On today’s show World Footprints will showcase some remarkable young women who are doing extraordinary things.

World Footprints was invited to attend the very first Girl Up Leadership Summit in Washington, DC.  Girl Up is an innovative campaign of the United Nations Foundation that gives American girls the opportunity to become global leaders and channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls.

We are pleased to share highlights from this first Girl Up Leadership Summit which included remarks from actress Monique Coleman from High School Musical; Sarah Hurwitz, Speechwriter for President Obama; and moments between Girl Up teen advisors and young girls from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Also, we are delighted to introduce a dynamic teenager who is making waves on the air with her weekly radio show—Pavlina’s Kids Place.  Pavlina Osta shares interviews with celebrities, politicians and newsmakers.  In addition to her radio show, Pavlina is an honor-roll student and an accomplished steel drum musician. Truly a wonderful role model.

Before our coverage of the 2012 G.I. Film Festival begins we wanted to share the highlights from last year’s event.  As with every day,  World Footprints  is proud to pay tribute to our nation’s heroes–our men and women in uniform, and the Hollywood patriots who support them.

From the red carpet of the 2011 G.I. Film Festival in Washington DC, we will share our conversations with three award-winning actors: Gary Sinise, William Devane and Lou Diamond Phillips.  We also met award-winning filmmaker Rodney Ray and budding filmmaker Chris Loverro.

The GI Film Festival is the first film festival in the nation to exclusively celebrate the successes and sacrifices of the service member through the medium of film.   

Then we’ll chat with actor Sean Kanan who is best known for his role as Deacon Sharpe on The Young and the Restless. Sean joins us to talk about his journey from the mid-west to Hollywood and his travels with the USO. 

by Marsha Dubrow

At last, a positive note about housing.

The National Building Museum’s “HOUSE & home” long-term exhibit offers a much-needed antidote to America’s long-range housing situation.

The homey, sprawling exhibit that opened April 28 makes only a passing mention of the f-word foreclosure. Instead of dwelling on that, the heart- and hearth-warming exhibit celebrates the rich history of the American dream, with a focus on residential architecture.

It includes 14 models of famed homes such as The House of Seven Gables, Mount Vernon and Monticello; life-size sections of an adobe  house; videos about unique architecture like a fab pre-fab FlatPak House; and a myriad of memorabilia, from an Easy Bake Oven to a pink flamingo lawn ornament.

To quote architect Philip Johnson, whose Glass House is a National Trust Historic Site, “All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.” This five-year exhibit accomplishes all of the above.

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Marsha Dubrow writes the DC Art Travel column on examiner.com. Her arts and travel stories have run in National Geographic Traveler, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, as well as World Footprints. She was a Correspondent for Life, People, Punch, and Reuters. Dubrow earned an M.F.A. in Writing and Literature at Bennington College, which published her book, Single Blessedness. Her essays and fiction appear in anthologies including When Last on the Mountain and Still Going Strong.

You may have seen the “60 Minutes” interview with Howard Buffett and clips from the World Food Program’s 10th Annual George McGovern Leadership Award Ceremony and global hunger conference at the U.S. Department of State but World Footprints is sharing the complete highlights. 

This event honored the contributions made by Howard Buffett and Bill Gates to global hunger efforts and it included keynote remarks by Vice President Joe Biden, a presentation of the awards by Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton—a 2010 George McGovern Leadership Award recipient, and a panel discussion on private sector management.

Members of the panel included: Howard G. Buffett; Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator, USAID; Greg Page, chairman and CEO, Cargill; and The Honorable Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture. The panel was moderated by Betty Liu of Bloomberg News.

To read more about this event read our article on the World Footprints website.

World Footprints  celebrates its 5^thanniversary French Quarter Festival broadcast in New Orleans with friends who shares the city’s past, present and future. 

This year marks the bi-centennial of the War of 1812 and New Orleans is playing a central role in launching the two-year long festivities.  Mark Romig, CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation joins us to talk about New Orleans role in the War of 1812 and how the city is celebrating the bicentennial New Orleans style.

An hour from New Orleans is the city of Houma, where hospitality is “Cajunicity.”  Sharon Alford, Executive Director of the Houma Area CVB joins us to give us a flavor of the bayou area.

This coming June 22-24 marks the second annual FestiGals conference – featuring NBC’s Today co-host Hoda Kotb and World Footprints own Tonya Fitzpatrick – among other dynamic women.  From the Stiletto Stroll to the Bodacious Bra lunch and other activities FestiGals, promises to entertain and empower women, New Orleans style.  FestiGals founder, entrepreneur, and travel professional Diane Lyons joins us to share why FestiGals was voted “Best Girls Getaway” in 2011 by AAA Southern Traveler.