Senator Book awarded the “Heroes Among Us” award
For her efforts to increase education and awareness of child sexual abuse prevention throughout the country and the world, Florida State Senator Lauren Book was honored at the Glamour Magazine annual Women of the Year Summit and Awards Ceremony in New York City. On Monday, Nov. 12, Senator Book received the L’Oreal Paris/Glamour “Heroes Among Us” Award, which was presented by actress and advocate Amber Heard, at the Women of the Year Awards ceremony. This award honors those who have showcased resilience and perseverance, found beauty in their cause and selflessly gave their time to empower others.
Prior to the awards ceremony, on Sunday, Nov. 11, Senator Book participated in a Glamour Women of the Year Summit on-stage panel discussion built around resilience and perseverance – finding the strength to not only survive life-altering hardships, but going on to find the strength to help others do the same. Senator Book addressed how her experience surviving childhood sexual abuse propelled her to create positive change for others by working to prevent abuse and help survivors heal. The panel featured fellow former L’Oreal Paris Woman of Worth honoree and human trafficking survivor Lisa Williams, and was moderated by a Glamour editor. Senator Book was named L’Oreal National Woman of Worth in December 2013 for her advocacy work.
“It is a tremendous honor to be chosen to stand alongside these brave, powerful and outspoken women who have used their voices and actions to become agents of change. I want to thank Glamour and L’Oreal Paris for providing a platform to address childhood sexual abuse and shatter the stigma that so often surrounds this issue,” said Senator Book.
The Nov. 11 Glamour Women of the Year Summit was hosted by comedian Phoebe Robinson and featured panels, breakout sessions and motivating talks with celebrities, entrepreneurs and activists. Speakers included Mindy Kaling, Lili Reinhart, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Yvonne Orji, Pamela Adlon, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Rukmini Callimachi, Ashley Graham, Halsey, The Wing CEO and co-founder Audrey Gelman, and Outdoor Voices CEO Tyler Haney. The purpose of the summit is to bring together the world’s most inspiring individuals and 650 influential millennial women for a series of powerful talks, compelling conversations and real-life coaching. The hope is that the stories and advice shared during the day will motivate and inspire next-generation leaders to continue to make change in their own worlds including workplaces, communities and at home.
Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards, which was held the following evening, is a celebration of the game changers, rule breakers and trailblazers from around the world. Since its inception 28 years ago, Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards have honored more than 2,000 women in entertainment, business, sports, music, science, media and politics. Past honorees have included: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Serena Williams, Lady Gaga, Condoleeza Rice, Madonna, J.K. Rowling, Gabby Giffords, and Nobel Peace Prize Winners Nadia Murad and Malala Yousafzai. This year’s honorees included celebrity Chrissy Teigen, the gymnasts who took down USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, and the March for Our Lives advocates.
Click HERE for photos of Senator Book at the summit and awards ceremony with fellow female trailblazers, including former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, model and author Chrissy Teigen, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Senator Kamala Harris, Glamour editor Samantha Barry and March For Our Lives organizers Jaclyn Corin, Emma Gonzalez and Samantha Fuentes.
Lauren Book, M.S. ED, founder and CEO of Lauren’s Kids, is an internationally-recognized child protection advocate, best-selling author and Florida State Senator who works every day to protect childhood. She is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, suffered at the hands of a trusted caretaker from the time she was 10 until the age of 16. Armed with the knowledge that 95 percent of sexual abuse is preventable through education and awareness, Lauren has worked to turn her horrific personal experience into a vehicle to prevent childhood sexual abuse and help other survivors heal.
An official 501(c) (3) since 2007, Lauren’s Kids educates adults and children about sexual abuse prevention through in-school curricula, ADDY and EMMY Award-winning public awareness campaigns and speaking engagements around the country and the world. The organization also leads an annual statewide “Walk in My Shoes” awareness walk across the state of Florida – 1,500 miles from the Southernmost Point of the U.S. in Key West to the Capitol in Tallahassee – and provides more than 8 million direct mail education and awareness materials statewide. The foundation has helped advocate for the passage of nearly two dozen laws to support survivors and protect children from predators. For more information, please visit www.laurenskids.org.
