LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Community leaders and celebrities from around the world gathered Saturday night, Nov. 9, at the Muhammad Ali Center for the 2024 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards.
“We get to a chance through the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards to celebrate people who are working overtime to make this world a better place,” said DeVone Holt, president and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center.
NBA legend and 15-time All-Star Shaquille O'Neal received the Humanitarian of the Year award while Bryan Stevenson, founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, earned the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It’s just sort of unbelievable to be here with so many other amazing awardees, and particularly this week, because I think we’re going to have to channel the spirit and legacy of Muhammad Ali to meet challenges that I anticipate will shape the next few years,” Stevenson said.
Nile Rodgers, music icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, was awarded the Global Citizenship award. He co-founded the We Are Family Foundation, a nonprofit supporting programs that promote cultural diversity.
“I am overjoyed,” Rodgers said. “I am very, very pumped up, and I still haven’t quite just relaxed and come to terms with the fact that this is happening.”
There are also Six Core Principle Awards given out to advocates, activists, and role models in communities around the world. All represent Muhammad Ali’s Six Core Principles: confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality, which Ali used to give back to his home city with his influence spreading internationally.
“I run a nonprofit in India on children’s well-being and mental health, which is globally a very under-researched and under-talked about agenda and area, so this is a big moment for me," said Richa Gupta, CEO and co-founder of the Labhya Foundation and Spirituality Award recipient. "I’m extremely grateful that we’re able to talk about this on this global platform today."
The work of these young adults ranges from creating technology for people with disabilities to advocating for reproductive rights to making climate justice accessible for those who don’t speak English.
“I hope that other young people can look at the awardees and realize that anyone is capable of making a difference and it can be either in climate change, it can be in education, reproductive rights,” said Sophia Kianni, recipient of the Giving Award. “There (are) so many different ways for all of us to impact a positive difference. The first step is just to start.”
This recognition gives the awardees’ organizations a platform to expand their missions.
“We’re on a mission to work with 30 million children by 2030 and to serve children in public schools across India," Gupta said. "We’re just getting started, and this award, this recognition and also this platform really helps us amplify the need to do the work we do and, hopefully, get supporters from all over the world to support the work."
The ceremony also serves as a fundraiser for the Muhammad Ali Center to support its programs, events, exhibits, and more. The awards are a yearly tradition that began in 2013 to honor people making an impact in communities around the world.
