The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced that the winner of the third annual Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize is Breakthrough, a global human rights group working to drive the culture change necessary to make violence against women unacceptable, in part by engaging men as leaders and partners. Chosen from over 150 organizations worldwide that devote themselves to social impact and building sustainable solutions for social and economic challenges, Breakthrough will receive $125,000 and official recognition at an award ceremony to be held April 24, 2014 at the University of Pennsylvania.
Along with Breakthrough the other Prize finalists are Kickstart, a social enterprise designed to lift millions out of poverty quickly and in a sustainable way, and Not For Sale, a non-profit that equips and empowers survivors of human trafficking and vulnerable individuals through services of stability and restoration. All three finalists will profit from synergistic opportunities with Wharton and Penn. These opportunities take the form of student projects and site visits to each of the finalists organizations (to be held at the end of May), educational offerings at Wharton’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education, and many occasions to network within the larger Penn and Wharton academic and alumni communities.
“Breakthrough’s efforts to leverage the global allure of pop culture, technology, and media as instruments of empowerment are not only innovative but inspirational,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Their work to reduce violence against women exemplifies the founding spirit of the Barry and Marie Lipman Family Prize. It is an honor to work with an organization so deeply committed to the ideal of universal human rights.”
