Celebrating Creative Leadership

Photograph by Olivier Laude

To recognize the work that charity leaders nationwide are doing to deal with

the social, health, housing, and other problems facing the United States, the Ford Foundation, in New York, has announced the inaugural winners of its Leadership for a Changing World award. The 20 recipients — individuals or teams of several people — will receive $130,000 each to support their work over the next two years and will participate in a research project at New York University on developing and sustaining community leadership.

Some 3,000 people were nominated for the awards by colleagues; the winners were selected by Ford officials and the Advocacy Institute, a Washington organization that teaches charities how to bring about social and political change.

The award seeks to honor people who have bridged issues such as race and class to encourage others to work together toward common goals, including fighting environmental pollution and finding long-term care and housing for people with AIDS. In the next two years, an additional 40 winners will receive the award.

Among those honored this year was Rufino Dominguez, executive director of the Oaxaca Binational Indigenous Coalition, a nonprofit organization in Fresno, Calif. The coalition works to assist farm workers from Mexico through a variety of programs, including training interpreters, providing health screenings, and conducting workshops about state benefits, such as health insurance. The coalition also collaborates with other nonprofit organizations, such as California Rural Legal Assistance, to educate workers about labor laws and human rights.

Here, Mr. Dominguez visits a group of workers picking chilies outside Fresno, to ensure that labor laws are being followed.