The DVF Awards Honorees
The following extraordinary women will be honored at the 13th annual DVF Awards in Venice on September 1, 2022.
The Lifetime Leadership DVF Award
Christine Lagarde
Since November 2019, Christine Lagarde has been the President of the European Central Bank. Between 2011 and 2019, she served as the eleventh Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prior to that she served as French Economic Finance Minister from 2007 to 2011 after having been Trade Secretary from 2005 to 2007. A lawyer by background, she practiced for 20 years with the international law firm Baker McKenzie, of which she became global chairman in 1999. In all such positions, she was the first woman to serve.
In 2020, Lagarde was ranked the second most influential woman in the world by Forbes and has been named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Christine Lagarde was named Officier in the Légion d’honneur in April 2012 and Commandeur dans l’ordre national du mérite in May 2021.
The International DVF Award
Zoya Lytvyn
Zoya Lytvyn is a Ukrainian educator, reformer and impact entrepreneur. She is the founder of NGO Osvitoria, and Ukraine’s Novopecherska School, which is recognized by Microsoft as one of the 100 most innovative schools globally and has helped to change the lives of more than 4 million students in Ukraine. Lytvyn is a member of the Supervisory Board of UN Global Compact in Ukraine and a TED speaker.
With her team, Lytvyn works to improve school education in Ukraine by establishing visionary schools and projects, providing equal access to quality education, training and inspiring teachers, and implementing the world’s top educational strategies.
The International DVF Award
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is a member of the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad and Founder and President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT), a community-based organization focused on promoting the rights of girls and women in the Mbororo community and inspiring leadership and advocacy in environmental protection. Ibrahim is an advocate for the greater inclusion of indigenous people and their knowledge and traditions in the global movement to fight the effects of climate change.
Ibrahim received the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was appointed as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate.
The Inspiration DVF Award
Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay is the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award as a director in any feature category. Winner of multiple Emmy, BAFTA, NAACP and Peabody Awards, her feature film directorial work includes the historical drama “Selma,” the criminal justice documentary “13th” and Disney's “A Wrinkle in Time,” which made her the highest grossing Black woman director in American box office history.
DuVernay is currently writing, directing and producing the narrative film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s bestseller “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.” Through her company ARRAY Filmworks, she has created and produced the television projects Queen Sugar, Colin in Black and White, Red Line, DMZ, Cherish the Day, Naomi, Home Sweet Home and One Perfect Shot.
