Artists For Justice and Peace @ Art Gallery of Ontario (TIFF) Sun. Sep. 10, 2017

Posted by BK on September 13, 2017 in Gala Scene, Red Carpet Gala | Leave a comment

The annual benefit returned, marking its ninth year at the film festival to raise funds and awareness for Paul Haggis’ Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), an international charity organization that funds youth education, health and dignity initiatives in Haiti. Co-hosts included Javier Bardem, Ben Stiller, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morgan Spurlock, Yannick & Shantelle Bisson, George Stroumboulopoulos together with APJ board members Paul Haggis, Pascal Raffy and friends. APJ Canada Board Chair Natasha Koifman and Suzanne Boyd co-chaired the gala.

APJ honoured Jackson Browne with the Peace and Justice Activism Award celebrating his lifetime of activism and commitment to peace and social justice both in Haiti and around the world. Birk’s presented the APJ Canadian Changemaker Award to Gary Slaight, honouring his work as a leading Canadian philanthropist committed to integrity and impact.

Artists for Peace and Justice is making a substantial commitment toward growing a new generation of Haiti’s leaders by providing access to quality secondary and higher education. FACT: Over 80% of Haitian youth drop out of school after 6th grade because they can’t afford to continue their education.

The Academy for Peace and Justice is set on a magnificent campus, and is the only middle and secondary school of its kind in Haiti, providing dignified education to the poorest and most deserving youth in the city of Port-au-Prince. Since Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, the Academy has grown each year, reaching full capacity in 2016 with 2,800 students. The Academy for Peace and Justice has competitive sports programs with boys and girls teams in basketball, soccer, volleyball, martial arts, dance, and tennis. Every student at the Academy receives a scholarship which includes full tuition, uniforms, and year round access to St. Luke’s medical services.

A free professional college for art and technology in Jacmel, the Artists Institute creates modern opportunities for Haitian youth to foster entrepreneurship and business development in local creative industries in partnership with Artists for Haiti and We Are the World Foundation. The Institute currently offers programs in film making through Ciné Institute and programs in music production and audio engineering through its newest division, Audio Institute: We Are the World School of Music and Audio Engineering . Each division offers programs in training, employment, and professional support, where every student at Artists Institute receives a full scholarship.

We would like to thank Rebecca Kogon, Manager, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at NKPR for this invitation