NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER MALALA YOUSAFZAI TO BE FEATURED SPEAKER AT 2016 LUNCH FOR THE GIRLS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Omaha, Neb. – Recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and youngest-ever Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousefzai, better known worldwide as simply “Malala,” will be featured speaker at the 16th annual Lunch for the Girls, an annual benefit for Girls Incorporated of Omaha. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Monday, July 18 at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, 455 North 10th Street.“Malala has emerged as one of our most eloquent champions for girls and women,” said Girls Inc. executive director Roberta Wilhelm. “Her insistence on the equal right of girls and women to an education is an inspirational story of courage and resilience.”
Malala is the third Nobel Laureate, preceded by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and then-Senator Barack Obama, to speak at this signature fundraising event for Girls Inc. Other guest speakers have been First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and Warren Buffett.
The daughter of a schoolteacher, Malala became a childhood advocate for the education of girls and women during a period of Taliban control of her home district in northwest Pakistan. A higher profile from winning Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize and nomination by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the International Children’s Peace Prize put her life in danger. In 2012, while on her way to school at the age of 15, she was victim of a Taliban assassination attempt in which she survived a bullet to the head. Following recovery and rehabilitation in a United Kingdom hospital specializing in military injuries, she has continued her advocacy for the education of girls and women worldwide. Her story is chronicled in the 2013 memoir I Am Malala and the 2015 documentary He Named Me Malala.
Information about reservations for the luncheon will be available Tuesday, March 1 on the Girls Inc. website; www.girlsincomaha.stagemydomain.com or by calling Girls Inc. at 402-457-4676. Regular seating will be $100 per person with patron seating available at $200 per person. Several levels of benefactor and corporate tables will also be available.
Girls Incorporated of Omaha is a national affiliate of Girls Incorporated. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be “Strong, Smart and Bold” and has two centers in Omaha, the Katherine Fletcher Center in North Omaha and the Emma Lozier Center in South Omaha. Proceeds from Lunch for the Girls support programs for girls ages 5 to 18 in leadership, academic enrichment, health and wellness, career and college preparation and self-reliance.
This spring, Girls Inc. will dedicate a 55,365 square foot addition to the existing Katherine Fletcher facility. The addition will include a health clinic operated in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a gymnasium and walking track, an exercise studio and fitness center, media and teen centers and a new community playground. A key feature of the renovated space will be an instructional kitchen for teaching nutrition and food preparation skills.
Media inquiries about obtaining press credentials for covering the event should be directed to Lisa Winton; lwinton@vgagroup.com or 402-345-5401 x105.
