Awards, Apr 22, 1999

The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management:

AIDS. Funders Concerned About AIDS (New York) has presented its 1999 R.A. Radley AIDS Grantmaker Award to Joe Cristina, founder and board chair of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (Los Angeles).

Fund raising. The National Society of Fund Raising Executives (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its 1999 Staley/Robeson/Ryan/St. Lawrence Prize for Research to Robert Fry, Jr., for his book Nonprofit Investment Policies: Practical Steps for Growing Charitable Funds, published by John Wiley & Sons. The award carries a $2,500 cash prize. Honorable mention went to David C. Hammack for his book Making the Nonprofit Sector in the United States, published by Indiana U. Press.

Grassroots leaders. The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (Winston-Salem, N.C.) has presented its 1998 Nancy Susan Reynolds Awards honoring North Carolinians who have worked largely without recognition. The winners: the Rev. Adeen Lewis George of Goldsboro, founder of the Holy Ghost Drawing Center, which provides meals, clothing, and educational and other services for homeless and destitute people; Barbara Beye Lorie of Pittsboro, a retired teacher who works to improve race relations through the Chatham County Political Reform Group and other activities; and Judith and Mike Phillips of Winston-Salem, founders of the Adaptables, a support group for disabled people. Each award carries a cash prize of $25,000; of that, $5,000 goes to the individual and $20,000 goes to a charitable organization designated by the winner.

Non-profit management and fund raising. The National Federation of Nonprofits (Washington) has announced the winners of its 1999 Charity Executives of the Year Awards:

— Charity Executive of the Year: William P. Magee, founder and chairman of Operation Smile (Norfolk, Va.).

— Charity Financial Executive of the Year: Steven Keegan, finance and accounting manager at St. Joseph’s Indian School (Chamberlain, S.D.).

— Charity Fund-Raising Executive of the Year: Ronald G. Browning, assistant adjutant general for marketing at Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (Kansas City, Mo.).

Volunteerism. Do Something (New York) has presented its 1998 BRICK Awards National Grand Prize to Mark Levine-Suarez, 29, co-founder and executive director of Credit Where Credit Is Due (New York), which runs a community-development credit union for low-income immigrant families in upper Manhattan. Mr. Levine-Suarez was chosen from among 10 recipients of this year’s BRICK Awards for Community Leadership, which salute people under the age of 30. The grand prize carries a $100,000 award.

Women. Women & Philanthropy (Washington) has given its third annual Leadership for Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Award to Marie Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women (New York), for her innovative grant making, her creation of “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” and her other efforts to promote gender equality.

Womens Way (Philadelphia) has presented its 1999 Lucretia Mott Award to Nina Totenberg, legal-affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (Washington). She was honored for her coverage of the Supreme Court and legal issues, including her report on law professor Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, which led to the re-opening of his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Womens Way also presented awards to these four Philadelphia-area women:

— Helen Cunningham, executive director of the Samuel S. Fels Fund.

— Germaine Ingram, chief of staff of the School District of Philadelphia.

— Margaret A. Szczurek, director of the Children’s Village at Doylestown Hospital.

— Signe Wilkinson, nationally syndicated political cartoonist for the Philadelphia Daily News.