Power Up Gambia Blog

This past weekend I had the pleasure of joining Olivia Wilde onstage at the 2009 Annual Artivist Awards in Hollywood, California.

Olivia, best known for her role as Thirteen on FOX’s “House, M.D.”, first heard of PUG when she awarded our founder Kathryn Hall with a Teen Choice Award in 2008 and was inspired by PUG’s work. Olivia and Kathryn have kept in touch ever since, and Olivia has been an enthusiastic voice for our cause, highlighting PUG in various press outlets, including USAToday and CNN Headline News.

The awards ceremony was the capstone to the 6^th Annual Artivist Film Festival.  In its own words: “ARTIVIST is the first international film festival and awards dedicated to addressing Human Rights, Children's Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Rights.” Awards are given to shorts and feature films, as well as to outstanding celebrity advocates, and we are so grateful that Olivia was among them.

For me, it was a delight to be among a group of movers and shakers, both in the entertainment world and in the world of advocacy and the non-profit sector.  This is the first time I have met Olivia, and it was abundantly clear to me that she has a sincere commitment to the advancement of Power Up Gambia. I look forward to continuing to work together with her in the future.

Thank you to Olivia and thank you to everyone at Artivist for this tremendous opportunity and for all their hard work!

To learn more about Artivist, go to www.artivists.org.