Event Honorees – Recipients of the Corazon de Oro Award
Father Fabretto was legendary in Nicaragua for all that he did to help Nicaragua’s children. During his decades of service to the children of Nicaragua, he called upon people from all walks of life to do what they could to support his work - from campesino farmers to wealthy business owners, from homemakers to tradesmen, from local grass roots activists to national political leaders. Father would proclaim that those who went above and beyond the call of duty to help the children had “un corazón de oro”, a heart of gold. Given their generosity and service to the children of Nicaragua, and in recognition of their advocacy and support for our work, The Fabretto Children’s Foundation is pleased to have honored the following individuals with the Corazon de Oro Award.
Dipak C. Jain - Chicago 2010
Dipak Jain is a current Professor and the former Dean of The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He presently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of, Deere & Company, Northern Trust Corporation, Hartmarx Corporation, and Reliance Industries (India). He is also a former Director at United Airlines and Peoples Energy. He has served as a consultant to Microsoft, Novartis, American Express, Sony, Nissan, Motorola, Eli Lilly, Phillips and Hyatt International. In 2003, he was appointed as a Foreign Affairs Adviser for the Prime Minister of Thailand. He has been a member of The Fabretto Children's Foundation Advisory Board since 2005.
Mary & Philip Erdoes - New York 2010
Through their annual sponsorship of our New York Night for Niños Event and their extraordinary advocacy on the Foundation’s behalf with friends, families and business associates, Mary and Philip Erdoes have had a tangible and lasting impact on the lives of thousands of children in Nicaragua. Fabretto is deeply grateful to the Callahan/Erdoes families for their continued commitment to our work.
Mary is the CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where she oversees $1.7 trillion of assets. Philip is founder and CEO of Bear Ventures, a venture capital firm based in New York City which seeded or founded such brands as Worldwide Express franchises (logistics), ducduc (furniture), PowerAdvocate (energy), and The New Traditionalists (home furnishings).
Philip and Mary are both active community members. In addition to their involvement with Fabretto, Philip is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO) and is engaged in a number of charitable activities and foundations. Mary sits on the Board of the US Fund for UNICEF.
Sheldon and Samantha Kasowitz – New York 2008
The 2008 Corazón de Oro Award Honorees are Sheldon and Samantha Kasowitz. Sheldon is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Indus Capital Partners, an alternative asset management firm focused on the Asia Pacific region. Prior to forming Indus in 2000, Sheldon was a partner at Soros Fund Management. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut as well as an MBA from Columbia University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Blacksmith Institute and the University of Connecticut Foundation. Meanwhile, Samantha made her career in fashion and photography in Hong Kong and New York. Since adopting their son, Jake, from Colombia in 2001, and having their second son, Stefan, in 2002, Sammy has been focused on raising their children.
Sheldon and Sammy’s philanthropic interests focus on environmental issues, children’s causes and education. We are fortunate that they have chosen Fabretto as one of their favored charities. For years now, their generosity has had an important and vital impact on our organization. Not only have they been consistent Event Sponsors for the New York Night for Niños Benefit, but they also support our work from a very personal level: they directly sponsor five Fabretto students through our Sponsor a Child Program, including 3 young children and 2 scholarship students. They recently visited our programs in Nicaragua with their own children.
The National Geographic Society, Represented by Christopher A. Liedel – Washington 2007
The National Geographic Society has demonstrated its dedication to making a difference in the lives of the children of Nicaragua and helping Fabretto as an organization through in-kind gifts of computers, furniture and other equipment for our schools and centers. Mr. Christopher A. Liedel, Chief Financial Officer of National Geographic Society is responsible for financial administration and reporting at NGS, overseeing $800 million in investments, information systems, print manufacturing, distribution, and photographic processing. Chris’s continued support to Fabretto has made possible all of the in-kind donations from NGS.
Daniel C. Chung – New York 2007
The 2007 Corazón de Oro Award honoree is Mr. Dan Chung, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Fred Alger Management. Together, Dan and Fred Alger Management have offered regular and committed support to Fabretto’s New York Event in memory of their former employee, Sara Manley Harvey, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and who is profiled below.
Francis X. Rienzo – Washington 2006
Throughout his more than 50 years as an educator, Mr. Rienzo was known for his unwavering commitment to education, both of the mind and the body. During his career he took on many roles: teacher, coach, administrator, advisor, mentor, father, husband and friend. In all of these roles, he has exemplified the highest ideals of education and stressed the importance of developing the whole person in an academic environment. He is dedicated to the notion that a strong liberal arts education should be available and accessible to all those who seek it. Mr. Rienzo continues working towards this goal to this day, both as Director of Athletics Emeritus of Georgetown University and as a supporter of the Fabretto Children's Foundation.
