Recognizing individuals who are addressing some of America’s most difficult social problems
Social Entrepreneurship AWARDS manhattan institute 2012
Social Entrepreneurship Awards Mission Statement
he Manhattan Institute’s Social Entrepreneurship The William E. Simon Prize for TAwards honor nonprofit leaders who have founded Lifetime Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship innovative, private organizations to help address some of America’s most pressing social problems. The Awards in- The Simon Prize recognizes individuals who have founded clude two prizes. The William E. Simon Prize for Lifetime and led organizations that have been clearly effective in their Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship is presented to work and who have emerged as prominent public leaders the leader of an organization that has been both demon- in their fields. Past winners include George McDonald, strably effective and widely influential. An honorarium of founder of The Doe Fund, which has helped more than 3,500 $100,000 accompanies the Simon Prize. homeless New Yorkers graduate from the streets to work; Eunice Kennedy Shriver, whose key role in the Special Olympics The Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship helped change the way that the developmentally disabled is given each year to up to five organizations that have dem- are viewed; Peter Flanigan, whose commitment to inner-city onstrated both effectiveness and the promise of significant students and Student Sponsor Partners has been changing impact. A prize of $25,000 is presented to the organization lives for many years; and Daniel Biederman, founder of founded or led by the award winner. the Bryant Park Corporation, 34th Street Partnership, and
The Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneurship Initiative is supported by funds from the William E. Simon Foundation, the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and Nick Ohnell. Howard Husock, vice president for policy research at the Manhattan Institute, is director of the program.
For both the Cornuelle Award and the Simon Prize, nominations may be submitted by anyone familiar with a person’s or group’s activities except for a current employee of that person or group. Award applications for 2013 will be available online at www.manhattan-institute.org/se after December 15, 2012, and will be accepted until February 28, 2013. Winners are selected by the Manhattan Institute with the assistance of the following selection committee: Anne Marie Burgoyne, Draper Richards Foundation; Howard Husock, Manhattan Institute; Cheryl Keller, foundation consultant; Leslie Lenkowsky, Indiana University; Adam Meyerson,The Philanthropy Roundtable; Lawrence Mone, Manhattan Institute; Sheila Mulcahy, William E. Simon Foundation; James Piereson, William E. Simon Foundation/Manhattan Institute; and William Schambra, Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal at the Hudson Institute. Grand Central Partnership, whose vision and use of pri- but acceptance of some government funding does not, in itself, vate, nonprofit management and finance has restored and preclude consideration. The Cornuelle Award recognizes the maintained some of New York City’s greatest public spaces. creative energy of the nonprofit sector by highlighting new ideas and approaches even by mature organizations. Nominations are accepted for the Simon Prize, but potential winners are not limited to those nominated. Any nonprofit organization that provides a direct service to address a public problem can be nominated for this award. Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship Examples of such organizations include:
Throughout its history, the United States has been distin- • Private social-services groups that assist the poor and disad- guished by the capacity of citizens to address social prob- vantaged with services designed to improve their prospects lems through new organizations established through private for success and upward mobility in American society; initiative. From Clara Barton and the American Red Cross • Reformative organizations that help people cope with to Millard Fuller and Habitat for Humanity, Americans moral or psychological problems, such as drug addic- have consistently come forward, without prompting or tion and criminal behavior; assistance from government, to organize nonprofit action • Education groups that improve children’s educational to improve American society by providing services to those achievement and possibilities through mentoring, in need. It is those who follow in such footsteps whom the counseling, or other after-school programs; Manhattan Institute seeks to recognize with its Richard • Community groups that improve the quality of life in Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship. their neighborhoods; and • Conservancies that use private donations from corpo- The characteristics of winning organizations have rations or individuals to purchase land and preserve it included: from development.
