Awards, May 27, 2004

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

Health. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, N.J.) has announced the recipients of awards through its 2004 Community Health Leadership Program. Following are the winners, who will each receive $120,000:

— Judy Bentley, president and chief executive officer of Community Health-in-Partnership Services (St. Louis), a free health-care clinic that offers services to uninsured people and health screenings and education in nontraditional settings, such as banks and barbershops.

— Carol Carothers, executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Maine (Augusta), which seeks to improve the treatment of mentally ill prison inmates and prevent cases of inappropriate incarceration.

— Raymond Figueroa, executive director of Turning Point/Discipleship Outreach Ministries (New York), which provides housing and AIDS and substance-abuse programs in troubled neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

— Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, founder and national director of Kids Kicking Cancer (Birmingham, Mich.), which teaches martial arts to young cancer patients.

— Francois Leconte, president and chief executive officer of Minority Development and Empowerment (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), which provides health services, including HIV/AIDS-prevention programs, to Haitian immigrants.

— Zara Marselian, chief executive officer of La Maestra Family Clinic (San Diego), which provides dental and medical care, health education, job training, and other services to refugees and immigrants living in San Diego.

— Gwendolyn Mastin, chief executive officer of the New Phoenix Assistance Center (Chicago), which operates a housing program for homeless women infected with HIV/AIDS and their children.

— Carole Morison, executive director of the DelMarVa Poultry Justice Alliance (Pocomoke City, Md.), a coalition of farmers, religious leaders, workers, and others who advocate better working conditions in the poultry industry.

— Lon Newman, executive director of Family Planning Health Services (Wausau, Wis.), which offers reproductive-health care and related education.

— Susan Reyna, executive director of Mujeres Unidas en Justicia, Educacion y Reforma (Homestead, Fla.), a program that helps farmworkers in Florida’s Dade County who are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Hunger. The James Beard Foundation (New York) has named Robert Egger as its 2004 Humanitarian of the Year. The award recognizes an individual working in the food and beverage industry whose efforts help needy people. Mr. Egger is the president of D.C. Central Kitchen, which serves meals to homeless people.

Nonprofit enterprise. The Social Enterprise Alliance (Columbus, Ohio) has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Earl Copus, president and chief executive officer of Melwood (Upper Marlboro, Md.). Melwood, which provides employment and other services to disabled people, generates 84 percent of its budget through its programs.

Also, the Yale School of Management-Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.) has announced the winners of its National Business Plan Competition for Nonprofit Organizations, which supports groups that are planning or beginning to operate income-generating programs. The four organizations that received the top prize of $100,000 each are:

— Coastal Enterprises Inc. (Portland, Me.), which provides assistance and financial support for economic-development programs in urban areas.

— Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors (West St. Paul, Minn.), which offers vehicle maintenance and repair to groups that provide transportation to disabled and elderly people.

— The Rescue Mission (Liverpool, N.Y.), which runs a store that sells household products for $1 each.

— VolunteerMatch (San Francisco), which helps businesses coordinate volunteer opportunities for employees.

The runners-up, who each received $25,000, are:

— I Do Foundation (Washington), which runs a wedding-gift registry that donates a portion of sales to charities.

— La Casa de Don Pedro (Newark, N.J.), which runs a job-training program that prepares and sells nutritious meals to groups that provide food to needy people.

— Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (New York), which sells low-cost property and liability insurance to housing cooperatives.

— Work Resource Center (Cincinnati), which salvages and sells reusable materials from deconstruction, demolition, and renovation projects.

Social entrepreneurship. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (Arlington, Va.) has announced its new class of fellows. The fellows, who were selected for their innovative approaches to solving social problems, will receive stipends over three years. The following four fellows were elected from the United States:

— Michael Feinberg of the Knowledge Is Power Program (Houston), which helps educators open and run college-preparatory schools for disadvantaged children.

— Jose-Pablo Fernandez of the Mexican Institute of Greater Houston, which helps Hispanic parents obtain better jobs and become more involved in their children’s education.

— Joseph Marshall of Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers (San Francisco), which helps community groups and public schools reduce violence among youths.

— James Thompson of the Positive Coaching Alliance (Stanford, Calif.), which helps youth sports groups develop social skills in children, their parents, and coaches.

Social justice. The Academy for Educational Development (Washington) has announced its 2004 class of New Voices Fellows. The fellowship program, which is financed by the Ford Foundation (New York), is designed to help small nonprofit groups that promote social justice hire new fellows and provide them with mentors. Each organization will receive financing to cover part of the fellow’s salary and benefits for two years. The fellows and their organizations:

— Christopher Abalos of Filipinos for Affirmative Action (Oakland, Calif.)

— Joseph Amrine of the Public Interest Litigation Clinic (Kansas City, Mo.)

— Jennifer Epps of the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (Milwaukee)

— Victoria Isabel Gavito of the Equal Justice Center (Austin, Tex.)

— Jill Johnston of the Southwest Workers Union (San Antonio)

— Leena Khandwala of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (San Francisco)

— Tara Mack of Brotherhood/Sister Sol (New York)

— Rickke Mananzala of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (New York)

— Michael Montaño of the Junta for Progressive Action (New Haven, Conn.)

— Leo Morales of the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations (Seattle)

— Chris Newman of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (Los Angeles)

— Thomas Nikundiwe of the Baltimore Algebra Project

— Sonali Sadequee of Raksha Inc. (Atlanta)

— Rocío Santacruz of Homies Unidos (Los Angeles)

— Sara Sohn of Immigration Equality (New York)