Lucia & Jack Penrod – New York 2006
Jack and Lucia Penrod are immensely successful entrepreneurs, trend setters, style arbiters, and creators of a global luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand. The Nikki style is international, optimistic, sophisticated, and energetic. The Penrods' business success reaches across the globe and into a myriad of lifestyle business lines – from Nikki Beach and affiliated clubs and restaurants in the world's most glamorous locations, to Nikki designer clothing and furniture lines, Nikki TV, Nikki Marina, hotel properties, Nikki Style Magazine, and the planned ultra-chic luxury cruise line Nikki at Sea.
In addition to all this, Jack and Lucia are also incredibly humble, tremendously generous and philanthropically minded. Their support of Fabretto has included hosting and sponsoring our Miami Night for Niños in each of the last four years, and giving us the use of Nikki Midtown in Manhattan for our 2006 New York Night for Niños event. They are committed to the work of the Fabretto Children's Foundation and their support of our efforts has been an invaluable ingredient in our continued growth and success.
Senator Mike DeWine – Washington 2005
Senator DeWine is warmly regarded by his friends and colleagues as a hard working, honest man of faith with a deep concern for the welfare and future of children. His compassion and action as an advocate for the poor are so well known that he has been dubbed “the bodyguard of the poor”.
Since his first visit to Fabretto in 1995, Senator DeWine has been an active supporter of Fabretto and a champion of the children we serve. Through his advocacy and support of our work, Senator DeWine has done more than perhaps any other individual since Father Fabretto himself to help the Fabretto organization offer hope and opportunity to thousands of Nicaragua’s children.
George A. Long – New York 2005
Friends and colleagues know Mr. Long as a man of superior analytical ability, intelligence and thoroughness. He is regarded for his integrity, but appreciated most for his incessant sense of humor and tremendous generosity. Following a long and successful career on wall street as an analyst, money manager, and Chief Investment Officer of Oppenheimer Capital, Mr. Long became involved in Nicaragua. With that involvement came awareness of the tremendous impact Fabretto is having on the lives of Nicaragua’s children.
Elected to the Fabretto Children’s Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2004, Mr. Long is engaged in helping Fabretto continue to develop its capacity to help more of Nicaragua’s children in the coming years.
Cass Ballenger – Washington 2004
Former US Congressman Cass Ballenger first visited our San Isidro children’s center on the outskirts of Managua in 1993. Since that time, he has opened his heart to Fabretto and the children we serve. A man of compassion and action, he has been a staunch advocate on behalf of the children, a generous donor, advisor, guardian angel and friend. His support has come in many forms – from the delivery of containers of clothes, school supplies and food for the children, to generous personal financial contribution and sage advice. His support has had a tremendous impact on Fabretto over the years.
Rev. Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J. – New York 2004
Throughout his life, Father O’Donovan has encouraged and promoted students to contemplate and pursue lives of service to their local, national and global communities. Serving as President of Georgetown University, but also as mentor, friend, counselor and pastor, Father O’Donovan has impacted the lives of thousands of men and women, encouraging them to pursue lives of leadership and service. His advocacy on behalf of The Fabretto Children’s Foundation has been an invaluable component of our growth.
Rev. Otto Hentz, S.J. – New York 2003
Associate Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, Fr. Hentz has inspired hundreds of young people to take action. He is well known for encouraging the practice of social justice in thought and in action, but especially for his mentorship of students who have gone on to pursue the ideal of living as “men and women for others”, serving the poor and marginalized at home and abroad.
The Fabretto organization as it operates today, owes its very existence to Fr. Hentz. In 1981, he founded the Georgetown University Volunteers in Latin America Program for recent college graduates to spend a year of service living among the poor, primarily in Nicaragua and Peru. FCF’s founder, Kevin Marinacci, was first introduced to the Fabretto organization in Nicaragua through his participation in this program and because of his great friendship with Otto Hentz.
Fr. Hentz continues to share his wisdom, wit, and great example of caring with Fabretto and its staff.
Sara Manley Harvey – New York 2002
Sara was an energetic founding member of the first Fabretto Night for Niños in New York. Over the years, she made a significant contribution to Fabretto and the kids we serve. Sara was a 1992 graduate of Georgetown University after which she went to New York to establish her career. She climbed the executive ranks at Fred Alger Management to become a vice president and senior security analyst by the age of 31.
Sara died in the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Thanks to the support of her family and friends, Fabretto built a new lunch hall at the Somoto campus in her honor. A picture of Sara hangs in the hall where she is remembered daily by the children and staff whose lives she has had such an important impact.
