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IN THE SAME FORUM graced by international heads
of state, U.S. presidents, and grassroots advocates, members
of the Kennedy School community assembled last fall for another
purpose: to pay tribute to our own. On November 1, 2002, we
spotlighted several alumni who epitomize the spirit of public
service with their immense contributions to society.
The evening began with tributes to young alumni
who have exhibited exemplary success early in their careers.
Jared Genser MPP 1998 and Jeremy Zucker MPP 1997 were honored
with “Rising Star Awards” for their work with Freedom
Now. In May 2001, Genser organized a group of friends to start
this all-volunteer nonprofit with a mission to “free
prisoners of conscience through focused legal, political,
and public relations advocacy efforts.” Since its founding,
Freedom Now successfully freed Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian
who was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan. It currently
represents the Kennedy School alum Jian-li Yang PhD 2001,
a former Tiananmen Square activist who has been held incommunicado
for six months by the People’s Republic of China.
Greg Zaff MPP 1993 received the second “Rising
Star Award.” Having once ranked in the world’s ten
best squash pros for five consecutive years, he combined his
passion for racquet sports with a desire to enrich the lives
of disadvantaged children in 1996 by founding Squashbusters.
Each year the program works with 56 motivated Boston middle
school students who commit to a rigorous three-year regimen
of fitness training, academic tutoring, and community service.
The first group of participants recently graduated high school
and 80 percent are going to college. In June, Squashbusters
will complete construction on a facility that includes squash
courts and academic space. This will enable the program to
expand to serve 400 students a year with the addition of a
high school component.
The first of the prestigious Alumni Achievement
Awards went to Juan Carlos Navarro MPP 1985. Hailed by both
TIME magazine and CNN as one of Latin America’s
most promising leaders for the new millennium, Navarro is
widely recognized as one of Panama’s preeminent national
figures. As mayor of Panama City, he oversees an annual budget
of U.S. $59.4 million. A dedicated public servant, he was
elected unanimously as the first president of the National
Mayor’s Association of Panama in 2001. Navarro has equally
distinguished himself with his commitment to ecological conservation
as the founder and former leader of ANCON (National Association
for the Conservation of Nature), Panama’s leading independent,
not-for-profit environmental NGO.
Our second Alumni Achievement Award recipient
led her staff in a rescue effort at the site of the World
Trade Center attacks even as thousands were fleeing. The performance
of Carol Raphael MPA 1979, S&L 1987 and the Visiting Nurse
Service (VNS) of New York in the wake of September 11 underscores
that organization’s extraordinary contribution to the
greater New York community. As president and CEO of VNS, the
largest nonprofit home health care organization in the United
States, Raphael manages a wide variety of medical programs
that provide care to some 24,000 patients daily in the metropolitan
New York area. Her accomplishments include advising Congress
on Medicare and serving as an “issues expert” at
the White House Conference on Aging. A fellow of the New York
Academy of Medicine, she was inducted into the YWCA’s
Academy of Women Achievers. She co-edited the book, Home
Based Care for A New Century.
An idea sparked by the Alumni Executive Council,
and specifically its former fundraising chair Meg Gilbert
MPA 1984, the Alumni Achievement Awards seek to recognize
those within our community whose successes have been significant
and whose connection with our Kennedy School community has
remained strong.
You can nominate a KSG alum whom you think merits
an award by contacting kate_christo@harvard.edu or
downloading an application at KSGalum.org.
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