picture from advocate.com
Lady Gaga just unveiled her latest venture – and it had nothing to do with a wacky outfit or outlandish head dress. She is rolling out a new youth foundation with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Called the Born This Way Foundation, she launched her plan on February 29th, 2012 at the Harvard University Sanders Theatre. The Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Graduate School of Education are teaming with Lady Gaga in this new venture.
The Born This Way Foundation is a nonprofit charity that plans to “foster a more accepting society, where differences are embraced and individuality is celebrated.’’ It has three pillars which include Safety, Skills and Opportunity.
The charity roll-out at Harvard was no small affair. Gaga was joined by Oprah Winfrey, spiritual leader Deepak Chopra and the US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the launch.
She explained that
“The goal of the Born This Way Foundation is to challenge meanness and cruelty by inspiring young people to create a support system in their respective communities,’’ she said. “This is about changing . . . the school environment, and not putting the power in the hands of the teachers or the government.’’
She emphasized that it is not, exclusively, an anti-bullying charity, but much of the talk at the launch did focus on cyber bullying and other issues.
Oprah Winfrey explained her excitement about the new foundation. As she said,
“What is exciting to me is that thought leaders have gathered together as one force to ask why does bullying and violence and hatred against young people continue in our society and what we can do about it.’’
Time will tell how the foundation fulfills its mission. At the moment, it’s certainly a breath of fresh air and a venture that has promise, from one of America’s most popular and powerful superstars.