Stevie Wonder to Be Honored with Leadership Award

Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder (Photo Courtesy of NAB Education Foundation)

The NAB Education Foundation (NABEF) has selected Stevie Wonder as the recipient of their 2013 Service to America Leadership Award. Wonder was chosen because of his “work as an activist, Messenger of Peace and his dedication to helping people with disabilities and children and families in need.”

NABEF will bestow the award on Wonder at their Celebration of Service to America Gala to be held on June 3, 2013.

“Stevie Wonder has touched millions of lives worldwide through his musical genius and through his tireless contributions as a humanitarian,” stated NABEF President Marcellus Alexander. “It is for his extraordinary efforts on behalf of those in need that we proudly honor him with this prestigious award.”

Over the course of the legendary singer-songwriter’s career, Wonder has been awarded 25 Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award, and has amassed 32 #1 singles and 49 Top 40 singles.

Stevie Wonder’s Charitable Work [Courtesy of NABEF]:

Stevie Wonder has been pivotal in U.S. and world events. In 1983, he spearheaded a campaign in the U.S. to make Martin Luther King Day a national holiday and his advocacy for ending apartheid in South Africa is legendary. As an artist, songwriter and producer concerned with major humanitarian issues, his voice has lent itself to charities in support of disabilities, AIDS, cancer, diabetes, hunger and homelessness, domestic abuse and numerous other causes on behalf of children and adults.

His numerous awards include recognition from the U.S. President’s Committee on Employment of Handicapped People, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities. For 17 years, he has provided toys and gifts of joy for children and families in need with his annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert. As a designated U.N. Messenger of Peace with special focus on persons with disabilities, he continues to demonstrate the activism that has made him such a vital voice for social progress.