Awards, Oct 01, 2009

The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas:

Education. The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation (Los Angeles) has presented the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education to the Aldine Independent School District (Tex.). The annual distinction honors an urban school district that has demonstrated great improvement in student success while closing achievement gaps among students of different ethnic backgrounds and family income levels. The $1-million award will finance scholarships for high-school seniors who will attend college. Four finalists each received $250,000 for scholarships: Broward County Public Schools (Fla.), Gwinnett County Public Schools (Ga.), Long Beach Unified School District (Calif.), and Socorro Independent School District (Tex.).

Environment. The Heinz Family Foundation (Pittsburgh) has announced the recipients of the 2009 Heinz Awards, which honor the late Sen. H. John Heinz III, Republican of Pennsylvania. This year the awards were given to individuals who have helped improve the environment. The winners, who each receive $100,000: Robert Berkebile, founder of the National Committee on the Environment at the American Institute of Architects (Washington), for his promotion of sustainable design and planning; P. Dee Boersma, a professor of conservation studies at the University of Washington (Seattle), for developing greater understanding of the impact of humans on marine ecosystems; Christopher B. Field, a professor of biology and environmental earth systems science at Stanford University (Calif.), for his leadership and innovation in carbon-cycle and climate science; Ashok Gadgil, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, for his work as an inventor and humanitarian; Chip Giller, founder of Grist magazine (Seattle), for creating an innovative way to deliver environmental information to more people; Deborah Rice, a toxicologist for the Environmental and Occupational Health Program at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Augusta), for research yielding new understanding about exposure to toxicants during human development; Joel Salatin, a farmer (Swoope, Va.), for creating alternative, environmentally friendly farming techniques; Kirk R. Smith, a professor of global environmental health at the University of California at Berkeley, for exposing the relationships among air pollution, fuel use, climate, and health; Thomas Smith, director of Public Citizen (Austin, Tex.), for his advocacy of wind and solar energy efficiency; and Beverly H. Wright, head of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (New Orleans), for her work as an environmental-justice advocate.

Grant making. The Council on Foundations (Washington) has announced the winners of the 2009 Critical Impact Awards for innovative projects supported by grant makers. The Denver Foundation was recognized for its Inclusiveness Project, which works to make nonprofit organizations in the Denver metropolitan area more racially diverse. The Women’s Fund (Birmingham, Ala.), part of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, was recognized for Voices Against Violence, a program designed to reduce domestic violence in the Birmingham area.