• Energetic founding leaders with a strong vision; As many as 10 organizations may qualify for site visits, the • Provision of specific services to a clearly-targeted impressions and information from which will augment that group of those in need; provided by written nominations. Nonprofit organizations • Creative, entrepreneurial ways of meeting the that engage in political advocacy or that bring legal actions, organization’s goal; or whose primary activities are in response to government • Significant earned income and a diverse base of donors; grants are not eligible for this award. Individual schools • Clear and measurable results; and are not considered for the award, but novel approaches to • Use of volunteers. education may be considered.
Recognition is reserved for those organizations whose guiding A complete list of award winners, 2001-12, can be found at purpose and function stem from private initiatives and ideas, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/se_winners.htm.
The Manhattan Institute The Man Who Named the ‘Independent Sector’: the Legacy of Richard Cornuelle By William Schambra May 5, 2011
a libertarian economic genius like Mr. Libertarianism may have offered a philo- von Mises could find in the late 1940s, sophically devastating analysis of the when big-government devotees utterly failures of government social programs dominated the American academy. and the superiority of free markets, in his view. But it failed to speak to our Mr. Cornuelle became a program officer irrepressible humanitarian impulses, for at one of the early foundations on the which government programs, however right, the William Volker Fund, where faulty, seemed to be the only politically he mined economics journals for telltale plausible expression. indications of libertarian tendencies. Once he discovered these scholars—typi- In Reclaiming the American Dream, Mr. cally scattered and disconnected loners Cornuelle outlined a way to deal with at lower-tier colleges—the foundation urgent social needs in a manner both Richard C. Cornuelle (1927–2011) would offer them what modest financial humane and free. Drawing on Alexis de support it could afford. Tocqueville (by no means as commonly ith the death of Richard cited then as today), he noted that “as WCornuelle last week at the age In a time when lurid headlines tell stories a frontier people, accustomed to inter- of 84, America’s “independent sector” of behemoth conservative foundations dependence, we developed a genius for has lost one of its most faithful and buying and selling public policy at will, solving common problems. People joined vigorous champions. it is hard indeed to imagine these hard- together in bewildering combinations to scrabble origins. As Mr. Cornuelle put found schools, churches, opera houses, Indeed, one of his claims to fame it, free-market advocates could fit in a co-ops, hospitals, to build bridges and was the very invention of the term phone booth, possessed by the “haunt- canals, to help the poor.” “independent sector,” deployed in his ing, subliminal suspicion that we were landmark 1965 volume Reclaiming the fighting not just a losing battle but a war Mr. Cornuelle maintained that we had all American Dream as a way to describe, already lost.” but forgotten this vast array of voluntary in the words of the book’s subtitle, “the civic associations—an “important third role of private individuals and volun- In a sentiment familiar to any founda- force” which he termed “the independent tary associations” in our national life. tion program officer, Mr. Cornuelle soon sector”—in our growing reliance on gov- cast covetous glances at the Volker grants ernment-financed, centrally administered, Richard Cornuelle was a life-long lib- going not to his projects but rather to professionally delivered social services. ertarian, convinced that “man’s power the small, local humanitarian groups over man should be strictly limited and that William Volker, who created the But he insisted that the human “desire that any design for social improvement foundation, said his philanthropy should to serve” was just as primal and power- that depended on government for its also support. Instead of converting those ful as the yearning for political power execution was ill-advised.” grants to his cause, however, they soon or material gain, and once unleashed, it converted Mr. Cornuelle to theirs—the could re-energize our voluntary associa- He developed this political outlook notion that human suffering was best tions and address our problems without in his studies with one of its pioneers, reduced by local voluntary efforts. Mr. oppressive bureaucracies. Ludwig von Mises, then teaching at Cornuelle’s abstract intellectual inclina- the Graduate School of Business at tions could not efface his origins as the Even 50 years ago, Mr. Cornuelle under- New York University. It was the only son of a Midwestern Presbyterian minis- stood that America’s nonprofits had all too job, Mr. Cornuelle noted, that even ter, called to a life of purpose and service. readily become servile adjuncts of govern-
