With humanitarian work globally facing severe funding cuts, Aurora’s Humanitarian Summit on May 6, 2025, in Los Angeles was an opportunity for grassroots humanitarians and activists to take stock and discuss strategies to sustain their work in the face of mounting pressures. Throughout the event, participants reflected on storytelling—both telling their own story and the stories of the people who benefit from their work—as a critical element of maintaining and building support for locally-led humanitarian efforts.
“Our sensibilities would have us turn away when things feel overwhelming — and they certainly can these days… And the antidote to the temptation of that apathy can be a story. For us at Aurora, we think of it as ’the human in humanitarian.’ I want to just acknowledge that everyone in this room has a remarkable story to tell,” said Armine Afeyan, CEO of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, as she opened the closing plenary session focused on the transformative power of storytelling in humanitarian work.
Panelists shared stories of ordinary people whose bravery and resilience left a lasting impact on their lives and inspired their work.
Aloe Blacc, a Grammy-nominated musician, philanthropist, biotech investor and Los Angeles native, spoke of his commitment to using his public platform to elevate unsung heroes in times of crisis. He has raised over $9 million to support victims of wildfires in southern California.
“I recognize that I have so many opportunities to be in front of wide audiences and… when it comes time for someone to stand up and to speak for the most vulnerable, I feel like I have an opportunity to do that, and it’s not just me speaking for the most vulnerable. There are other leaders in the community. I get to bring them in, and I get to hold them up and let them be seen as well because they’re doing the actual hard work. And when I wrote ’SHINE,’ that was my intention—to point the cameras and the attention at the real heroes,” said Blacc, who dedicated “SHINE” to the Aurora Humanitarians and Luminaries.
Raffi Gregorian, retired U.S. diplomat and Navy intelligence officer, reflected on the legacy of his father, Aurora Co-Founder and esteemed humanitarian, the late Vartan Gregorian (1934–2021), and the values of service he absorbed through observation and experience. He also shared profound lessons from his own time working in global conflict zones, particularly in the Balkans.
“The thing that really struck me about listening to the Humanitarians this morning is no one’s coming to save you, and you know that. And you do what you do anyway, without any expectation that someone is going to save you, you go out and you help your neighbors, you help your community, or you help strangers. That’s mind blowing. Thank you to the Luminaries and the humanitarians who are here because you are the real heroes, and you’re why Aurora exists,” said Raffi Gregorian, who also serves on Aurora’s Board.
John Prendergast—celebrated human rights activist, best-selling author, and co-founder of both the Enough Project and The Sentry with George Clooney—talked about his path toward becoming an activist, beginning with an emotional moment from 1983 when he met two boys, Michael and James, living in a homeless shelter. After that encounter, he decided to become a mentor to the boys, changing the course of his life.
“So, boom, the thunderbolt hits me in the heart and I’m: ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’ Over the forty years after that, I’ve had nine other [mentees], so 11 in total…have been part of my family,” he recalled. Sharing lessons he has learned over the years, Prendergast stated: “The first is to be part of a team, a coalition, a movement. … Your voice, as part of a larger effort, a larger campaign, a larger movement, one voice matters a great deal. And I’ve always loved that line from a poem written long ago: ‘They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
Throughout the Summit, a clear message emerged: stories are a bridge to empathy, and empathy is a catalyst for action. Aurora’s mission centers on elevating the human face behind global challenges—because behind every crisis is a person, a family, a story.
As the event concluded, Armine Afeyan left the audience with a resonant final thought: “The story isn’t what has happened to you, although that is part of the story, but it’s not where the story ends. Where it gets really interesting is what you do with that and where you go from there.”
Aloe Blacc brought the Summit to a stirring close with an a cappella performance of “SHINE”.