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GEORGE CLOONEY TEAMS UP WITH VCS IN HUMANITARIAN EFFORT
Upstart - Biz Journals
March 12 2015
by Don Seiffert
Flagship Ventures founder Noubar Afeyan has enlisted the help of
George Clooney and others to honor people who put themselves at risk
to help others.
Noubar Afeyan is known locally as founder and head of Flagship
Ventures, one of the largest locally-based investors in early-stage
companies looking to save or improve lives by innovating heath care.
But Afeyan has also long been involved in philanthropic efforts to help
humanity, and he doesn't see the two activities as all that different.
"I actually do find a great deal of overlap between what I do in my
personal life and what I do professionally," Afeyan said.
This week, Afeyan is launching a new humanitarian effort with two
other internationally-known philanthropists, Russian entrepreneur Ruben
Vardanyan and Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corp., called
100 Lives. The initiative is rooted in next year's centennial of the
Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million people died at the hands of
the Ottoman government between 1915-1923, and one project will be to
uncover stories of survivors and people who saved lives during that
period. All three founders of 100 Lives are of Armenian descent.
But another project that is aimed at recognizing present day acts
of heroism has enlisted the help of George Clooney, founder of the
Not On Our Watch foundation which highlights genocide globally, as
well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, professor emeritus at
Boston University and survivor of the German Holocaust. That project,
called the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, will be given annually
by Clooney and Weisel to people who put themselves at risk to help
others starting next year.
It's a cause to which Afeyan owes his identity, in a sense. The
Armenian immigrant says his grandfather lived near Istanbul a
century ago, and twice was taken to be executed. He was saved,
in what Afeyan calls an "ironic" twist, by a German officer during
World War I. Since then, Armenians have "not only recovered, but have
struggled to survive" and now have strong communities in the U.S.,
including in Watertown, Massachusetts.
It was the example of people like his grandfather who Afeyan says
influenced him to become the head of the Cambridge-based Flagship,
which has raised more than $800 million since he founded it in 2000
to invest in early-stage biotech and healthcare firms. He is also
involved with several local Armenia groups, and in 2008, he received
the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
"I'm a descendant of survivors," he said. "It has not only caused me
to not take life for granted, but if you're a descendant of survivors,
you don't take anything for granted."
http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2015/03/12/george-clooney-teams-up-with-vcs-in-humanitarian.html
From: Baghdasarian
Upstart - Biz Journals
March 12 2015
by Don Seiffert
Flagship Ventures founder Noubar Afeyan has enlisted the help of
George Clooney and others to honor people who put themselves at risk
to help others.
Noubar Afeyan is known locally as founder and head of Flagship
Ventures, one of the largest locally-based investors in early-stage
companies looking to save or improve lives by innovating heath care.
But Afeyan has also long been involved in philanthropic efforts to help
humanity, and he doesn't see the two activities as all that different.
"I actually do find a great deal of overlap between what I do in my
personal life and what I do professionally," Afeyan said.
This week, Afeyan is launching a new humanitarian effort with two
other internationally-known philanthropists, Russian entrepreneur Ruben
Vardanyan and Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corp., called
100 Lives. The initiative is rooted in next year's centennial of the
Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million people died at the hands of
the Ottoman government between 1915-1923, and one project will be to
uncover stories of survivors and people who saved lives during that
period. All three founders of 100 Lives are of Armenian descent.
But another project that is aimed at recognizing present day acts
of heroism has enlisted the help of George Clooney, founder of the
Not On Our Watch foundation which highlights genocide globally, as
well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, professor emeritus at
Boston University and survivor of the German Holocaust. That project,
called the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, will be given annually
by Clooney and Weisel to people who put themselves at risk to help
others starting next year.
It's a cause to which Afeyan owes his identity, in a sense. The
Armenian immigrant says his grandfather lived near Istanbul a
century ago, and twice was taken to be executed. He was saved,
in what Afeyan calls an "ironic" twist, by a German officer during
World War I. Since then, Armenians have "not only recovered, but have
struggled to survive" and now have strong communities in the U.S.,
including in Watertown, Massachusetts.
It was the example of people like his grandfather who Afeyan says
influenced him to become the head of the Cambridge-based Flagship,
which has raised more than $800 million since he founded it in 2000
to invest in early-stage biotech and healthcare firms. He is also
involved with several local Armenia groups, and in 2008, he received
the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
"I'm a descendant of survivors," he said. "It has not only caused me
to not take life for granted, but if you're a descendant of survivors,
you don't take anything for granted."
http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2015/03/12/george-clooney-teams-up-with-vcs-in-humanitarian.html
From: Baghdasarian