The Mom’s Choice Awards® will feature humanitarian Greg Mortenson, coauthor of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time. Mr. Mortenson will deliver a speech and multi-media presentation, Peace Through Education, on Thursday evening,

Mr. Mortenson, whose book has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 118 weeks and is currently ranked #1, is known internationally for building schools in some of the most remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Today, through the Central Asia Institute (CAI) that he co-founded, Mortenson has built nearly 90 schools-all without government assistance.

His groundbreaking work in Central Asia has shown not only that relationship-building is critical to a safer world, but that educating girls is critical for reducing infant mortality and ensuring greater peace for this generation and the next.

Mortenson’s other foundation, Pennies For Peace (P4P), educates American school children about the world beyond their experience and shows them they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Last year, P4P raised more than 100 million pennies-one million dollars.

The former mountaineer has been featured on National Public Radio and in numerous publications, including Parade Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, and many others.

Since 1993, when this mission began – prompted as a means to repay the villagers who nursed him back to health following a failed attempt at climbing K2, the world’s second-highest mountain – Mortenson has dealt with daunting cultural barriers, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, and an armed kidnapping.

The strong relationships he has built with village elders and their mutual trust and respect have gained the notice of the U.S. military. In order to build better relationships in Central Asian nations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made Three Cups of Tea mandatory reading for all senior military commanders and all officers going into counterinsurgency training. Mortenson has met with several of the nation’s top military commanders many times and voluntarily visits dozens of military bases every year, without any compensation, to help brief troops.

Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his efforts to promote education and literacy. The recipient of numerous other awards and 11 honorary doctorates, Mortenson has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced in October 2009.

Mr. Mortenson also received two Mom’s Choice Awards this year, for Author of the Year and for Volunteer Organization of the Year (Pennies For Peace). The Mom’s Choice Awards, an annual competition that recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media, products and services, is known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in this area.

The evening will include a 90-minute multimedia presentation given by Mr. Mortenson, followed by Q&A session and a booksigning. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Kaufmann Concert Hall, located in the 92nd Street YMCA at Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street.

More information about Mr. Mortenson, the event, and ticket purchases is available at www.momschoiceawards.com