MacArthur Fellows (“Genius Awards”)
For: Encouraging talented people to pursue their intellectual and professional inclinations; each winner receives a $500,000 unconditional grant.
By: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Winners Include: Angela Johnson, 42, a children’s novelist and poet from Kent, Ohio; Lateefah Simon, 26, executive director of the Center for Young Women’s Development in San Francisco; and Peter Sis, 54, a New York writer and illustrator of children’s books on great discoverers and scientists.
Contact: (312) 726-8000, www.macfound.org.
2003 Leadership IS Award
For: Commitment to leadership development, both internally and externally; gift of $10,000.
By: Independent Sector.
Winner: Southern Mutual Help Association for Leadership Development, a program in New Iberia, La., that develops future leaders through community learning opportunities.
Contact: (202) 467-6100, www.independentsector.org.
National Community Education Day Contest
For: Programs that have an impact on students and the community using creativity, partnerships and efficient administration.
By: Kinderstreet.
Winners Include: Total Learning Community, Niles, Ill., a program serving five communities in a school district with no public library and a population that speaks more than 40 languages; and THINK, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based agency operating 12 after-school programs that provide academic support to 1,800 students in Orange County.
Contact: (734) 822-2180, www.kinderstreet.com.
Join Hands Day Excellence Awards
For: Volunteer projects that develop youth and adult partnerships; $1,000 award for each of 20 projects.
By: Join Hands Day.
Winners Include: West Side 4-H Club of Prim, Ark., which organized youth and adult volunteers to pick up litter and plant flowers; the Lincoln Action Program, Lincoln, Neb., whose senior volunteers taught refugee children computer skills; and the Gabriel Project in Moundsville, W.Va., an abstinence education program that organized a game day for youth and residents of the Mound View Nursing Home.
Contact: (877) 687-1327, www.joinhandsday.org.
Charles Loring Brace Medal
For: Individuals and organizations dedicated to helping New York City children and supporting child welfare through extraordinary leadership.
By: The Children’s Aid Society
Winners Include: Sidney Harman, executive chairman of Harman International Industries Inc.; Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and Kevin McKenzie, artistic director of American Ballet Theater.
Contact: (212) 949-4936, www.childrensaidsociety.org.
