2004 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Awards

Each year, University for a Night participants honor a person and/or organization that exemplify what the evening stands for -- working together for the common good. The first such honoree was David Rockefeller, for whom this award is named.

Richard Gere hosted the presentation of the awards by David Rockefeller and Michael Sonnenfeldt to the 2004 laureates: John C. Whitehead and the Foundation for Community Development of Mozambique.

John C. Whitehead is Chairman of the Board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the organization responsible for the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan. He has served in the US Navy and as an Instructor at the Harvard Business School. He has held a variety of positions at Goldman, Sachs & Co., including Co-Chairman and Senior Partner. He has served on the board of numerous companies, and as a Director of the New York Stock Exchange, and Chairman of the Securities Industry Association. He has been a US Deputy Secretary of State and was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Reagan. He has been active in a number of educational, civic and charitable organizations, including serving as chair of the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, International House, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Asia Society, among others. He has worked in places including Afghanistan, Kosovo and Nicaragua on the issues of free and fair elections and refugees. He sits on the boards of the Nature Conservancy, Lincoln Center Theater, the East-West Institute and the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships.

The Foundation for Community Development (FDC) began in 1990 as the Association for the Development of the Community (ADC). Its members shared the conviction that the efforts for the development of the community should be sustained from within Mozambican society. On the basis of discussions with communities from all over the country, the association was transformed in June 1994 into the Foundation for the Development of the Community (FDC). It was the first institution of its kind in Mozambique, with assets aimed at generating resources to finance community development initiatives. The FDC is a nonprofit institution seeking to establish partnerships in order to strengthen the capacity of disadvantaged communities, with the objective of overcoming poverty and promoting social justice in Mozambique. The beneficiaries of their work are the grassroots communities that are poor and vulnerable. Women, children and the youth are a particular target group in view of their role, plight and degree of social vulnerability. All the other groups that are significantly affected by the phenomenon of social exclusion such as the old, the handicapped and the unemployed are also targeted. Their partners are Mozambican non-governmental and community-based organizations, groups and individuals, co-operatives, local eonomic units, research institutions, researchers and donors with whom it share the same vision, interests and aspirations in favor of the most deprived communities.