Awards, Dec 07, 2006

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

Corporate giving. The White House and the Conference Board (New York) have presented the 2006 Ron Brown Awards for Corporate Leadership in employee and community relations. Sallie Mae (Reston, Va.) was honored for three college-access programs sponsored by its charitable foundation, the Sallie Mae Fund. Weyerhaeuser (Federal Way, Wash.) was recognized for a guide it prepared on assisting employees in a disaster based on its own experience helping Weyerhaeuser workers in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Health. The American Cancer Society (Atlanta) has presented its Medal of Honor for Cancer Philanthropy to Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr., founders of the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research (Charlottesville, Va.). The Goodwins have pledged $88.5-million to six cancer centers nationwide since 2002 and contributed an additional $80-million to support research that led to the development of Gleevec, a drug now used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia.

Nonprofit management. The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate U., in Calif., has given the 2006 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation to the Family Literacy Foundation (San Diego). The $25,000 award recognizes the group’s United Through Reading program, which enables military parents serving abroad to record themselves reading children’s books aloud and to send those videotapes or DVD’s home to their families. The award also recognized the Fulfillment Fund College Access Program (Los Angeles), which received $5,000 for its programs providing counseling and other assistance to 1,500 students in seven poorly performing schools in Los Angeles, and the Falls Prevention Initiative (Sarasota, Fla.), which received $2,500 for its work to help prevent elderly people from falling, including offering classes in balance and movement and installing safety modifications in houses.

Social entrepreneurship. The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (Geneva) has selected its 2006 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year to honor individuals who have developed innovative strategies for curbing poverty and improving education, the environment, and health. Each recipient will become part of the foundation’s network and receive technical and financial assistance for at least three years. The 2006 winners and the organizations they founded or are closely associated with:

— Vikram Akula of SKS Microfinance (India)

— Marcela Benitez of Responde: Recuperación Social de Poblados Nacionales que Desaparecen (Argentina)

— Macarena Currin of Rodelillo (Chile)

— Björn Czinczoll of Kinderzentren Kunterbunt (Germany)

— Erzsebet Szekeres of Összefogás Ipari Szövetkezet (Hungary)

— Mónica Urquijo of Textiles Mónica Urquijo (Colombia)

— Kyle Zimmer of First Book (United States)