Akwasi Aidoo delivers Van Leer Lecture in Denver

The 2010 Van Leer Lecture was delivered by Akwasi Aidoo on the subject of “Social Justice and Philanthropy in Africa: Transforming Power Relations and the Balance of Stories", as part of the Council on Foundations' 2010 Annual Conference in Denver last month. Akwasi Aidoo is the founding Executive Director of TrustAfrica, a foundation dedicated to securing democracy and equitable development in Africa. The lecture series is a partnership between the Van Leer Group Foundation and the Council on Foundations. It has been running since 2006 and is designed to highlight thoughtful international perspectives on philanthropy. Previous lecturers were Dr. Shimshon Zelniker of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (2006); Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health (2007); Azar Nafisi, Iranian-born author of Reading Lolita in Tehran (2008); and Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (2009).