Responsible Leaders Summit to Honour Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Johnson & Johnson's Alex Gorsky, Statkraft's Christian Rynning-Tonnesen and Renowned Journalist Ann Curry with Leadership Awards

NEW YORK, April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centre for Responsible Leadership will honour Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Johnson & Johnson Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky, Statkraft CEO Christian Rynning-Tonnesen and renowned journalist Ann Curry with awards commending them for their exemplary leadership in service of the public good at a ceremony that concludes the Inaugural Responsible Leaders Summit at the United Nations on May 1.

"When we talk about responsible leaders, this is what we mean. These are leaders who through their life work exemplify the virtues of acting in the interests of the future and not only the present; out of conviction and not convenience; and with the aim of being constructive and not destructive," said Bawa Jain, the Founder and President of the Centre for Responsible Leadership.

"These are leaders that everyone can emulate," said His Excellency, Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League and Chairman of the Responsible Leaders Summit. "At the core of their missions is faithfulness, honesty, education and building bridges among people of this world."

Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Lifetime Achievement Award 
Schneier, the President of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and Senior Rabbi at Park East Synagogue, will be recognized for his tireless advocacy for interfaith understanding and cooperation.

Born in Austria In 1930 and a survivor of the Holocaust, Schneier has devoted his life to overcoming the forces of hatred and Intolerance. He has served as Senior Rabbi at the Park East Synagogue in New York since 1962. Three years later, he founded the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to unite business, religious and foreign policy leaders behind programs promoting religious freedom, human rights, peace and tolerance.

Schneier has welcomed many world leaders to his congregation. In 2008, he hosted Pope Benedict for the first papal visit to a synagogue In the United States.

Among many high-level interfaith efforts, Schneier convened six major conferences with Catholic, Muslim and Serbian Orthodox religious leaders from the former Yugoslavia to advance the cause of peace and reconciliation during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

He has served as an ambassador of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations; an appointee of President Bill Clinton to diplomatic talks with China on religious freedom; U.S. representative to global commissions on cultural preservation and the prevention of genocide, and initiated a United Nations resolution for the protection of religious sites.

Pope Francis conferred on Schneier the rare papal knighthood of St. Sylvester for his "unceasing work to promote peace and mutual understanding."  Clinton bestowed on Schneier the Presidential Citizens Medal. The United States Senate separately has honoured him.

Alex Gorsky, Engaged Leadership Award 
Gorsky, the seventh individual to serve as Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson since it became a publicly traded company in 1944, began his career in the pharmaceuticals industry as a sales representative before rapidly rising through the ranks via positions of increased responsibility in sales, marketing and management In the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Named CEO In April 2012 and Chairman of the Board eight months later, Gorsky has continued to make Johnson & Johnson one of the world's most exceptional corporations, and securing it the top spot on various global rankings for most respected and admired companies.

As a champion of diversity inclusion and veteran's issues, Gorsky has received numerous awards for his social efforts, Including the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation, the Jackie Robinson Award, the Joseph Wharton Leadership Award and the CADCA Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Christian Rynning-Tonnesen, Excellence in Sustainability Award 
Rynning-Tonnesen is the CEO of Statkraft, Europe's largest generator of renewable energy and a global leader in hydropower.

As head of the Norway-based company, he has been deeply committed to climate change issues and is among the 28 Commissioners of The Global Commission of Economy and Climate. Under Rynning-Tonnesen's leadership, Statkraft also serves as a member of the international Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition.

Rynning-Tonnesen has convened the Climate Roundtable for several years, bringing together experts from academia, business and nongovernmental organizations to find new solutions to climate change. Statkraft is also a member of Norway203040, a cross-sector industry initiative founded on the shared ambition to make a substantive contribution to Norway's low-carbon transition.

Ann Curry, Truth in Media Award  
Curry, an award-winning journalist and photojournalist, was an NBC News Network anchor and international correspondent, reporting on conflicts In Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Darfur, Congo, the Central African Republic, Lebanon and Israel. She also has been a defining voice on nuclear tensions from North Korea to Iran, and on humanitarian disasters from Southeast Asia to Haiti.

A seven-time Emmy winner and recipient of numerous Edward R. Murrow awards, she imbues a deeply human aspect to her reporting that goes beyond the headlines to show how news events affect real people. She has contributed to ground-breaking journalism on climate change, interviewing scientists and native peoples, and documenting glacial melt in the Arctic and Mount Kilimanjaro. Her extensive reporting from inside Iran has given voice to its women, human rights activists and young people.

She has interviewed heads of state in every region of the world, including four U.S. presidents. She is a featured writer for National Geographic Magazine and is the anchor and executive producer of the live series "Chasing the Cure," on the Turner Networks, an initiative to connect misdiagnosed and undiagnosed patients with top doctors worldwide.

Among her numerous journalistic accolades, Curry has received the NAACP's Excellence in Reporting Award and honours from Refugees International, Americares and Save the Children.  The Simon Wiesenthal Center bestowed on her the Medal of Valor for her dedication to reporting about genocide.

The Centre for Responsible Leadership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to assembling global thought leaders to find concrete solutions to the major challenges plaguing our world today.

SOURCE Centre for Responsible Leadership