Ohio Celebrity LeBron James joins David and Renate Jakupca as Goodwill Ambassado

ARK in Berea - Maria Sharapova, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador, has invited Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball star LeBron James to “Team Up Against Poverty” on a new UNDP advertisement to garner support for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). World-renowned photographer Patrick Demarchelier photographed both stars for this new series of UNDP pro bono advertisements.

"Team Up Against Poverty" The new advertisements are the centerpiece of a campaign which revolves around the concept of “Teaming Up Against Poverty” to achieve

the MDGs - feature celebrities from the world of sports, arts, fashion or business portrayed in teams of two by top professional photographers. Fifty celebrities, including UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and soccer greats Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, have agreed to participate in the initiative to promote the MDGs and to undertake specific anti-poverty activities, ranging from supporting educational activities and HIV/AIDS projects to funding water and sanitation initiatives and promoting safe drinking water campaigns.

"Cleveland on the International Stage" In 1997, David and Renate Jakupca, Founders of the International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA) were appointed as Official American Goodwill Cultural Ambassadors to EXPO 2000, the World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany. As National Co-Directors for the U.S. Network for EXPO2000, the primary purpose was to promote the different aspects of the World's Fair to non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the United States and share with them new global ideas on the environment, culture and messages of goodwill.

"Humankind, Nature and Technology - A Platform for a Future"
In the 20th year of promoting ICEAlity, "the understanding of the relationship between Humans and their Environment through the Arts", ICEA's current project is The WORLDS CHILDREN PEACE MONUMENT (WCPM). Built at Coe Lake Park in Berea, Ohio, the WCPM was officially inaugurated in 2003 at the 3rd World Peace Conference held in Verbania, Italy by the Jakupca's, where they received an Italian Medal of Arts. They were also recognized by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and in 2006 appointed Universal Peace Ambassadors. The WCPM is organized in support of the UN Decade of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World and the UN Millennium Development Goals.

ICEA's responsible community programs and cultural projects will always be dictated by positive human values, and rooted in people's sense of place on this earth as we work with others from around the World. International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA), P. O. Box 81496, Cleveland, Ohio 44181 USA, Phone/fax: 440-891-8376, Email: ICEA2000@sbcglobal.net