On May 9, 2024, The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law and the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative jointly hosted a Human Rights and Humanitarian Forum to bring attention to some of the most alarming global trends and to promote promising solutions. 

The Forum was held at UCLA Luskin Conference Center and featured a series of talks and discussions by global thought leaders and local changemakers from UCLA, The Promise Institute and Aurora networks, addressing major topics of pressing concern from human rights and forced displacement to the global health crisis, the right to education, climate change, artificial intelligence, philanthropy, and gender equality. 

At the beginning of the event, the attendees were greeted by Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, and Co-Founder and Chairman of Moderna. “Our hearts are filled with a tremendous sense of gratitude for what this whole movement represents, and gratitude, as many of you know, is an integral part of Aurora’s being,” said Dr. Afeyan. “I think, in my daily life as a biotech entrepreneur, of DNA, and the two strands that are inextricably linked and carry forward the information. For us, those two strands are represented by gratitude and action.”

The opening remarks were followed by a conversation between 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 Prize Events in Los Angeles, and Michael Milken, Chairman of the Milken Institute. During the discussion, Dr. Esrailian asked Mr. Milken about his work with the Milken Institute and its latest Global Conference, which took place on May 5–8, 2024 in Los Angeles.