Concern Worldwide Celebrates Stars of Fashion, Social Media

Founder of Fashion Week & creator of Twestival honored

NEW YORK, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Concern Worldwide, the international humanitarian agency, is honoring Fern Mallis—the fashion industry veteran who helped New York City join the upper echelons of fashion capitals with her creation of the city's annual Fashion Week—and Amanda Rose, founder of the "Connect the Dots Foundation" and creator of Twestival, a global Twitter festival that rallies social media users around the world in support of numerous causes.

The June 21 Women of Concern Luncheon celebrates lives of women and girls worldwide. Each year, Concern recognizes the achievements of women in business, media and the public sector for extraordinary efforts to alleviate human suffering and focus public attention on global humanitarian issues.

Past honorees have included Ann Curry of NBC News, Harper's Bazaar publisher Valerie Salembier, Lifetime's Carole Black and Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair at Ernst & Young.

Fern Mallis will receive Concern's 2010 Leadership Award. A founder of Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA), she has been involved in a wide variety of charitable causes, including major initiatives benefiting the homeless. She was instrumental in the creation and worldwide licensing of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer—a campaign that has sold over $100 million in merchandising to date and has generated more than $80 million in donations for hundreds of breast cancer organizations worldwide.

Mallis is widely quoted in the fashion press and online media and frequently featured on televised fashion programs, including America's Next Top Model and She's Got the Look, and four seasons of Project Runway. Most recently, Ms. Mallis appeared as the weekly judge on Bravo's reality show, The Fashion Show, with Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland.

Amanda Rose will receive Concern's 2010 Humanitarian Award. She is the global founder and architect of Twestival, a unique international all-volunteer effort that uses social media like Twitter to raise funds and awareness for worthy causes. Rose is known for pushing the traditional boundaries of business and philanthropy, and bringing them together through social media and technology. CNN described her as one of this year's Most Intriguing People.

Twestival raised more than $1.2 million in its first two years. The funds raised by Twestival Global in 2010 will help bring quality education to tens of thousands of the world's poorest children through Concern's programs. Rose serves as advisor to a number of organizations, including BrightOne.uk.org, a volunteer-run communications consultancy, as well as charity: water, Comic Relief, MTV's Staying Alive Foundation and Live Earth.

The Women of Concern Annual Award Luncheon will be held June 21 at noon at the Hilton New York @ 1335 Ave. of the Americas. Natalie Morales, co-anchor and national correspondent for NBC's Today, will emcee the event.

http://www.concernusa.org

SOURCE Concern Worldwide US