Awards, Jun 24, 2004

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

Arts. The American Symphony Orchestra League (New York) and the MetLife Foundation (New York) have presented the 2004 Awards for Excellence in Community Engagement to the Haddonfield Symphony (N.J.), the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (Conn.), and the San Francisco Symphony. The awards, which are each accompanied by a cash prize of $7,500, recognize orchestras that effectively work with their communities. The league, in partnership with the Bank of America Foundation (Charlotte, N.C.), also presented its inaugural Awards for Excellence in Orchestra Education, which honor orchestras for outstanding music education for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The awards, which each included a $7,500 prize, went to the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (Calif.), the New York Philharmonic, and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the league announced its 2005 class of Orchestra Management Fellows, who will complete a yearlong leadership-training program. The fellows are Edgar Herrera-Arizmendi of Cuernavaca, Mexico; Kevin Shuck of Elk City, Okla.; and Jeff Tsai of Munster, Ind.

Corporate giving. The Points of Light Foundation (Washington) has presented its George Bush Corporate Leadership Award to Bob Haas, chairman of Levi Strauss & Company (San Francisco) and president of the Levi Strauss Foundation. The award honors a business leader who has supported the involvement of his or her company’s employees as volunteers and who has demonstrated the importance of service through personal commitment. The organization also announced its Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs, which recognize companies for their efforts to encourage community service among employees. The recipients are GE (Fairfield, Conn.), KPMG (New York), State Street Corporation (Boston), and Tucson Electric Power.

Disabilities. The Disability Funders Network (Falls Church, Va.) has given its William Diaz Impact Award to Gloria Rubio-Cortes, chief operating officer at the Community Technology Foundation of California (San Francisco). Ms. Rubio-Cortes designed and manages the Access Fund, which helps the foundation’s grantees involve and assist disabled people and minorities. The award carries a cash prize of $500.

Public service. Independent Sector (Washington) has presented its 2004 John W. Gardner Leadership Award to Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza (Washington). The award, which is accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize, recognizes Mr. Yzaguirre’s work to reduce poverty and discrimination nationwide and to advance opportunities for Hispanic-Americans.

Volunteerism. The Corporation for National and Community Service (Washington) has presented its Spirit of Service Awards, which recognize outstanding volunteers participating in its three programs:

— AmeriCorps: Tom Hamel of Generations Incorporated (Boston); Jamie Mauk-Olson of Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (Oak Ridge, Tenn.); Silver Two Team of NCCC Southeast Region (Charleston, S.C.); and Katrina Teske of Children’s Cabinet at Incline Village (Nev.).

— Learn and Serve America: L’Anse Creuse Public Schools (Macomb, Mich.); Barbara Locurto of the Boston Public Schools; and Elaine Wiltermood of Lakeland High School (Fla.).

— Senior Corps: Margaret Banks of Montgomery County Foster Grandparents (Pottstown, Pa.); Gabriel Chavez of RSVP (Las Cruces, N.M.); Leroy and Mildred Kuykendall of RSVP (Sacramento); Harriet McClelland of RSVP (Mandan, N.D.); and Lucille Williams of Kent County Senior Companion Program (Grand Rapids, Mich.).