Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award

The Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award was established in 1993 in honor of Jean Mayer, tenth President of Tufts University (1976–1993), to challenge and inspire our students and the community by bringing to Tufts distinguished scholars and practitioners whose moral courage, personal integrity, and passion for scholarship resonated his dictum that: “Scholarship, research and teaching must be dedicated to solving the most pressing problems facing the world.” 

Recipients of the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award customarily deliver a lecture at an event on the Tufts campus and work with the Tisch College’s Initiative for Global Leadership to create meaningful learning opportunities for its students at their organization or home country. 

2022 Recipients 

David Lammy  

David Lammy is the Member of Parliament for Tottenham and the Shadow Foreign Secretary. One of the leading agenda-setters in the fields of social activism, diversity and multi-culturalism, he was a member of the previous Labour Government (2001–2010), is respected across the party spectrum and is a well-known figure amongst the general public. He was Shadow Justice Secretary from April 2020 until November 2021. A well-known advocate of social activism, diversity and multi-culturalism, David continues to tackle the big issues facing society (on a macro and micro scale) and provide tangible solutions to bring about effective change. David led the campaign for the Windrush British Citizens to be granted full British Citizenship and has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the families affected by the Grenfell Fire. 

Abuzar Royesh  

Abuzar Royesh is Co-Founder and CEO of the 30 Birds Foundation. He is also the co-founder and CEO of DataServeAI, a California-based startup that builds digital financial solutions for small businesses in developing countries. Abuzar holds master’s degrees in Management Science & Engineering and International Policy from Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy scholar and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in International Relations. Prior to Stanford, Abuzar worked as a research lead at Afghanistan Holding. 

Jennifer Selendy  

Jennifer Selendy is Co-Founder of the 30 Birds Foundation and a founding and managing partner of Selendy & Gay, a premier litigation firm headquartered in New York. Under Jennifer’s leadership, women are positioned at every level of firm management, including its C-suite. The firm is also renowned for taking on industry-shaping cases and high-impact public interest work. Jennifer is an experienced trial attorney recognized as a leader in her field by Benchmark Litigation, Lawdragon, and Legal 500. In both 2020 and 2021, she was named one of the most influential women in law by Crain’s. Her public interest practice focuses on poverty, women’s rights, climate change, and education. Jennifer graduated from Harvard Law School after completing an M.Phil. in International Relations at Oxford (St. Antony’s) as a Marshall Scholar. She served as board chairman for the National Center for Law & Economic Justice, a national legal services organization focused on justice for the poor. She is also the co-founder and board chairman of The Speyer Legacy School, an independent school for gifted children, with a special interest in low-income, high-achieving students. Jennifer is the vice-chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University. 

Margot Wallström  

The Honorable Margot Wallström was elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1979 before serving as minister for youth, women, and consumer affairs from 1988 to 1991, minister of culture from 1994 to 1996, and minister of social affairs from 1996 to 1998. Before taking up her appointment as European Union commissioner in 1999, she worked with Worldview Global Media in Colombo, Sri Lanka. From 1999 to 2004, Mrs. Wallström served as the European commissioner for the environment and then as first vice president of the European Commission from 2004 to 2010. In 2007, she became chair of the Ministerial Initiative of the Council for Women World Leaders. In 2010, the secretary-general of the United Nations appointed her the first special representative on sexual violence in conflict until 2012. From 2012 to 2014, she was chair of the board of Lund University, Sweden. She then served as Sweden’s minister of foreign affairs from 2014 to 2019.