RUSSELL SIMMONS is considered a “hip-hop pioneer” for his groundbreaking vision, which has influenced music, fashion, finance, television and film, as well as the face of modern philanthropy. In 2007, USA Today named him one of the “Top 25 Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years.” Mr. Simmons is the co-founder of Def Jam Records and chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN). He is a highly successful serial entrepreneur, author of Do You! 12 Laws To Access The Power In You To Achieve Happiness and Success (2007). As a devout Buddhist and co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, he has seamlessly interwoven interfaith values with corporate best practices. The 11 year old Foundation provides disadvantaged urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, as well as offering exhibition opportunities to underrepresented artists and artists of color.
His 2006 appointment to the role of United Nations Goodwill Ambassador has served to further his effort to empower, entertain and educate the world’s youth through the vehicle of hip-hop. As a Goodwill Ambassador he has also brought attention to a campaign to address the problems of war, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, which supports the UN Millennium Development Goals as well as the CISRI-ISP fight against severe poverty and malnutrition. His commitment to sustainable change and improving the lives of youth both nationally and internationally is a deeply personal and far reaching life mission.
BHAI SAHIB DR. MOHINDER SINGH AHLUWALIA is the third in succession of spiritual leaders of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha GNNSJ in Birmingham, UK. He has been Chairman since 1973. As one of the largest registered Sikh charities in the UK, he is engaged in an astounding range of initiatives aimed at meeting his mission of serving humanity and creation. With a farsighted vision, Bhai Sahib embraces the concept of education deeply rooted in one’s own tradition while fostering interfaith understanding as an essential tool for forging sustainable world peace. His work as an intra- and interfaith leader in his community and in the larger interfaith movement has brought him increasing recognition.
Bhai Sahib has extensive experience in the multi-disciplinary fields of Civil and Structural Engineering, Housing, Roads, Water Supply, Sanitation and Conservation. He grew up in Kenya and served the Zambian Government in the National Housing Authority and as a consultant to various UNHCS (HABITAT) projects. In 1972 he formed a voluntary service group to build the first Gurudwara (Sikh place of worship) in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. In recent years, Bhai Sahib has traveled to the UN to promote interfaith understanding at meetings of the Tripartite Forum for Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace.
http://www.gnnsjleeds.com
Presenters | Performances
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