Awards, Sep 28, 2006

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

Education. The Broad Foundation (Los Angeles) has presented the 2006 Broad Prize for Urban Education to the Boston Public Schools. The annual distinction honors an urban school district that has demonstrated great improvement in student achievement while closing achievement gaps across ethnic and income groups. The $500,000 award will finance scholarships for high-school seniors attending college. Four finalists also received $125,000 each: Bridgeport Public Schools (Conn.), the Jersey City Public Schools (N.J.), the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the New York City Department of Education.

Humanitarianism. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (Reno, Nev.) has presented its 2006 Humanitarian Prize to Women for Women International (Washington). Women for Women was founded in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, an Iraqi citizen who witnessed years of war and conflict. The group now helps women in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sudan to achieve self-sufficiency and stability through direct aid and small loans. The Hilton Foundation awards $1.5-million annually to a nonprofit organization that has contributed significantly to alleviating human suffering.

Nonprofit leadership. Catholic Charities USA (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its 2006 Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Award to James H. Mauck, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver. Mr. Mauck was honored for 43 years of service to Catholic Charities affiliates and for leading programs that help the working poor by offering low-cost child care and housing, job training and placement, and welfare-to-work assistance. The annual award recognizes an individual for creativity, excellence, and leadership in providing services to children and families.

In addition, Independent Sector (Washington) has presented its 2006 Leadership IS Award to the Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties (San Francisco) for running job-training and leadership-development programs for its own staff and other charitable groups in the area. The award, which is accompanied by a $10,000 grant and is sponsored this year by the Chevron Corporation, recognizes a nonprofit group that promotes leadership among its board and staff members, volunteers, and clients.

Nonprofit management. The Alliance for Nonprofit Management (Washington) has presented its 2005-6 Terry McAdam Book Award for the best new book about nonprofit management to Bill Shore for The Light of Conscience: How a Simple Act Can Change Your Life, published by Random House. Two books received honorable mention: Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, by Richard Chait, Bill Ryan, and Barbara Taylor, published by John Wiley & Sons, and Play to Win: The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy, by David La Piana and Michaela Hayes, published by Jossey-Bass.

Sports philanthropy. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, N.J.) and the Sports Philanthropy Project (Boston) have presented the Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award to the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation, the charitable arm of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team, in Florida. The award recognized the foundation for its community programs and for distributing more than $9-million to charities and providing $430,000 in game tickets to nonprofit organizations in the Jacksonville metropolitan area.