CNN has been airing a “Heroes” award program since May of 2007. They have a system where viewers could submit a nomination for six different awards. Fordham Law student Kush Shukla nominated Pablo Fajardo in the “Fighting for Justice” category. Kush had worked with Pablo as a Leitner Intern in Ecuador in the summer of 2006.
Based on Kush's nomination, Pablo Fajardo was selected as one of three finalists in the “Fighting for Justice” category. CNN then flew out to Ecuador to film to interview Pablo. CNN's “Blue Ribbon Panel,” which consisted of celebrities, humanitarians, and world leaders, then selected one finalist from each category.

The Panel included Deepak Chopra, Lance Armstrong, Deekembe Mutombo, Mohammad Yunuus and many others. This panel selected Pablo Fajardo to receive the CNN Heroes award! He was presented the award live in NYC at the American Museum for Natural History on December 6th. This program was broadcast worldwide on all of CNN's channels and affiliates.

Pablo's video can been seen at: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2007/12/07/heroes.smits.fajardo.cnn