Rallying Together at the Annual Meeting
The Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York. © Thelma Garcia for Julie Skarratt photography
We recently had a whirlwind week here at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, as we hosted our biggest line-up of Annual Meeting activities ever. Almost 400 members of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF family—volunteers, donors, partners, celebrities, and media and government representatives—came together for a three-day summit to help create a better, safer world for children. The events began on Thursday, May 16, with the Chairman’s Reception. There, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake joined us to toast the U.S. Fund Board leadership. He gave a special salute to Board member Anthony Pantaleoni, who recently handed over the reins to Peter Lamm as Chair of our National Board of Directors. On Friday, it was time for our Annual Meeting. During the General Session, guests heard from UNICEF experts from all over the globe—including Peru, China, Kenya and Egypt—about UNICEF’s work on the ground for every child, from infancy to adolescence. The Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, gave special remarks and applauded UNICEF for working on behalf of children in some of the most challenging cities in the world.
Second-grader and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF supporter Sebastian Azzopardi. © Thelma Garcia for Julie Skarratt photography
A panel of 19 partners and volunteers then treated guests to highlights from their collaborative work with the U.S. Fund. This cross section of speakers represented the tremendous efforts the U.S. Fund has spearheaded this past year to build a child survival and development movement in this country. The day wrapped with a spirited and emotional address from special guest speaker Jenna Bush Hager—NBC News Correspondent, new mom and the founding Chair of UNICEF’s Next Generation. Our final event was on Saturday, when we welcomed about 100 guests to our offices for our first annual UNICEF Next Generation Steering Committee Summit. The participants, including donors, volunteers, partners, and campus and high school clubs, learned about our engagement strategy, drew connections between each other’s work, and were able to give input into the strategic direction of the next five years. What a week it was! We thank everyone for their support and participation—and can’t wait to do it all again next year.