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 ment. But he looked to the “revival of a nonpolitical or even counterpoliti- evident that “public-private partnership” lively competition” between government cal—was not likely to be revived by any is the path recommended by realism. and nonprofits, even though that very political figure. idea “is by a weird public myth, thought At any rate, it is a continuing source of to be illegitimate, disruptive, divisive, But in his later years, with the collapse sadness for any champion of civil society unproductive, and perhaps immoral.” of Soviet totalitarianism abroad and the to see its once-proud and self-sustaining decline of centralized, command-and- institutions engaged in such vigorous To drive home the point, he obtained control corporate organization at home, denial of their own capacity to meet financing from several foundations to Mr. Cornuelle came to the optimistic society’s problems were they forced to start private programs that worked to view that completely without elite guid- rely on voluntary contributions rather provide housing, urban renewal, em- ance, everyday citizens were beginning than mandatory taxation. ployment, and especially low-income to reorganize themselves into small, self- college loans that proved to be at once governing communities. But Mr. Cornuelle’s life and message should more effective and less expensive than be even more compelling and perhaps trou- their government counterparts. No longer satisfied with the roles of bling for his conservative colleagues today, passive voter and taxpayer or pliant cor- who seem to devote their political energies “The notion that a conservative is indif- porate employee, they wanted to have a almost exclusively to engineering a decline ferent to human problems is part of a larger and more immediate say in their in government spending. myth—the same myth that says that the own lives through their own, freely or- government is the only instrument that ganized, self-administered associations. Mr. Cornuelle maintained that it is not can solve social problems,” Mr. Cornu- enough to show that government pro- elle insisted in a Life magazine article on Mr. Cornuelle suggested that libertar- grams are too expensive or ineffective. his efforts in June 1968. ian thinkers—who had so accurately Champions of a free society must also described the theoretical superiority demonstrate, both in thought and in It is entirely forgotten today, but well of free markets to government man- practice, that it too can provide ways to before other conservative presidents in agement but who had so little to say satisfy the human impulse to serve others the 1980s extolled the virtues of “private- about solving social problems—now and to alleviate their suffering. sector initiatives” or “a thousand points of needed to turn their minds to this new light,” Richard Nixon eagerly embraced phenomenon. Conservative donors today seem to be Mr. Cornuelle’s voluntarist notions. more focused on securing electoral victory So he organized financial support for for their ideas than on nurturing their In his 1969 inaugural address, President efforts by Lenore Ealy at the journal concrete expression in the resuscitation of Nixon insisted that “to match the magni- Conversations on Philanthropy, as well local civic associations. tude of our tasks, we need the energies of as scholars associated with George Ma- our people—enlisted not only in grand son University and the New York City Richard Cornuelle’s life and work enterprises but more importantly in think tank the Manhattan Institute, remind us that for friends of liberty, those small, splendid efforts that make to document, celebrate, and provide a no momentary political triumph is an headlines in the neighborhood newspa- secure theoretical footing for these new adequate substitute for the painstaking, per instead of the national journal.” civic examples of what libertarians call immediate, hands-on work of reconsti- “spontaneous order.” tuting, in thought and deed, the sector President Nixon started both a Cabinet to which he affixed the proud adjective committee and a White House office Leaders of today’s nonprofit organiza- “independent.” on voluntary action to cultivate this tions will look at Richard Cornuelle’s approach. call for competition, rather than col- Reprinted with the kind permission of laboration, with government agencies The rapid and quiet demise of President as hopelessly naïve, given their massive Nixon’s volunteerism program, as well reliance on government money. as similar experiences with civil-society efforts in subsequent administrations, Yet with governments at all levels today taught Mr. Cornuelle that the “inde- resolved to balance their budgets on the pendent sector”—in his understanding, backs of nonprofits, it is no longer so www.Philanthropy.com
