Capt. Erik Scott Presents CORE Co-Founders Sean Penn & Ann Lee With Philanthropic Organization of the Year | Social Impact Fund & THR Social Impact Summit - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Captain Erik Scott presents CORE co-founders Sean Penn and Ann Lee with Philanthropic Organization of the Year at the second annual Social Impact Summit, hosted by the Social Impact Fund and The Hollywood Reporter.

Transcript

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 to

01:19deal with before. And there was so much uncertainty. There was more questions than there were answers.

01:24And you remember all the questions. It's, am I going to get sick? What about my elderly parents?

01:29What 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, same month, January 2025. We all know

02:13what happened. It was a different kind of disaster. Another unprecedented one. I'm on a federal incident

02:21management team. And you go anywhere in the nation for the worst of the worst. That was the worst I'd

02:24seen. One of the biggest natural disasters in Los Angeles history. And personally, I was deployed to the

02:32Palisades fire for 28 days straight. Needless to say, it was exhausting. Your Los Angeles firefighters

02:39could not have fought harder. I'll tell you that. And simply put that the fire wasn't going to be

02:45stopped until the wind stopped. You know, with 100 mile per hour winds, I mean, I had the helmet,

02:50I'd ratchet on. It would fly off your head if you didn't grab it. It was incredible. We saw homes

02:57that turned to ash. We saw neighborhoods that were reduced to a forest of chimneys that I personally

03:05walked with Sean and Ann. But amidst all that destruction, of course, who was there with us

03:09again, it was core. And you saw in that video, you saw Sean and Ann, they didn't just show up.

03:18They were there with us. They were side by side. And they told us of what efforts that they were

03:25doing, what proactive things they were thinking. And then they would ask, what else, what else can we

03:30do? And then they went and did it. So no matter what the emergency is, if it's a mudslide, an earthquake,

03:39a hurricane, a wildfire, there's four phases to it. And the first is prevention. Then you need

03:45response. Then you need mitigation. And then you have the long tail of recovery afterwards. And that's

03:51what makes core so different. They don't disappear when the headlines disappear. They move forward

04:01into that fourth phase, into that long tail of recovery. And they do it with compassion. They do

04:08it with speed. And they do it with staying power. They continue to be there. So whether it's COVID,

04:14whether it's going to be wildfires, it's disasters around the globe, core meets every crisis with that

04:22same fearless determination and commitment to equity. And that's one of the most impressive

04:30things that we saw too, because they really went to those underserved communities. And they made sure

04:37that they were taken care of. They quickly assessed the situation. And then they would deploy an

04:43emergency response team. And they'd start to empower those that were affected. And it wasn't just

04:50during the crisis. Again, it was during that long tail of recovery that they stuck in it.

04:57So today, we don't only just honor Sean, who I view as a friend. I've sat on his couch. I've heard

05:05from his soul what he cares about. I answer Ann's phone call on my department cell phone, because she's got

05:10ideas that will blow you away. And especially if it involves heavy equipment.

05:17I'm surprised you 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.

05:29I was talking to him backstage. They're absolutely amazing. They have unwavering leadership. They're

05:34always moving forward. They're devoting their time and efforts to those communities in crisis.

05:41And today has been amazing. I can't, you know, tell you enough how impressive it is to see this

05:47audience full of people to be here and to learn. And if you are at all inspired by some of the topics

05:53that you've heard today, join in. Join us any way you can. You saw that QR code.

06:00You could go to CORE's website. Go to the fire department side. LAFD.org is a volunteer page.

06:06Come hang out. We'll put you to work. But in conclusion, I'd like to just share one last

06:13concept if it's okay. I've been privileged to have been selected on a lot of different

06:19incident management teams over the decade. And I remember we had this one very difficult

06:24deployment. It was one of those with blood, sweat, and tears. And it was a high and tight team.

06:29And that I see the incident commander turn towards us. And he goes, he said something that I found

06:35profound. It was very simple, but it resonated with me enough that I typed it up. I printed it out.

06:42And it's sitting at my desk at LAFD headquarters. And he simply said,

06:47the most important person on your team is the one that needs help.

06:52And there's a lot of truth to that. That concept is true. It's not just for the incident management

06:59team that they were there for us overseeing the disaster, but it's in general.

07:03It's something that isn't built in a single moment, right? It's built by people. It's built by people

07:14like Sean and Ann who show up again and again and try to help. And they lift other people up,

07:22and especially those that need help. I'd like to say now it is just an absolute honor

07:30to be able to present the Philanthropic Organization Award of the Year, rightly so,

07:38to Sean Penn and Ann Lee.

Capt. Erik Scott Presents CORE Co-Founders Sean Penn & Ann Lee With Philanthropic Organization of the Year | Social Impact Fund & THR Social Impact Summit

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