“Philanthropy,” said Diane von Furstenberg, “is a little bit like landscaping. You are intimidated. You don’t know what plants you should plant. And then all of a sudden the plants grow, just like children grow. And before you know, you have a family.”
Von Furstenberg was speaking at the ninth DVF Awards, held at the United Nations on Friday evening and supported by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.
“The DVF Awards are a family, a family of extraordinary women, who had courage to fight, the strength to survive and the leadership to inspire,” the CFDA Chairwoman added.
It was an inspiring evening indeed, one that celebrated extraordinary women who have made an impact to better the lives of others. The annual event is tied to the Women in the World Summit.
“Think about these words, think about these stories…women used to picking up the pieces; women used to dealing with humiliation and obstacles; women knowing how to smile even when it hurts; women being fierce at being superwomen and being fierce at dealing with tragedy, women being survivors always,” von Furstenberg told a crowd that included Huma Abedin, Nicky Hilton, and award presenters such as Keri Russell, Brooke Baldwin, and Storm Reid. “Women often have the solutions. They need to be at every table, and yet they still have to fight for equality – for the right to speak and the right to be heard.”
The honorees of the evening are each in their own way pioneers in this fight: Ariela Suster, founder of Sequence Collection, and Jaha Dukuresh, CEO and Founder of Safe Hands For Girls (International Awards); American Ballet Principal Dancer Misty Copeland (Inspiration Award); Founding Family, Inc. CEO Luma Mufleh (People’s Voice Award), and Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Lifetime Leadership Award).
“This evening offers each of us an opportunity to reflect on the women in our lives…who have served as our guiding stars and given each of us the courage and wisdom to navigate this complex world,” Justice Sotomayor said. “Don’t forget their stories because they are the stories that will keep us moving.”
The evening began with a performance by Leona Lewis and ended with Cleo Wade reading her inspiring poem The Time has Always Been Now. It was the perfect conclusion to a perfect evening.
