Jill's Honors

Jill is featured in the book 100 Making a Difference published by celebrity photographer John Russo and South African philanthropist Quinton van der Burgh. She’s honored to be in the company of Michelle Obama, Steven Spielberg, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Oprah, Prince William, Sophia Loren, Woody Harrelson, Scarlett Johansson, and many other celebrities. This high-quality coffee-table book will be available on Amazon at the end of 2021 with proceeds benefiting all the honored charities.

Presentations Given Through The U.S. State Department

Jill has been giving presentations to leaders from all over the world since 2010 through the U.S. State Department and their different adjuncts, like FHI 360’s Department of Global Connection, and especially the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA). This is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to create international understanding and cooperation between the Los Angeles region and the rest of the world. They work to accomplish this through professional meetings and cultural activities for emerging international leaders who are selected by U.S. embassies around the globe. These international guests have been so enthusiastic about our work that in 2011, Create Now received the prestigious IVCLA “Community Resource Award” during a ceremony at the Wilshire Country Club.

Banding Together To End Domestic Violence

Jill was selected to be one of four Guest Judges at this event held annually by the Family Violence Appellate Project to raise money for domestic violence victims who can’t afford legal fees. Rockstar attorneys band together to compete for the honor of being chosen as the best band. This event was at the El Rey Theater on July 13, 2017

Jill was selected from many finalists to be the 2016 Honoree for this prestigious award. She was celebrated at a special event held at the Bel Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades on July 20, 2016.

Honored By The British Council & VSO

The Founder and Former CEO of Create Now, Jill Gurr was one of the first four Americans selected by the British Council (a 75-year-old agency) and Volunteer Service Organization (VSO) to participate in their first-ever multilateral Global Xchange, which connected youth and community activists from six countries: South Africa, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, UK, France and USA.

Jill spent three weeks during January-February 2010 in Durban, South Africa where she collaborated with other leaders to exchange best practices. They explored cross-cultural approaches to serving at-risk youth. She worked with street orphans for a week and trained the local police department to use therapeutic arts activities in their work with these kids.

In March 2010, the team traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland to spend three more weeks together assisting with community projects. Jill collaborated with a local church located on the border of Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods where tensions ran deep between rivals. She shared some of the arts projects that Create Now uses with gang members in Los Angeles and also marched in their St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

As a result of this experience, Create Now initiated a unique Arts xChange program in Rwanda that brought together Hutu and Tutsi youth in Africa with local students at a continuation school in Compton.