The Manhattan Institute The Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneurship Awards2012
u 2012 William E. Simon Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Brian Lamb 2 C-SPAN
u 2012 Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship Winners
Suzanne McKechnie Klahr 4 BUILD
Daniel Reingold 6 The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention
Mark Goldsmith 8 Getting Out and Staying Out
Michael Dippy 10 IDignity u Past Lifetime Achievement Award Winners 12 u Past Social Entrepreneurship Award Winners 13
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 BRIAN LAMB C-SPAN Washington, DC
n the late 1960s, as a young Naval of- Washington Post. “If everybody could see Ificer in the Pentagon fielding queries this unfiltered, it would give them choice from radio and television networks, and better perspective.” Lafayette-Indiana-born Brian Lamb got an inside look at the relationship between It was just that vision for the project government and the press. It was a time that would come to be called C-SPAN when most Americans got a limited that makes Brian Lamb a worthy re- diet of national political news from just cipient of the William E. Simon Prize. three main television networks—and He conceived of a new organization to Lamb was concerned that they offered serve a public purpose—and arranged startlingly similar takes on the important the means for it to be privately sup- 400 N. Capitol St NW issues of the day, issues which he knew ported. Such are the characteristics of Suite 650 to be nuanced and complex. a social entrepreneur. Washington, DC 20001 (202) 737-3220 www.c-span.org “I’d been taught all my life that this was In 1977, as the Washington bureau a democracy and that many voices were chief of the industry trade magazine better than fewer voices…and I just kept Cablevision, Lamb was able to win the learning by being part of the system that support of key cable executives for a there were very few voices,” he said. channel that could deliver, for the first There was, Lamb believed, a significant time, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the leg- gap between what actually occurred on islative activities of the U.S. Congress. Capitol Hill and how the activities and C-SPAN—the Cable Satellite Public Af- processes of the federal government fairs Network—was officially launched were perceived in places like Lafayette, in March 1979 with just four employees Indiana. It was a gap he thought should and a $480,000 budget funded by affili- be bridged. ate fees from cable companies.
So it was that Lamb, when he later served Over three decades the network has as Senate staff member, conceived the grown to include C-SPAN2, covering idea for a new television network that the Senate, C-SPAN3, devoted to his- would provide Americans with a better tory, C-SPAN Radio, and C-SPAN.org, understanding of just how their govern- where visitors can view an on-demand William E. Simon ment operates. archive of congressional debates, hear- Lifetime Achievement ings, panel discussions, and briefings, as Award 2012 “I had wanted everybody else to see well as a range of political events from what I could see,” Lamb later told The around the world.
2 The Manhattan Institute est civilian honor. The accompanying citation read, “Brian Lamb has elevated C-SPAN is built on an original vision For those who would follow in his foot- our public debate and helped open up that successfully marshals private sup- steps, Brian Lamb observes, “The real our government to citizens across the port for its public-spirited goals. It does secret of entrepreneurs is learning from nation. His dedication to a transparent not carry advertisements on any of its everyone you know.” political system and to the free flow of television channels, radio stations, or ideas has enriched our civic life. He has websites, nor does it solicit donations In 2007, President George W. Bush helped empower Americans to know and or pledges. Instead, the private cable presented Lamb with the Presidential understand their government and hold and satellite television industry directs Medal of Freedom, the nation’s high- it accountable.” a portion of its own income—six cents per subscriber affiliate—to C-SPAN’s public purposes. It’s an arrangement that allows the network to operate in- dependently; neither the cable industry nor Congress has power over the con- tent of its programming.
“Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress distrusted big media, big power, and the networks. And they both wanted especially to reduce the power of big media to manipulate public policy,” Lamb told biographer Stephen E. Frantzich.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 3 SUZANNE MCKECHNIE KLAHR BUILD Redwood City, CA
n 1999 Suzanne McKechnie Klahr businesses to encourage adolescents to Iwas a recent graduate of Stanford Law stay in school. Originally conceived as an School and in line for a position at a ma- after-school program, Klahr came to real- jor New York firm. Instead, she availed ize that “at-risk” students were unlikely to herself of a public service fellowship stay late. Instead, she persuaded school offered by that firm to provide guidance districts to include BUILD as a for- to potential small-business owners in credit elective taught by a public school low-income East Palo Alto, California. teacher. She also established relationships When a group of four Hispanic teenagers with middle school guidance counselors approached her for advice on whether to identify students for whom BUILD 2385 Bay Road they should drop out of high school to might make the most difference. Redwood City, CA 94063 start a business, she promptly promised (650) 688-5840 to help—but only if they stayed in Now established in two locations in 18 www.BUILD.org school. In that moment, BUILD (In high schools in seven school districts Business to Learn) was born. on both coasts, BUILD is a for-credit class, taught by public school teachers. BUILD uses the teaching of entrepre- During the 2011-12 school year, some neurship, the development of business 900 students—chosen by middle school plans, and the operation of actual small guidance counselors concerned about
Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2012
4 The Manhattan Institute everything from their poor attendance to low grades—enrolled in a ninth-grade class where they learned the basics of how to conceive and then build a small business. They then went on, in teams, to compete for funding and actually to sell their products—ranging from Peruvian-style “beanies” with built-in headphones to customized backpacks and bookmarks. inspire students whom Klahr fears would a four-year college thanks to support otherwise be “bored” and “disengaged.” provided by ROTC. A BUILD staff Klahr says students not only learn the es- member—who had herself served in sentials of business—developing a plan, On average, 80 percent of those enrolled the Air Force—helped Ramirez chart his seeking investors through a public “busi- in the BUILD ninth-grade class continue path. “I always knew I wanted to be in ness plan competition,” and marketing on to the tenth grade. Of those who the military,” he says, wearing a football the ultimate product—but develop an do stay in the program for a full four cap in the halls of Sequoia High School, appreciation of the real-world applica- years—a period that includes academic “but I never knew that could make it tions of a full range of academic subjects. help and college application assistance in possible for me to go to college.” Entrepreneurship is used as a vehicle to the junior and senior years provided by volunteer mentors from prominent busi- BUILD’s evolution has embodied the nesses such as Google and Cisco—virtu- twists and turns of entrepreneurship. His- ally all go on to postsecondary education torically focused on ensuring that its stu- or training programs. dents were admitted to two- or four-year colleges, it has decided to expand its focus Among BUILD’s 97 members of the class to include skilled training programs. It has of 2012—the largest group of gradu- also expanded its definition of success to go ates in BUILD’s history—76 percent beyond enrollment in a post–high school were admitted to four-year colleges. To education or training program to include put this into context: last year, only 80 completion of a degree or certificate pro- percent of public high school seniors gram—and has invested in a database that graduated on time across the country— enables such tracking. In doing so, BUILD regardless of ethnicity and income. has taken a risk because its results may not look as impressive over time. In 2012, Redwood City’s Daniel Ramirez, a son of Mexican immigrants, As a true entrepreneur, however, Klahr became the first in his family to go to is willing to take that risk.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 5 DANIEL REINGOLD The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention Riverdale, NY
hen his mother died, Richard had hospital social worker referred Richard to Wfinancial resources and a good a first-of-its kind program: the Weinberg place to live. But as a survivor of a trau- Center for Elder Abuse Prevention, a matic brain injury as the result of an auto small philanthropically supported initia- accident, he had an unusual problem: he tive attached to one of New York City’s couldn’t distinguish between those who top long-term-care institutions. Within deserved his trust and those who would months, the Weinberg staff had helped take advantage of him. When he guile- annul Richard’s marriage, protect his lessly told a woman he met on a Bronx assets, and admit him to the Hebrew street that he had money and a nice Home, where he has gone on to thrive apartment, she systematically looted his in safety. 5901 Palisade Avenue assets—first with his ATM card, and ul- Riverdale, New York 10471 timately through a sham marriage, despite Richard’s is one of nearly 100 such in- (718) 581-1000 http://www.hebrewhome.org/ already having a husband and children. As terventions undertaken by the Weinberg abuserecovery.asp Richard wasted away from poor nutrition, Center since its opening in 2005 and she stood to inherit everything. made possible by referrals from a network of hospitals and other community insti- This downward spiral of abuse and tutions. The cases range widely—and decline was interrupted only because a none is pretty. An 83-year-old woman
Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2012
6 The Manhattan Institute was thrown out of her house by her son after he drained her bank account. She recovered from apparent dementia after admission to the Hebrew Home. A Meals On Wheels client confided to a visitor that she faced a violent husband and was permitted short-term use of the Weinberg Center while safe accommoda- tion could be arranged.
