00:00It's a truly an honor to be here today to recognize these two extraordinary individuals
00:11that I admire professionally and personally. It's because I've seen firsthand their tireless
00:18work that really makes this world a safer, stronger, and more steadfast.
00:26I think to tell the story appropriately, if I can ask you to please come back in time with me five years,
00:31go to January 2020, because the Los Angeles City Fire Department that I worked for for 20 years
00:37was first partnered with CORE at that time. And it was really at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
00:45when Los Angeles was facing one of the greatest public health emergencies in modern history.
00:51And it was unprecedented. And I think many people are surprised to learn that the city of Los Angeles
00:57doesn't have a Department of Public Health. The county does, but the city doesn't. So the LAFD
01:04stepped up to fill that gap. And we began screening, we began testing, we began vaccinating individuals
01:12to the best of our ability. But I'll be honest, we were outgunned. This is nothing we had ever had
01:19to deal with before. And there was so much uncertainty. There was more questions than there
01:23were answers. And you remember all the questions. It's, am I going to get sick? What about my elderly
01:28parents? What about my young kids? Are firefighters still going to go to 911 calls? Do I go to the ER?
01:36Is there going to be ventilators in there? Does a mask really work? And who can you trust?
01:44And we trusted CORE. They moved fast. They managed with strategy. They weren't just there. They knew
01:53what they were doing. And most importantly, I'll tell you firsthand, they led with heart. They really,
01:59really did. They were right there on the front lines along all of us first responders. CORE showed up
02:06each day. Now, if I could ask you now, fast forward five more years, say a month, January 2025. We all
02:13know what happened. It was a different kind of disaster, another unprecedented one. I'm on a federal
02:20incident management team, meaning you go anywhere in the nation for the worst of the worst. That was
02:24the worst I'd seen. One of the biggest natural disasters in Los Angeles history. And personally,
02:32I was deployed to the Palisades fire for 28 days straight. Needless to say, it was exhausting.
02:37Your Los Angeles firefighters could not have fought harder. I'll tell you that. And simply put that the
02:44fire wasn't going to be stopped until the wind stopped. You know, with 100 mile per hour winds,
02:49I mean, I had the helmet, I'd ratchet on, it would fly off your head if you didn't grab it.
02:54It was incredible. We saw homes that turned to ash. We saw neighborhoods that were reduced to a
03:03forest of chimneys that I personally walked with Sean and Ann. But amidst all that destruction,
03:08of course, who was there with us again? It was CORE. And you saw in that video, you saw Sean and Ann,
03:16they didn't just show up. They were there with us. They were side by side. And they told us
03:23of what efforts that they were doing, what proactive things they were thinking. And then they would
03:28ask, what else, what else can we do? And then they went and did it. So no matter what the emergency
03:36is, if it's a mudslide, an earthquake, a hurricane, a wildfire, there's four phases to it.
03:43And the first is prevention. Then you need response. Then you need mitigation. And then you have the long
03:48tail of recovery afterwards. And that's what makes CORE so different. They don't disappear when the
03:56headlines disappear. They move forward into that fourth phase, into that long tail of recovery. And
04:06they do it with compassion. They do it with speed. And they do it with staying power. They continue to be
04:13there. So whether it's COVID, whether it's going to be wildfires, it's disasters around the globe,
04:18CORE meets every crisis with that same fearless determination and commitment to equity.
04:29And that's one of the most impressive things that we saw too, because they really went to those
04:33underserved communities. And they made sure that they were taken care of. They quickly assessed the
04:40situation. And then they would deploy an emergency response team. And they'd start to empower those
04:47that were affected. And it wasn't just during the crisis. Again, it was during that long tail
04:53of recovery that they stuck in it. So today, we don't only just honor Sean, who I view as a friend.
05:02I've sat on his couch. I've heard from his soul what he cares about. I answer Ann's phone call on my
05:09department cell phone, because she's got ideas that will blow you away, especially if it involves
05:14heavy equipment. I'm surprised she didn't roll up here in the Tonka truck.
05:23But, you know, the entire CORE team, and there's a lot of those members here. I was talking to them
05:30backstage. They're absolutely amazing. They have unwavering leadership. They're always moving
05:35forward. They're devoting their time and efforts to those communities in crisis. And today has been
05:43amazing. I can't, you know, tell you enough how impressive it is to see this audience full of
05:48people to be here and to learn. And if you are at all inspired by some of the topics that you've
05:54heard today, join in. Join us any way you can. You saw that QR code. You could go to CORE's website.
06:02Go to the fire department side. LAFD.org is a volunteer page. Come hang out. We'll put you to
06:07work. But in conclusion, I'd like to just share one last concept, if it's okay. I've been privileged
06:17to have been selected on a lot of different incident management teams over the decade. And
06:21I remember we had this one very difficult deployment. It was one of those with blood, sweat,
06:27and tears. And it was a high and tight team. And that I see the incident commander turn towards
06:32us. And he goes, he said something that I found, um, profound. It was very simple, but it resonated
06:39with me enough that I typed it up. I printed it out and it's sitting at my desk at LAFD headquarters.
06:45And he simply said, the most important person on your team is the one that needs help. And there's
06:54a lot of truth to that. That concept is true. It's not just for the incident management team
07:00that they were there for us overseeing the disaster, but it's in general. Um, it's something that isn't
07:08built in a single moment, right? It's built by people. It's built by people like Sean and Ann
07:16who show up again and again and try to help. And they lift other people up and especially
07:23those that need help. Um, I like to say now it is just an absolute honor to be able to present
07:33the philanthropic organization award of the year, rightly so to Sean Penn and Ann Lee.
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