Awards, May 07, 2009

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

Disabled. The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (Arlington, Va.) has presented its Inclusion Champion Award to Ingrid M. Kanics, therapy director at Hattie Larlham (Mantua, Ohio). The award honors individuals who have had a measurable and sustainable impact in promoting the inclusion of youth with disabilities. Ms. Kanics, who received $1,000 for her organization, was recognized for her efforts to develop programs and advocate for inclusion in communities across the country.

Environment. The Goldman Environmental Foundation (San Francisco) has presented its 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize to grass-roots environmental activists from six world regions. The winners, who each received an unrestricted stipend of $150,000:

— Africa. Marc Ona Essangui (Gabon), who led efforts to expose the unlawful agreements behind a large mining project threatening the ecosystems of the country’s equatorial rainforests.

— Asia. Rizwana Hasan (Bangladesh), who has worked to reduce the environmental impact of companies that break up ships for scrap.

— Europe. Olga Speranskaya (Russia), who has helped eliminate toxic chemicals from the environment by coordinating the efforts of nongovernmental organizations.

— Islands and Island Nations. Yuyun Ismawati (Indonesia), who provides low-income people with employment opportunities that improve the environment.

— North America. Maria Gunnoe (United States), who fights environmentally destructive mountaintop mining in the Appalachian Mountains.

— South and Central America. Wanze Eduards and Hugo Jabini (Suriname), members of Maroon communities established by freed African slaves in the 1700s, who have organized their communities against logging on their traditional lands.

Fund raising. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (Arlington, Va.) has awarded its 2009 Skystone Ryan Research Prize to Paul Brest and Hal Harvey for the book Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy. The prize, which carries an award of $3,000, recognizes a book that contributes substantially to the knowledge and understanding of fund raising or philanthropic behavior.

Grant making. The Council on Foundations (Washington) has awarded its 2009 Distinguished Grantmaker Award to Robert Hohler, executive director of the Melville Charitable Trust (Boston), for his efforts to end homelessness, and to the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative (Washington), for its efforts to foster involvement in civic affairs by bringing together nonprofit organizations in 31 states to debate budget and tax policy.

The council’s Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking was presented to Taryn Higashi, executive director of Unbound Philanthropy (New York), and Geri Mannion, director of the U.S. Democracy Program at Carnegie Corporation of New York, for founding the Four Freedoms Fund, which has helped build and sustain a network of grass-roots, regional, and state organizations to protect the rights of immigrants.

The Paul Ylvisaker Award for Public Policy Engagement went to the Boston Foundation, for creating a committee of housing experts to draft legislation that has led 27 towns to commit to building more than 9,000 units of environmentally sound and low-cost housing in Massachusetts.

The council also has announced the recipients of its Critical Impact Awards for innovative projects supported by grant makers. Four organizations were winners: the California Wellness Foundation (Woodland Hills), for its efforts to decrease violence against youths; the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network (Annapolis, Md.), for working to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed; the Grand Victoria Foundation (Chicago), for creating a program that strengthens community foundations in Illinois; and Southern Bancorp (Arkadelphia, Ark.), for revitalizing the community and economy of Arkansas’s Phillips County.

Health. The John M. Lloyd Foundation (Los Angeles) has presented its annual AIDS Leadership Award to Paisan Suwannawong and Karyn Kaplan of the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (Bangkok). Mr. Suwannawong, a Bangkok resident and former drug user who has had HIV for 18 years, and Ms. Kaplan, a New Jersey native who has worked to fight the AIDS pandemic for more than 20 years, were recognized for their efforts to educate people in Thailand about the dangerous consequences of drug use and other risky behaviors. The award, which carries a $100,000 prize, recognizes AIDS advocates who have previously received little or no acclaim.

Humanitarianism. The 2009 Charles Bronfman Prize (New York), which honors significant humanitarian efforts, will be awarded to Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, founders of KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) (San Francisco). KIPP is a network of college-preparatory schools that serves primarily minority students from low-income families. Eighty percent of students in the program go on to college. The award, which carries a $100,000 cash prize, is bestowed upon people younger than 50 whose “Jewish values infuse their humanitarian accomplishments and provide inspiration to the next generations.”

Social enterprise. The Social Enterprise Alliance announced the winners of its annual awards. The Leadership Award went to David Carleton, chief executive of Kitchens With a Mission (Seattle), which builds and sustains organizations that provide food-service training and jobs for troubled adults. The Innovation Award went to Kevin McDonald, president and chief executive of Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (Durham, N.C.), a two-year residential recovery program that supports itself through businesses that employ the organization’s clients.

Technology. The Vodaphone Americas Foundation (Walnut Creek, Calif.) has announced the winners of its Wireless Innovation Project, which recognizes creative uses of wireless technology to deal with critical social issues around the world. The first-place project, which will receive $300,000:

— Active Networked Tags for Disaster Recovery Applications, a system that uses wireless devices to track and locate people trapped by fires and structural collapse. It was developed by Peter Kinget, Ioannis (John) Kymissis, Dan Rubenstein, Xiaodong Wang, and Gil Zussman of Columbia U.

The two second-place projects, which will each receive $200,000:

— CelloPhone, a cellphone platform that uses holograms to monitor HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases. It was developed by Yvonne Bryson, Neven Karlovac, and Aydogan Ozcan of the U. of California at Los Angeles.

— CellScope: Mobile Microscopy for Disease Diagnosis, which transforms a cellphone into a compact, high-resolution, handheld microscope to diagnose diseases on site. It was developed by Erik Douglas, Daniel Fletcher, and Wilbur Lam of the U. of California at Berkeley.