It was a chance meeting between Hebrew Home director Daniel Reingold and a former prosecutor with experience in elder abuse cases that led Reingold to ask provides is complemented by a range of percent capacity. Twenty-two of those if his institution could simply provide services that the Hebrew Home can pro- sheltered by Weinberg have made the short-term shelter for those referred to it vide—including physical rehabilitation transition from “crisis care” to “extended as abused elderly. The Weinberg Center and legal services. Through Weinberg, care.” The remainder returned to inde- has since developed into a permanent the Hebrew Home has provided 27,000 pendent living or moved in with other and influential part of the Hebrew “shelter days” since the program’s incep- family members. All have been secured Home. The short-term shelter that it tion in 2005. from their abusive situations.
More broadly, the Reingold has been willing to take in a Weinberg Center population group with special and sig- has established a nificant problems into one of the nation’s model that Rein- premier nursing homes. These are people gold has champi- who often require assistance in arrang- oned around the ing for payment should they become country and that residents and who, demographically, are has already led likely to differ from the elderly Jewish to the establish- population that the Hebrew Home was ment of six similar established to serve. All this is manageri- centers. His key ally courageous—and has proved to be insight: even the extremely successful. best-skilled nurs- ing homes are seldom at 100
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 7 MARK GOLDSMITH Getting Out and Staying Out New York, NY
ore than 2.3 million individuals he found that he enjoyed talking to the Mare currently in U.S. prisons and inmates. He returned a second year. In jails—and some 700,000 get out each conversation with an attorney that he year. Tragically, more than 40 percent met in the prison, Goldsmith realized will be back behind bars within three that while the attorney wanted to get years. It’s to break that cycle of recidivism the prisoners out of Rikers, Goldsmith that Mark Goldsmith, a retired New wanted them to stay out. Thus was born York City cosmetics executive, took it Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO), upon himself to start Getting Out and a program focused on serving men who Staying Out (GOSO), focused on setting frequently have no one to turn to for any inmates aged 18-24 in the city’s Rikers kind of help. 91 East 116th St. Island prison on a path away from crime. New York, NY 10029 For GOSO’s first year, Goldsmith met (212) 831-5020 When Goldsmith retired after a career newly discharged men at his neighbor- www.gosonyc.org of senior marketing and managerial jobs hood Starbucks to begin making plans in the cosmetics industry, a friend asked for school or work. In 2004, he opened him to volunteer to be a “Principal for a a small office in East Harlem, where Day” at a New York City public school. Goldsmith and his dedicated staff work- He ended up at a school on Rikers Island, ing with their recently released clients. New York City’s main jail complex, where These men present serious challenges:
Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2012
8 The Manhattan Institute homelessness, drug addiction, mental for job coaching, legal consultations, An in-depth tracking system, Social illness, learning disabilities, dysfunc- personal counseling, and whatever else Solutions, follows the course of each tional family relationships, anger man- is needed. inmate. Since the program began, fewer agement problems, and unresolved legal than 20 percent of GOSO clients have issues. Yet Goldsmith and the staff of GOSO helps the men form practical returned to prison. In the past year, the GOSO are committed to helping each plans focused on hard work. Goldsmith recidivism rate was 9 percent. This figure one go straight. Critically, the men are and the staff counsel the men to accept reflects only those clients who participate told that the one requirement is their any entry-level job that they can find, to after release in GOSO’s community own personal commitment. If they stay with it even when they get frustrated, program through its East Harlem office. stay with the program, GOSO will stay and to develop patience and good These results are achieved by a lean staff with them. work habits. GOSO has a contractual consisting of two professional social relationship with Mount Sinai Hospital workers and three social work interns For those serving their sentences at Rikers, that has proved to be a good source of from prestigious New York City colleges, the GOSO