Awards, Nov 15, 2007

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

Fund raising. The Indiana U. Center on Philanthropy (Indianapolis) has presented the 2007 Henry A. Rosso Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising to Patricia F. Lewis, Robert Pierpont, and Ed Schumacher. Ms. Lewis is senior professional-in-residence at the Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management at Arizona State U. (Tempe), and was honored for her past leadership at the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (now known as the Association of Fundraising Professionals). Mr. Pierpont, an independent fund-raising consultant in Bonita Springs, Fla., was recognized for his experience in directing capital campaigns for charities. Mr. Schumacher, who is founder and president of Third Sector Consulting (Seattle), has written three books and taught several courses on fund raising.

Humanitarianism. The Opus Prize Foundation (Minnetonka, Minn.) has presented its 2007 Opus Prize to Brother Stan Goetschalckx and Africa Health and Development International (Tanzania) for work to provide educational resources for refugees who have fled violence in their home countries. The prize, which carries a $1-million grant, is awarded annually to religious efforts that use innovative strategies to help mitigate deeply rooted social problems. The foundation also awarded $100,000 each to the Rev. Norberto Carcellar and the Homeless People’s Federation (Quezon City, Philippines), for programs to improve waste and water systems and help poor people save money and purchase property, and to Father John Adams and So Others Might Eat (Washington), which serves free meals and provides health and employment services for people who are poor, homeless, or mentally ill.

International. The Asia Society (New York) and the Goldman Sachs Foundation (New York) have awarded the 2007 Youth Prizes for Excellence in International Education to five high-school students in the United States who have demonstrated, in written, audio, or video presentations, an understanding of key issues in international affairs. The winners, who each received a $10,000 college scholarship:

— Jacob Bredthauer of Omaha, who wrote a speech that compared irrigation practices in China and Nebraska

— Yena Jun of Hackensack, N.J., who examined recycling programs in South Korea and New Jersey

— Chelsea Lee of Port Charlotte, Fla., who analyzed water scarcity and access in Cuba and her hometown

— Junyao Peng of Elk Grove, Calif., who wrote an essay that compared care for older adults in China and the United States

— Suruchi Srikanth of Irving, Tex., who studied the approaches of two groups that aim to use education to guide students out of poverty in India and Texas

Nonprofit leadership. The Philanthropy Roundtable (Washington) has announced that the recipient of the 2007 William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership, sponsored by the William E. Simon Foundation (New York), is Frank Hanna, chief executive officer of Hanna Capital (Atlanta), for his charitable giving. His donations have supported independent Catholic schools in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Mr. Hanna says he plans to donate the $250,000 prize to the Holy Spirit Preparatory School, in Atlanta, and the Federalist Society, a Washington think tank that studies constitutional and legal issues.

Technology. The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose, Calif.) has presented its annual awards to 25 charities and companies for the creative use of technology to benefit societies around the world. The nonprofit winners:

Intel Environment Awards:

— Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron Team (Kennedy Space Center, Fla.), which has developed a method to reduce environmental-contamination risks while cleaning rockets in NASA’s space program

— Fundacion Terram (Santiago, Chile), for the Integrated Salmon-Seaweed Cultivation project

Accenture Economic Development Awards:

— Association La Voute Nubienne (Ganges, France), which helps build low-cost, environmentally friendly houses in sub-Saharan Africa

— BlueEnergy (San Francisco), for its development of hybrid wind and solar-energy systems that provide power to poor people

— Kiva.org (San Francisco), whose Web site links donors with microentrepreneurs in need of small loans

Microsoft Education Awards:

— Canal Futura (Rio de Janeiro), which televises educational, entertainment, and informational programs throughout Brazil

— Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (Half Moon Bay, Calif.), whose Commons program provides free educational opportunities online

— NASA Johnson Space Center Learning Technologies Team (Houston), which has developed MathTrax, educational software that helps blind and other students learn math and science

— TakingITGlobal (Toronto), a Web site that links youths worldwide who share an interest in community change

ScanDisk Equality Awards:

— Counterpart International (Washington), which has developed a tool that seeks to increase the effectiveness and transparency of international aid efforts

— Grameen Shakti (Dhaka, Bangladesh), a group that installs systems that provide renewable energy for people in rural areas of Bangladesh

— Innocence Project (New York), whose lawyers provide legal services and other assistance to prisoners who could be exonerated by DNA evidence

— Tropical Forest Trust (Cassier, Switzerland), whose Indigenous Peoples Voice Programme has created mapping tools for illiterate people

Swanson Foundation Health Award:

— PATH (Seattle), whose Vaccine Vial Monitors show health-care workers when unused vaccines have expired

— U. of Cambridge, Diagnostics Development Unit, and Diagnostics for the Real World (England), which use technology to help diagnose chlamydia, hepatitis B, and trachoma

Women. L’Oreal Paris (New York) has presented its Women of Worth awards to 13 volunteers and grass-roots activists. Each winner has received $2,500 to donate to a charity of her choice, and another $2,500 to be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (New York). The honorees:

— Maureen Cavaiola of Severna Park, Md., who co-founded Partners in Care, an organization that helps older and disabled people stay in their own homes

— Tara Church of New York, who co-founded Tree Musketeers, an environmental group for young children, when she was 8 years old

— Meagan Corlin of Strafford, N.H., who at age 17 created the StarMight Foundation, which encourages youths to volunteer

— Angelia Curran of Smith’s Station, Ala., who is deputy chief of the Friendship Volunteer Fire Department

— Anne Garrett Addison of Lake Stephens, Wash., who co-founded the Preeclampsia Foundation

— Millicent Hill of Los Angeles, who established Mama Hill’s Help, which provides tutoring services for youths in South Los Angeles

— Gayle Hutchens of Indianapolis, who founded Paws & Think, which helps disabled youths adopt dogs from an animal shelter

— Shamika Lee of Boston, who volunteers at Graham Windham, an organization that provides foster care, adoption, and other services for children

— Pauline Lewis of Phoenix, who founded the Phoenix Foundation for Homeless Children

— Wendy Masi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who established the Love Jen Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance to families of children who have cancer

— Eva Payne of Lincoln, Neb., who founded Camp Kindle for young people who are infected with or affected by HIV or AIDS

— Hesther Rippy of Lehi, Utah, who founded the Lehi-Rippy Literacy Center, which offers literacy training to families and individuals

— Karen Stark of Oklahoma City, who founded the HUGS Project to support U.S. troops who are serving in the Middle East