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On March 16th, Captain Planet Foundation, the global non-profit, held their annual Gala at Flourish Atlanta and recognized environmental heroes, Josh Bernstein and Oluwaseyi Moejoh. Additionally, Cox Enterprises received the Corporate Superhero for the Earth Award. The benefit raised more than $800,000 to support the Foundation’s worldwide educational programming and grant-making efforts to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet. The Gala was hosted by Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s The Monica Pearson Show host, Monica Kaufman Pearson.
More than 400 guests were in attendance to celebrate the honorees and the impact that the Captain Planet Foundation has had on youth around the world. Philanthropy, business, and celebrity guests including Francis Ford Coppola, Monica Kaufman Pearson, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, NFL Pro Bowler Ovie Mughelli, Laura Turner Seydel, Daniel Blackman, Pat Mitchell, Tena Clark, director Armani Ortiz, and actressCandace Maxwell. Maury Wolfe, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Social Impact for Cox Enterprises, accepted the corporate award on behalf of the company. During the gala, U.K. environmentalists and co-founders of Hidden Plastic, Ashton and Zara Hawkins, shared a presentation on their work with the Foundation via the Planeteer Alliance. Captain Planet Foundation also introduced the Laura Turner Seydel Legacy Fund which will support the Planeteer Alliance, additional scholarships, and programming for the Foundation.
Highlighting the extraordinary sustainability efforts of the honorees during the program, Nigerian Environmentalist and National Geographic Young Explorer Oluwaseyi Moejoh was honored with the Young Superhero for Earth Award for her work educating the next generation of young leaders about climate action and helping them build the skills and expertise they need to proffer innovative solutions to environmental issues. In 2018, Moejoh co-founded the U-Recycle Initiative, a youth-led environmental sustainability organization focused on advancing a circular economy, environmental education, and climate action across schools and communities in Africa.
While accepting her award, Moejoh thanked the Captain Planet Foundation for “giving [her] the chance to bring forth the idea of connecting young Africans with the tools, skills, knowledge, and resources they need to create a sustainable future starting in their schools and communities.”
Josh Bernstein, the international explorer, educator, storyteller, and fierce advocate for the environment, was honored with the Superhero for Earth Award for his tireless work in the pursuit of knowledge and discovery of our planet. Bernstein is an award-winning television host of Digging for the Truth on the History Channel and Into The Unknown with Josh Bernstein on the Discovery Channel. He is also an experienced educator who helped create two STEM programs for NASA, Project Ianos and Students To Launch, which now run under the education sector of his company First Light Foundation.
During his acceptance speech, Bernstein remarked, “A great teacher doesn’t make great students. A great teacher makes other teachers. A great parent makes responsible adults who are compassionate and contribute to the world. So as a Superhero for Earth, I would like to make other superheroes.”
Over the past 33 years, more than 1.7 million children have directly participated in CPF’s programs, which have funded 3,600+ projects, impacting 11.4 million young people around the globe. CPF’s operating programs include Project Learning Garden, which has provided 675+ U.S. elementary schools with onsite learning laboratories and healthy food access; Green Heart STEM Challenge for Environmental Justice, which supports 5th – 12th-grade students as they innovate and develop place-based solutions to the biggest challenges posed by climate change and environmental injustice; and Planeteer Alliance, a global network of young people who are putting their passion and impatience for change into climate ACTION for the planet.
The evening began with a cocktail hour as guests had the opportunity to participate in the gala’s silent auction during the cocktail reception, which included 18 private Chef’s table experiences from some of Atlanta’s most treasured Chefs.
A rowdy live auction was hosted by Billy Harris and included items such as a Lindblad arctic expedition, a stay at Francis Ford Coppola’s luxury rainforest resort in Belize, and a getaway to Ted Turner’s magnificent Vermejo property and more, and raised over $800,000 in the room.
To learn more about Captain Planet Foundation, please visit CaptainPlanetFoundation.org.
