WASHINGTON, DC, November 7, 2022 – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenksyy, the face of the uprising in Iran Masih Alinejad, and the Secretary of State’s Special Holocaust Advisor Stuart Eizenstat were the headline honorees at the 12th Annual Oxi Courage Awards on October 27 at the majestic US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. George Logothetis delivered a compelling keynote speech, “Courage Unseen.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan introduced Zelenskyy, who addressed guests from war-torn Ukraine. The Courage Award was then presented by Sullivan to Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova.
To see the video of President Zelenskyy’s remarks and the Sullivan introduction, click here.
Philanthropist Danialle Karmanos presented the Courage Award to Alinejad who fearlessly advocates for the rights of women and girls and regime change in Iran.
To see the video of Alinejad’s remarks and the Karmanos introduction, click here.
Previous honorees of the Oxi Courage Award have included
- President Joe Biden and his son Beau Biden (posthumously);
- Escaped survivor of ISIS atrocities and UN Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad (nominated by Amal Clooney) who two years later received the Nobel Peace Prize (in 2018);
- TIME Magazine 2018 Persons of the Year journalist and critic of the Philippines’ government Maria Ressa (also nominated by Amal Clooney) who later received the Nobel Peace Prize (in 2021) and journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia’s government Jamal Khashoggi (posthumously);
- Currently imprisoned for his public opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, twice-poisoned Russian democracy activist and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza;
- US conflict journalist James Foley (posthumously) [nominated and introduced by former President Bill Clinton], just months after he became the first American brutally and publicly executed by ISIS; and
- North Korean defector and human rights activist Ji Seong-ho, who, just 3 months later, was featured before millions around the world in the President’s State of the Union address.
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, who was awarded the 2022 Metropolitan Chrysostomos Award for his remarkable lifetime of work fighting antisemitism and discrimination, joined a distinguished list of past honorees that includes: the spiritual head of the second largest Christian Church in the world, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the late civil rights crusader Congressman John Lewis, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and the former president of Israel Shimon Peres.
To see the video of Eizenstat’s remarks, click here.
George Logothetis, Executive Chairman of the Libra Group, delivered an inspiring keynote address, which can be seen here.
This year’s Courage Awards also featured stirring remarks from Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of 2018 Oxi Courage Award recipient Vladimir Kara-Murza currently imprisoned in Russia for criticizing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, who vows to be her husband’s voice, recently accepted the Council of Europe’s prestigious Vaclav Havel Human Rights Award on his behalf.
To see the video of Kara-Murza’s remarks, click here.
Also highlighted were the three honorees from the Oxi Service awards earlier in the day at the National WWII Memorial: Calamos Service Award recipient Col. Jack Jacobs; Haseotes Service Award recipient Dr. George Hatsopoulos (posthumously), represented by his son Nicho; and Oxi Service Award recipient George Poppas, represented by his son and Commanding General of the US Army Forces, Gen. Andrew Poppas.
Nicholas J. and Anna K. Bouras Foundation Trustee, The Honorable B. Theodore Bozonelis, once again presented the winner of the Philotimo Scholarship Competition. This year’s first place essay was submitted by Paraskevi Christopoulos.