in-prison program helps entry-level positions in its maintenance along with part-time employees in office them develop a transition plan. They department. If a man lands a job, GOSO support, career coaching, and database are instructed to visit the GOSO office will provide a two-week MetroCard to and financial management. immediately after release. Participation cover his transportation until his first in the program is completely voluntary; paycheck arrives. Goldsmith preaches a practical gospel: yet 50 percent of the men from the in- make your boss look good, and you’ll prison program show up at the office, Nearly 4,000 men have been provided look good to your boss. The organization where they are given an alarm clock, a some form of assistance at Rikers by he founded is very much a reflection of notepad and pens, a weekly planner, a GOSO. A total of 1,750 have been seen those values, and the men from Rikers MetroCard, and a professional résumé. in the East Harlem office. The program who seek GOSO’s help are very much They are then scheduled for weekly visits serves 250–300 new clients each year. the better for it.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 9 MICHAEL DIPPY IDignity Orlando, FL
etting a new ID can be difficult, IDignity was founded in 2008 to help Geven for middle-class people who the poor and homeless of Orlando, might be required to produce a certi- Florida, acquire legal identification. fied out-of-state birth certificate or who Borrowing an idea that originated in might need to show a pay stub to replace San Francisco, Orlando mayor Buddy a lost Social Security card. For the poor, Dyer introduced an event in 2006 where the homeless, and those leaving rehab, all the services vital for homeless people prison, or—believe it or not—the mili- would be offered in one place on the tary, these hurdles and the accompany- same day. This included assistance in ing fees make completing the process obtaining a Florida ID. As that event Used with permission of the Orlando Sentinel, copyright 2010 extremely difficult. Yet a valid ID is ended, volunteer Michael Dippy had 424 E. Central Blvd. #199 required to access homeless shelters, cash the heartbreaking assignment of telling Orlando, FL 32801 a check, apply for a job, or open a bank those who had not made it through the (407) 792-1374 account. An enormous number of Ameri- process to come back next year. www.idignity.org cans live disordered and impoverished lives, leaving them without the piece of Since founding IDignity in 2008, paper so necessary for participation in the Dippy has served more than 8,000 legal economy. It is no exaggeration to people, hosting monthly events that say that without an ID, there is no path pull together volunteers from Orlando out of poverty. churches, as well as representatives from
Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2012
10 The Manhattan Institute various government agencies such as the Orange County Department of Health, the DMV, Social Security, and legal assistance. With three satellites open elsewhere in Florida and calls coming in from around the country, IDignity has developed an efficient, cost-effective, and highly successful model for provid- ing a crucial hand to those living on the margins of society. ner agency for help, although IDignity is documents they brought with them, equipped to replace a lost green card, in and what they will need to complete the One recent client was born at home some cases, if there are no complications. process. All subsequent steps are noted and never had a birth certificate; one on a sheet that clients carry throughout woman’s mother remarried eight times This small organization is clearly having the day, with boxes to be checked off and changed her daughter’s surname a large impact. Dippy and his staff—one step by step. Ninety percent of clients are each time. These folks clearly cannot go administrator and a part-time intern— successfully served each month. through the regular line at the DMV. serve 250–275 clients at monthly IDig- IDignity works entirely with U.S. citi- nity events. At intake, clients are seated Dippy was certain that he had thought zens. The occasional client from another with a volunteer who asks questions of every reason that a person might need country is immediately referred to a part- about what form of ID they need, what ID. Then one IDignity client told him that he wanted an ID so that he would not be buried as “John Doe.” Dippy was greatly moved and tried to track down the man to thank him for bringing this up; but the man had died, on the streets in Miami. Thanks to the ID that he had obtained from IDignity, he was buried in Chicago alongside his family. By helping the vulnerable and the needy get ID, IDignity gives them the chance to become full participants in society. It is tragic that so many Americans need this form of assistance, but IDignity is a won- derfully efficient and creative response to a basic problem that government is not in a position to solve.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 11 PAST LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS
