Singer and social activist Annie Lennox was honored Thursday at a gala event in New York for the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), an international non-profit focused on girls’ education and women’s leadership. The first-ever “Education Changes Everything” gala celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary and raised $2.2 million. The money raised will go towards CAMFED’s mission to support girls and women in the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The “Education Changes Everything” Gala was hosted by Lori Stokes, co-anchor of Fox 5’s “Good Day New York,” and was attended by more than 550 supporters. Lennox, a longtime philanthropist, was honored for “her tireless advocacy and exceptional efforts in ensuring that every girl and woman are given the means to unlock their potential,” according to the announcement. During the event, the organization announced its goal to support over 5 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa to attend school in the next five years. Throughout the evening, gala guests heard testimonials about the profound impact CAMFED’s programs have had on the lives young women from Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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The evening closed with a world-premiere performance of “Let Us Dance,” a global empowerment anthem by musician/activist Drea Pizziconi, featuring Grammy-Nominated artist Maimouna Youssef. All 2019 profits from the track, which officially releases worldwide today, will go back to the Campaign for Female Education.
To find out more about the campaign, visit its website.
Last October, Lennox spoke about her song “Requiem” — from Matthew Heineman’s “A Private War,” a film about British journalist Marie Colvin, who was killed in 2012 while covering the war in Syria — at Variety‘s Music for Screens conference.