The philanthropic commitment of two internationally renowned artists was a focus of celebration this year as the 44th annual Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service honored actor LeVar Burton and musician Gloria Estefan. The entertainers were recognized in the category of Public Service.
Burton and Estefan were recognized at the Common Wealth Awards hosted by The PNC Financial Services Group on Saturday at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington. The awards celebrate individuals who have enriched modern culture through professional and personal endeavors.
“In recognizing LeVar Burton and Gloria Estefan as the 2023 Common Wealth Award recipients, we honor the accomplishments of two artists whose talents extend to a shared commitment to public service and determination to improve the lives of audiences of all ages and backgrounds,” said Joseph G. Meterchick, PNC regional president for Philadelphia, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey. “We applaud these high achievers for their unwavering commitment to excellence and generous spirit that demonstrates the best of who we can aspire to be.”
Burton is an actor, director, producer and podcaster whose body of work includes Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow. He is the honored recipient of six NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy and 15 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children’s & Family Emmys.
A lifelong literacy advocate, Burton recently partnered with Osmo’s Reading Adventure, an innovative technology that uses speech recognition and digital storytelling to teach children to read. His first documentary, The Right to Read, premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February 2023.
With over 100 million records sold worldwide, Estefan has garnered eight Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination for her performance of the song “Music Of My Heart.” She has received an American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. Estefan was also the first Cuban-American singer-songwriter to receive The Kennedy Center Honors.
President Obama honored Emilio and Gloria Estefan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the United States, to world peace, and to cultural endeavors.
She is the founder of the Gloria Estefan Foundation, whose mission is to support charitable programs for disadvantaged children and empower young people through education and opportunity. The Foundation also supports spinal cord research through the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.
“On Your Feet!” was the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical based on the lives and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. On Your Feet! received rave reviews and nominations for a Tony Award, Outer Critics Circle Award,s and Drama League Awards.
The Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service were first presented in 1979 by The Common Wealth Trust, which was created under the will of Ralph Hayes, a business executive and philanthropist who spent time in Delaware. The Common Wealth Trust makes the awards. In the 43-year history of the Common Wealth Awards, more than $6 million has been awarded to 212 honorees.
Ralph Hayes, the creator of the Common Wealth Awards, served on the board of directors of one of PNC’s predecessor banks in Delaware from 1935 to 1965. Through the awards, he sought to recognize outstanding achievements in eight disciplines: dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government, and sociology. The awards also are an incentive for individuals to make future contributions to the world community.
The awards have, in recent years become a low-key private event after a long period when the program featured a dinner with hundreds in attendance, an education program, an award ceremony, and a press conference featuring four recipients.
The Common Wealth Awards have recognized heads of state, scientists and inventors, explorers, authors, performing artists and activists. Past winners include 11 Nobel laureates, among them human rights leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, statesman Henry Kissinger and authors Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Toni Morrison. Others on the Common Wealth Awards roster include 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush; now President Joe Biden; former Secretary of State Colin Powell; H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan; dance legend Mikhail Baryshnikov; Hollywood icons Steve Martin and Martin Short; astronauts John Glenn and Buzz Aldrin; primatologist Jane Goodall; ocean explorer Robert Ballard; television journalists Walter Cronkite, Bob Schieffer and Anderson Cooper; and social activists Betty Ford and Christopher Reeves.
