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AWARDS & RECOGNITION

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Dan Bena Day

Honored to have October 24th officially proclaimed "Dan Bena Day" in both New York State and Westchester County, in honor of work to empower youth.

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Royal Gala

Co-keynoted, with Martha Stewart, the Royal Swedish Gala, in the presence of their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Sweden. The full video of the address is available here.

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United States Senate

One of four people invited to testify before the US Senate, Subcommittee on Water and Power. Represented the voice of the private sector as a partner in policy advocacy.

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"GreeNR"

Appointed by the Mayor to the Advisory Board of "GreeNR," to help create the very first sustainability plan for the City of New Rochelle, the seventh largest city in New York State.

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UN Youth Assembly

Delivered the opening keynote address in the United Nations General Assembly Hall to the Youth Assembly, representing over 1200 young ambassadors from 100+ countries.

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Honorary Academic

Appointed Honorary Professor for Glasgow Caledonian University and Board Trustee of its New York College. The century-old institution is founded on the tenet of "for the common good," and embeds the UN SDGs into its programs. Singer and humanitarian Annie Lennox replaced Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus as its Chancellor.

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Chairman's Award

Personally selected by PepsiCo's then Chairman, Indra Nooyi, from PepsiCo's nearly 300,000 employees, to receive the company's highest individual honor.

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"Sustainarati"

Named to the list of  "Sustainarati" by media company Sustainly. One of the top corporate executives on social media. 

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Global Goals Local Hero

Received the "Global Goals, Local Hero" Award from the United Nations Association for commitment and actions to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals within a local context. 

If you read the preface to my book, you will learn how I began my career as a self-described "pathologic introvert." Painfully shy. Never wanting to be anywhere near the spotlight.

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Fast forward a decade, and the person who created this website is far from the character described above. I have had the blessing and good fortune of being able to travel the world as one of PepsiCo's "ambassadors," shining light on the major, intractable challenges with which we grapple as a society, and then sharing positive, impactful solutions to those challenges, through partnership.

 

This became one of my passions, and I have been humbled and honored to receive recognition and awards as a result. Some of these are highlighted above.

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