ENGLISH SPEECH ELIZABETH OLSEN The Latitude Project English Subtitles

[Ellen Pompeo] To present the Emma 
Future Award to Elizabeth Olsen,  

please welcome two sisters who will make 
us all feel better about the future,  

the founders of the latitude 
project, Jennifer and Alanna Tynan.

[Jennifer Tynan] We are thrilled to stand together 
tonight to help honor our beloved spokesperson,  

board member and friend Elizabeth Olsen 
received the EMA futures award tonight.

[Alanna Tynan] Lizzie has already made the world 
of difference in our lives and in our work to  

help others. Standing here today fills us with 
an immense gratitude for our own good fortune  

and the opportunity that we have to make the world 
a better place by facing the future together. So,  

we could not be more happier, grateful to present 
this Emma Futures Award to Elizabeth Olsen.

[Elizabeth Olsen] Hi, I’m really 
scared of public speaking.  

So, I brought this as a comfort blanket, but 
I’m going to try and use this. I want to thank  

Alanna and Jen for being here. They live 
in Canada, and there’s, I’m feel really  

fortunate because there’s no reason for me to 
be here without them. It wouldn’t make sense.

I wanna thank EMA and Debbie for thinking to honor 
me at all, and for the vote of confidence. It’s  

really meaningful to, to be here tonight in such 
spectacular company, including Ms. Jane Fonda,  

who played my grandmother in my first 
film, like nine or ten years ago.  

You are such an inspiration to women of all 
generations. So, thank you for your life work.

So, I wanted to take the time up here just to 
celebrate Jen and Alanna and the work they do.  

Like they said, we met in Nicaragua 
and I was supposed to be on a vacation  

and they were working very hard. And I 
did, I joined them on a day trip where we  

distributed school supplies and recreational 
materials and played soccer with the kids.

And it was a school that they’d 
built. But it was on our drive back  

from visiting the school that we stopped at 
one of the, one of the poorest homes within the  

incredibly impoverished community. 
This man Arielle, his home was  

maybe 200 square feet, walls built of various 
materials, a tarp for a roof and the dirt as  

his floor. And he was the happiest man when he saw 
Alanna and Jen, and they were there to bring him  

his children’s school uniforms beause you 
have to wear a uniform in school in Nicaragua.

And he wanted to share with us his animals and 
his home. And he would call the Tynan sisters,  

his angels. And it was then that I could 
recognise the impact that they have had  

on so many individuals within Nicaragua and 
the communities that they’ve been helping.

So, I’m sharing this story because it represents 
to me what The Latitude Project is, whether it is  

building roofs, latrines, well, 
pumps that are safe for children,  

schools, water filters. They also have 
provided the first health care program  

for hundreds of families that had 
never had access to it in their life.

Jen and Alanna have inspired and empowered 
every individual they work with. They don’t  

enter these communities as saviors, 
but as partners and friends.  

And they always ask, like 
they said, the communities,  

what they need, and then they together with 
the people build that. There is no imperialism.

And just to witness the gratitude 
these communities have for the sisters  

has been the greatest gift and encouragement.  

The Latitude Project builds not just physical 
structures, but hope and pride. And at our event  

tonight surrounded by all these storytellers, 
I believe that there is a story worth telling  

and what EMA does so well and uniquely is 
strongly encourage and educate our most  

powerful storytellers to use their voice 
and power, to spread the word of unknown  

known stories like the latitude.

I’m going to read what I wrote actually. So, the 
real-life superheroes, like the Tynan’s who fight  

the daily fight to help contribute to this planet 
we all share and all the people with whom we share  

it. And so, in the name of that spirit of making 
our planet a better and more sustainable place,  

I’m very proud to accept this and I’ll try to 
justify it, and your faith in me. So, thank you  

for having me here tonight and allowing me to take 
this clumsy time to honor these incredible women.