Contact: Beth Slater
The Aspen Institute
Tel. 970-544-7914
Aspen, CO, March 9, 2010 –– The Aspen Institute is pleased to welcome the co-founders of FEED Projects Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson to speak at a special Fireside Après Ski gathering on Monday, March 15, 2010. The talk is titled, “Using Social Entrepreneurship to FEED the World.” The event will take place from 5:00-6:00 pm at the Aspen Meadows Restaurant Bernhard Room. The Aspen Institute’s Arts & Ideas Series Director, Ken Adelman, will moderate the discussion. The fee is $10 per person.
FEED Projects’ goal is to reach hungry children through the sales of their FEED bags. FEED bags raise much-needed funds for United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) school-feeding operations and awareness of the problem of child hunger. Inspired by the aesthetic of the bags of food distributed by WFP, acclaimed model Lauren Bush created the FEED 1 bag, a reversible burlap and cotton bag stamped with "FEED the children of the world" and the number "1" to signify that each bag feeds one child in school for one year. To date, FEED Projects and the FEED Foundation have provided funding for over 55 million school meals through the UN World Food Program. In 2010, FEED is adding support of the world’s farmers, support of Haiti’s school feeding program and FEED USA, an initiative to get healthier food into America schools, to their platform of charity-driven products.
Lauren Bush is the CEO, creative director and co-founder of FEED Projects LLC. She also serves as the Chairman of the Board for the FEED Foundation. In 2004, Lauren became an Honorary Spokesperson for WFP. As Honorary Spokesperson, Lauren has traveled around the world visiting WFP operations, and helped start the Universities Fighting Hunger Campaign in the US. Lauren is the granddaughter of the 41st President of the United States and niece of the 43rd President of the United States. For many years Lauren was a fashion model, appearing on the cover of such publications as W, Australian Vogue, Glamour, Town and Country, and Tatler. Lauren graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with a BA in Anthropology and a Certificate in Photography.
Ellen Gustafson is the co-founder and executive vice president of FEED Projects, LLC. She is also the Executive Director of the FEED Foundation, a non-profit that seeks ways to support a more sustainably fed and well-nourished world. Previously, Ellen was the New York Communications Officer for WFP. At WFP, she was acting Sr. Spokesperson in 2006 and launched the Universities Fighting World Hunger initiative of over 70 partner schools. Prior to WFP, Ellen reported in the ABC News Investigative Unit and was a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations in the Military Policy and Communications groups. Ellen has a BA in International Politics from Columbia University and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Food and Nutrition Policy at New York University.
Registration and more at www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenevents or call 970-544-7914.
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