Awards, May 18, 2006

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

Corporate giving. The Taproot Foundation (San Francisco) has given its 2006 Pro Bono Awards to three companies:

— McGraw-Hill Companies (New York), for its Writers to the Rescue program, which provides volunteer writers, editors, and communications and public-relations specialists to nonprofit groups.

— Salesforce.com (San Francisco), which has donated its software for managing customer relations online to more than 700 nonprofit groups around the world and provides its employees with six paid days per year for volunteering.

— Time Warner (New York), whose pro bono program involves teams of employees in volunteering to oversee branding, database-development, graphics, and other projects at nonprofit organizations in metropolitan New York.

Education fund raising. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Washington) has presented its annual national award for distinguished service on behalf of institutionally related foundations to Gerald Fischer, president and chief executive officer of the U. of Minnesota Foundation (Minneapolis), and to Karen MacArthur, executive director of institutional advancement and executive director of the Delta College Foundation (University Center, Mich.). The award is sponsored by CASE and Commonfund (Wilton, Conn.), which provides fund management and investment services to nonprofit groups.

Nonprofit leadership. The Durfee Foundation (Santa Monica, Calif.) has announced the inaugural recipients of its 2006-07 Stanton Fellowships, which provide Los Angeles nonprofit leaders with $50,000 each over two years to “think deeply about the intractable problems in their sector” and “tease out solutions.” The recipients:

— Mark Gold, executive director, Heal the Bay (Santa Monica)

— Eve Hill, executive director, Disability Rights Legal Center (Los Angeles)

— Sister Jennie Lechtenberg, chief executive officer, Puente Learning Center (Los Angeles)

— Torie Osborn, senior adviser for philanthropic programs, Liberty Hill Foundation (Los Angeles)

— Beth Steckler, policy director, Livable Places (Los Angeles)

— Norma Stoker-Mtume, associate director and chief financial officer, Shields for Families (Los Angeles)

Philanthropy. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (Indianapolis) has presented its 2006 Spirit of Philanthropy awards, which honor individuals, corporations, and foundations that have provided support for university programs through their gifts and volunteer service. The winners are André R. Donikian, founder and president of Pentera (Indianapolis), and Charles and Virginia Johnson, longtime Indianapolis residents who now live in Arizona. Mr. Johnson is the former vice president for development at the Lilly Endowment (Indianapolis) and his wife is an active community volunteer.

Political thought. The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (Milwaukee) has presented its 2006 Bradley Prizes honoring achievement consistent with the foundation’s mission, which includes “the promotion of liberal democracy, democratic capitalism, and a vigorous defense of American institutions.” The recipients, who each received a $250,000 cash prize:

— Fouad Ajami, professor and director of Middle East studies at the Johns Hopkins U.’s School of Advanced International Studies (Washington) and a contributing editor to U.S. News & World Report.

— Clint Bolick, president and general counsel of the Alliance for School Choice (Phoenix), whose new book, David’s Hammer: The Case for an Activist Judiciary, is slated to be published later this year.

— Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist whose think tank, the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (Lima), has influenced changes in Peru’s economic system.

— Shelby Steele, senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford U. (Calif.), who has written extensively on race relations, affirmative action, and multiculturalism in America.

Volunteerism. The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (Washington) and the MetLife Foundation (New York) have announced the recipients of the 2006 MetLife Foundation Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards. Following are the top recipients in the three categories:

— Sol Goldstein, 74, of Massapequa, N.Y., earned top recognition in the Team Spirit category for founding Rebuilding Together Long Island (North Massapequa, N.Y.), which provides free home repairs to low-income, elderly, disabled homeowners.

— Fran Heitzman, 80, of Bloomington, Minn., earned top recognition in the Community Champion category for founding Bridging Inc. (Bloomington), an organization that solicits household items from corporations and families and donates them to needy families.

— Ora Rakestraw, 87, of Sacramento, earned top recognition in the Mentor category for having served as a mentor to more than 3,000 children and volunteering with the Sacramento Foster Grandparent Program for 27 years.