Awards, Sep 06, 2007

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

Education. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle) has presented its 2007 Access to Learning Award to the Northern Territory Library (Darwin, Australia). The $1-million award honors the library system’s efforts to bring computer and Internet technology to people in remote communities. Northern Territory Library will also receive $224,000 in software and other training products from Microsoft to help upgrade technology on 300 library computers.

Leadership. The James Irvine Foundation (San Francisco) has announced the recipients of its 2007 Leadership Awards. This year’s recipients and their organizations, which each received a $125,000 grant for work on policy issues in California:

— Ashley Boren of Sustainable Conservation (San Francisco) for her efforts to help farmers use environmentally sound business methods

— Cesar Calderon of Soledad Enrichment Action (Los Angeles) for his work to help youths from poor families through this organization that operates 23 education centers

— John Carlon and Tom Griggs of River Partners (Chico, Calif.) for conservation efforts that have helped farmers, landowners, and government groups develop restoration projects along six rivers

— Yvonne Chan of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center (Pacoima, Calif.) for her revitalization of a failing elementary school, which now has charter status and improved test scores

— Sheldon Epps of Pasadena Playhouse (Calif.) for his artistic direction of this theater, which draws a young, diverse audience to its performances and cultural programs

Social services. The Annie E. Casey Foundation (Baltimore) has presented the 2007 Family Strengthening Awards, which recognize local organizations that help to meet the advocacy, education, employment, health, and housing needs of American families. The foundation’s annual awards go to national organizations whose local affiliates directly provide services to families in their area; this year, Catholic Charities USA (Alexandria, Va.) was the program’s co-sponsor. Each affiliate will receive a $25,000 prize. The winners are Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Hartford’s Southside Family Center (Conn.), Catholic Charities of Oregon’s El Programa Hispano (Portland), Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York’s Thorpe Family Residence, and Catholic Social Services Diocese of Charlotte’s Office of Economic Opportunity (N.C.).