Awards, Nov 27, 2008

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

Education. The 2008 Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, awarded by the McGraw-Hill Companies (New York) to honor individuals dedicated to improving education in the United States, has been presented to three winners, who each received $25,000:

— Richard Blais, vice president and co-founder of Project Lead the Way (Clifton Park, N.Y.), an organization that works to increase the number of students who are well prepared to study engineering in college by encouraging those in careerand technical-education programs to take demanding college-preparatory courses.

— Judith Berry Griffin, president and founder of Pathways to College (Englewood, N.J.), which identifies talented minority students in troubled high schools and enrolls them in a four-year after-school program that offers coaching in study skills, writing, and critical thinking.

— Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the California State University system. Mr. Reed orchestrated a successful effort to recruit and retain more minority students throughout the system.

Humanitarianism. The American Red Cross and The Atlantic magazine have announced the winners of the first annual American Red Cross Humanitarian Prize, which recognizes the achievements of individuals who have improved life and living conditions in the world’s most challenging regions. Younis Al Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and Noam Yifrach, chairman of the executive committee for Magen David Adom, in Israel, were recognized for creating an integrated humanitarian response to the needs of Palestinians and Israelis.

The Opus Prize Foundation (Minnetonka, Minn.) has presented its 2008 Opus Prize to Marguerite Barankitse, founder of Maison Shalom, in Burundi, for providing safe havens to 30,000 child victims of ethnic strife in that country. The prize, which carries a $1-million grant, is awarded annually to religious efforts that use innovative strategies to help mitigate deeply rooted social problems. The foundation also awarded $100,000 each to Michael Woodard, founder of Jubilee House Community and Center for the Development of Central America (Lewisville, N.C.), for his work to eliminate poverty in Nicaragua, and Krishnammal Jagannathan, founder of Land for Tillers’ Freedom, in India, for her efforts to give land rights to and improve the social status of women in the Tamil Nadu region of that country.

International. The Asia Society (New York) and the Goldman Sachs Foundation (New York) have awarded the 2008 Youth Prizes for Excellence in International Education to five high-school students in the United States who have demonstrated, in written, audio, or video presentations, an understanding of key issues in international affairs. The winners, who each received a $10,000 college scholarship:

— Imani Franklin of Atlanta, who wrote an essay that compared the racial and socioeconomic divides shared by Atlanta and Johannesburg.

— Shaunak Kishore of West Chester, Pa., who wrote an essay that examined how tuberculosis is transmitted globally.

— Sarah Miller of Westlake Village, Calif., created a video that compared her life with those of her peers in Nepal.

— Robert Ostrowksi of Atlanta, wrote an essay that detailed how China and the United States could jointly improve energy efficiency.

— Zane Scheuerlein of Evanston, Ill., created a video that documented environmental contamination in Chicago and a border town in Mexico.

Leadership. The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging has announced that Patricia A. Tursi, chief executive officer of Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center (New York, N.Y.), has received its 2008 Excellence in Leadership Award. Ms. Tursi was recognized for expanding and enhancing services, such as creating a state-of-the-art program for children who live on ventilators.

Women. L’Oreal Paris (New York) has presented its Women of Worth awards to 13 volunteers and grass-roots activists. Each winner has received $5,000 to donate to a charity of her choice, and another $5,000 to be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (New York). The honorees:

— Gloria Bonilla-Santiago of Camden, N.J., who founded Leap Academy Charter School, for students at risk of dropping out.

— Gracie Cavnar of Houston, who founded the Recipe for Success Foundation, which offers a nutrition curriculum, teaching gardens, and lessons from professional chefs to elementary-school children.

— Nancy Chang of Seattle, director of Skate Like a Girl, which provides skateboarding lessons to needy girls.

— Lina Czubas of Falls Church, Va., who volunteers five days a week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

— Emily Douglas of Powell, Ohio, who founded Grandma’s Gifts, which provides food, clothes, books, and extracurricular activities to Appalachian families and schools.

— Andrea Ivory of Miami, who founded the Florida Breast Health Initiative, which delivers door-to-door mammography resources to poor women.

— Cindy Kerr of Wayne, Pa., who founded ConKerr CancerA Case for Smiles, which makes and distributes cheery pillowcases to sick children in hospitals.

— Areva Martin of Los Angeles, co-founder of the Special Needs Network, which provides support and skills training to low-income families with disabled children.

— Wendy Sanborn of Wanship, Utah, who founded Walk in Beauty, which collects and distributes shoes to children at Navajo Reservation schools.

— Jenine Shwekey of Long Branch, N.J., who founded the Special Children’s Center, which provides an after-school program, weekend and holiday programs, and summer day camps for special-needs children.