact vengeance for the killing of members of their ethnic group, the Tutsi hunted the town’s Hutus, who were hiding in the diocese buildings. Maggy was also there. She tried to reason with the group of Tutsi driven mad by hatred. She tried to convince them not to use violence. Her efforts were in vain. To punish her for what they considered a betrayal on the part of a Tutsi “sister”, they decided to strip her and tie her to a chair. They forced her to remain in that position and watch as they first set fire to the diocese building to force those hiding there to come out, then as they mercilessly hacked her friends to death with machetes." As Maggy tells me, it was this experience that lead her to create an oasis of peace and hope in the midst of such conflict and tumult. Maison Shalom has served tens of thousands of children since its founding.    Unfortunately, Maggy today lives as a refugee in Rwanda. She was forced to flee the country after she spoke out against an illegal power-grab by the country's president. But even from Rwanda, Maggy is continuing her mission and has established a Maison Shalom to serve refugees and others in Rwanda.    For her work, Maggy was awarded the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, which is a $1 million prize awarded to individuals who commit extraordinary acts of humanity. The prize is awarded by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, which was founded by the decedents of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and a few weeks ago I published my conversation with Noubar Afeyan who is one of the co-founders of this initiative.