NEW YORK, NY, USA - Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stars Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic have been nominated for the prestigious 2009 Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete. The award is presented by All Stars Helping Kids, a national non-profit founded by National Football League Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott.
Fans are able to vote for the winner on the All Stars Helping Kids website and by text messaging Venus STAR44 to 55333, Ana STAR22 to 55333, and Jelena STAR23 to 55333 on any phone that supports text messaging within the United States. Voting will conclude on November 15 when the 10 "Dream Team" finalists will be chosen.
Williams has been an Ambassador of Gender Equality for the UNESCO-Tour Gender Equity Program since 2006. Through this role, Williams spearheaded the campaign for equal prize money, which saw enormous success in February 2007 when Wimbledon and Roland Garros both agreed to award equal prize money to all competitors in all rounds. See Williams discuss her UNESCO role on International Women's Day 2008 here.
Ivanovic and Jankovic have both been actively involved with UNICEF for several years, and both are UNICEF National Ambassadors to Serbia. Ivanovic was named an Ambassador in August of 2007, and since then has launched a line of limited edition adidas t-shirts, the sales of which benefited the United Nations Children's Fund. Additionally, her personal donations have enabled 16 schools in Serbia to join the "School without Violence" program, which is funded exclusively with locally raised funds.
Jankovic, who was named a UNICEF ambassador in December 2007, has advocated for the most vulnerable children in China, including those affected by the Sichuan earthquake and by HIV/AIDS.
"UNICEF supports programs in China to help change attitudes that discriminate against girls and in doing so, helps girls realize their dreams," Jankovic said at a "Champions for Children" gala event.
Williams, Ivanovic and Jankovic join an impressive list of nominees this year, including basketball star Steve Nash, retired women's soccer player Mia Hamm, and beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh. They hope to join an incredibly impressive list of past winners, including Oprah Winfrey, American Senator Ted Kennedy, and Bill & Melinda Gates.
All Stars Helping Kids was founded by Lott in 1989 with the goal of promoting a safe, healthy, rigorous learning environment for disadvantaged kids in low-income communities. All Stars achieves this mission by pooling the resources of athletes, corporations and individuals to support high-performing academic and physical enrichment programs.
The Jefferson Awards for Public Service is a prestigious national recognition system honoring community and public service in America. Established in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and Sam Beard to establish a Nobel Prize for public service, today, the Jefferson Awards' primary purpose is to serve as a "Call to Action for Volunteers" in local com munities.
