WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

We live in a nation of second-guessers, and I am one of them.

On the night of Sunday, May 10, I went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York as part of the live audience for the final episode of The Celebrity Apprentice.  One contestant, professional poker player Annie Duke, was playing for Refugees International (every contestant plays for a charity).  I was certain she was going to win, but at the end of the three-hour finale to the reality TV series, Donald Trump pointed at her and said:  "Annie, you're fired."  

I was shocked.  The series is designed to test contestants for their entrepreneurial energy and effectiveness, which Annie demonstrated on nearly every episode.

From my standpoint, both Annie and Refugees International were winners.  Annie earned $700,000 for Refugees International, far more than any of the 16 other contestants who started the second season of Celebrity Apprentice won for their charities.  The final episode of the season showed Duke and Rivers competing to stage a celebrity auction for their charity.  Annie raised $465,725 in her auction, while Joan raised $150,830 for her charity, God's Love We Deliver, which prepares and delivers meals to AIDS patients.  Even after adding the $250,000 the winner got for her charity, Annie raised more for RI than Joan did for God's Love.  

Thank you, Annie, for a great job and for a great gift to RI.  Annie was drawn to RI because of her interest in Africa, particularly Darfur.  In 2006, Annie, Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein founded Ante Up for Africa, a poker event that has raised about $2 million to help end or alleviate suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Throughout The Celebrity Apprentice series, Annie stressed how generous professional poker players are.  That certainly turned out to be true.  Two pros-Howard Lederer, Annie's brother, and Phil Hellmuth-were the biggest contributors at the celebrity silent auction featured in the last episode.  In addition, Annie's friends in the poker community have launched a campaign on Twitter to match the $250,000 prize that Joan Rivers won.  You gotta' love these people.  

Of course, the show brought Refugees International and our lifesaving advocacy nationwide publicity that we could previously only dream about.  Thanks to NBC and to Mark Burnett Productions for making this possible.

The final episode featured a brief film clip about our work.  We focus on finding solutions to displacement and spurring food, shelter, and other assistance in Sudan, as well as Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia.  In the clip Annie discussed our advocacy and also talked to Alaa Majeed, an Iraqi refugee.  Although we don't resettle refugees, we were able to help Alaa bring her sons to the U.S. as part of our overall efforts to improve U.S. policies toward nearly five million displaced Iraqis.  

Annie Duke is smart, committed and passionate about her causes.  That was clear throughout the series. We are extremely glad to have her on our team.

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Editor's Note: To celebrate Annie Duke's success, we're sending the t-shirt pictured above to anyone who donates $75 or more. Donate now!