The 2024 Aurora Prize Ceremony, the main event of the 2024 Aurora Events in Los Angeles, CA, was held on May 9, 2024. The Ceremony was hosted by David Ignatius, associate editor of The Washington Post, journalist, and novelist, and Dalia Atallah, Aurora’s Amal Clooney Scholarship fellow and alumna of the UWC Dilijan in Armenia. This special event brought together the world’s top humanitarians, academics, philanthropists, business leaders, and civil society representatives to honor the best of humanity. The eighth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecological surgeon and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“The 2024 Aurora Events in Los Angeles are a testament to what we can achieve when we join forces with genuine, committed, and altruistic people like all of you and the many people who work with all of you behind-the-scenes,” said Dr. Eric Esrailian, Chief of the UCLA Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Philanthropist, Film Producer, Entrepreneur, Aurora Board Member and Co-Chair of the 2024 Aurora Events in his speech at the 2024 Aurora Prize Ceremony.
“In this time of polycrisis, many of the world’s greatest crises go unnoticed or ignored. People get overwhelmed. Empathy turns off. There’s a name for this phenomenon: It’s called psychic numbing. And while it’s understandable, it’s not okay – which is a big reason we designed Aurora to operate as it does. <…> Aurora stands for the forgotten – it’s in our DNA. Forgotten people, forgotten crises, forgotten genocides,” said Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Aurora Co-Founder and Chair of the Board and and Co-Chair of the 2024 Aurora Events.
The performance by the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Aloe Blacc was one of the highlights of the evening, as he debuted his new song ‘SHINE,’ a tribute to all who bring the light of hope into the darkness and an anthem that celebrates unwavering dedication to making a difference in others’ lives.
You can watch the full video of the Ceremony below.