Awards, Feb 06, 2003

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

Families. The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its annual 21st Century Community Champion Award to Steve Coen, vice president of the Kansas Health Foundation (Wichita). Mr. Coen was recognized for his work with the foundation, which includes developing a health-education program for elderly people and a training program for community leaders.

Nonprofit organizations. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (St. Paul) has presented its 2002 Nonprofit Mission Awards to four Minnesota organizations that have improved the “quality of life” for residents of the state:

— Anishinaabe Center (Detroit Lakes) received the Anti-Racism Initiative Award for its efforts to promote human rights and economic, political, and social equity for American Indians living in the region.

— Bridging Inc. (Bloomington) received the Nonprofit Innovation Award for its program that provides beds, other furniture, and household goods to needy people.

— Centro Campesino (Owatonna) received the Nonprofit Advocacy Award for its work to promote the rights of migrant agricultural workers and Latino residents of south central Minnesota.

— Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation (Minneapolis) received the Responsive Philanthropy Award for its grants to a number of local nonprofit organizations, including one that provides oral HIV-testing services.

The Social Enterprise Alliance (Columbus, Ohio) has presented five nonprofit organizations with $1,000 each in recognition of exemplary earned-income projects. The recipients:

— Aquilla Wheelchair Partners (Highland Park, Ill.), for its work to create wheelchair-manufacturing jobs for people with disabilities.

— Bookshare.org (Palo Alto, Calif.), for its online library of low-cost digital books, which is available to subscribers with disabilities.

— Enterprising Kitchen (Chicago), for its handmade-soap business, which helps low-income women develop employment and life skills.

— Greyston Foundation (Yonkers, N.Y.), for its bakery, which finances organizational programs that provide housing for formerly homeless people, residential and outpatient care for people with HIV/AIDS, employment, and child-care services.

— Harbor City Services (Baltimore), for its warehouse business that provides jobs for people with psychiatric disabilities.

Technology. The Alliance for Public Technology (Washington) has announced the recipients of its annual Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards to honor individuals and organizations for “pioneering efforts” in telecommunications and consumer access. Judy Brewer, director of the Web-accessibility initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium (Boston), was recognized for her work to make Internet-based technology more easily accessible to disabled people. One Economy (Washington) was recognized for providing Internet technology to families living in government-subsidized housing. U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes, Democrat of Texas, was recognized for his support of government grants to provide computers and Internet access to public schools and libraries.

Youths. The International Youth Foundation (Baltimore) and Nokia (Mountain View, Calif.) have honored 10 youth leaders from around the world with YouthActionNet Awards. Each winner received $500 to support his or her work to promote social change. The winning projects will be featured on http://www.youthactionnet.org. The winners:

— Dorothy Atieno of Kenya, who works with Tunaweza to provide outreach services to street children.

— Zuhra Bahman of Britain, who works with the Afghan Youth Council to rebuild Afghan schools and send donated clothing to Afghanistan.

— Orlando Cormier of the United States, who works with Cormier Cares to provide low-cost housing to low-income families.

— Afia R. Fitriati of Indonesia, who works with 1001 Buku to provide rural children with reading materials.

— Patrick Kaupun of Papua New Guinea, who works with the Klampus Conservation Group to conserve cultural traditions and the natural environment.

— Kingdom Kwapata of Malawi, who works with the Malawi Human Rights Youth Network to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation.

— Federico Matias Rossi of Argentina, who works with Vientos del Sur to educate youths about democracy and political involvement.

— Fabrizio Scrollini of Uruguay, who works with the Rotaract Club, District 4980 to provide educational opportunities to schoolchildren in a remote village.

— Ilona Seure of the Netherlands, who works with Don Bosco Jonathan to link teenage volunteers with homeless youths.

— Meseret Yirga of Ethiopia, who works with Adugna Community Dance to use dance to reach out to at-risk youths, disabled and elderly people, and street children.