2011 HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) began as a modest pilot project on a single block.It now serves Geoffrey Canada www.hcz.org over 8,000 children and 6,000 adults on nearly 100 blocks. 35 East 125th St. HCZ surrounds neighborhood children with an enriching New York, NY 10035 environment of college-oriented peers and supportive adults as (212) 360-3255 a counterweight to “the street.” Students at HCZ’s nationally known Promise Academy charter schools have consistently outperformed their public school peers. HCZ’s success is driven by Canada’s deep belief that all children can succeed, regardless of race, wealth, or zip code. 2010 THE GILDER LEHRMAN The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s purpose is INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN to support the love and study of American history. Originally HISTORY founded by Dick Gilder and Lew Lehrman as a repository for Richard Gilder and rare and invaluable historical documents—including original Lewis Lehrman copies of the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, and www.gilderlehrman.org numerous letters written by the Founding Fathers—the Institute 19 W. 44th Street has expanded dramatically. The Gilder Lehrman Institute now New York, NY 10036 dispatches travelling expositions to schools, libraries, historical (646) 366-9666 sites, and other venues across the country.
2009 KIPP (KNOWLEDGE IS KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of POWER PROGRAM) free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin for success in college and in life. Founded by Mike Feinberg and www.kipp.org David Levin, the KIPP network now boasts ninety-nine schools 135 Main Street in twenty states and the District of Columbia serving more than Suite 1700 26,000 students. San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 399-1556
2008 THE DOE FUND, INC. In twenty years, George McDonald’s Doe Fund has graduated more than 3,500 of the hardest-to-help from the streets to work, George T. McDonald changing the face of New York City in the process. The Doe www.doe.org 232 East 84th Street Fund’s guiding premise is that the homeless are neither victims nor New York, NY 10028 enemies but human beings with “the potential to be contributing [email protected] members of society.” The Fund’s Ready, Willing & Able program (212) 628-5207 is the manifestation of McDonald’s straightforward philosophy, shared by the Manhattan Institute: that people can rebuild their lives through the structure and sense of accomplishment that employment provides.
12 The Manhattan Institute 2007 BRYANT PARK CORPORATION The work of Daniel Biederman, founder of the Bryant Park & 34TH STREET PARTNERSHIP Corporation, 4th Street Partnership, and Grand Central Daniel A. Biederman Partnership, is known to virtually all New Yorkers. Mr. www.bryantpark.org Biederman has used private, nonprofit management and finance 1065 Avenue of Americas to restore and maintain some of New York City’s—and the Suite 2400 world’s—greatest public spaces. The rescue of Bryant Park from New York, NY 10110 crime and degradation sparked and symbolized the renaissance [email protected] (212) 768-4242 of New York.
PAST SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD WINNERS
2011 ENGLISH AT WORK English at Work (E@W) was founded on a set of beliefs: that English language proficiency can lift people and families out of Maile Broccoli-Hickey www.EnglishatWork.org poverty; that instruction must take into account the challenges of 3710 Cedar Street, Box 18 transportation and child care; and that classes must be customized Austin, TX 78705 to account for participants’ work situations. Businesses sign on for (512) 524-5421 a set of classes that meet twice a week for 90 minutes each. Class members attend the class one hour before the end of their shift and stay for an extra 30 minutes. The results have been impressive, with higher retention rates, positive returns on investment for businesses, and faster advancement for students.
GLAMOUR GALS Glamour Gals provides makeovers—facials and manicures— Rachel Doyle to an often-isolated population: elderly women confined to www.GlamourGals.org nursing homes. The goals (and results) are much deeper. Founder PO Box 1284 Rachel Doyle’s stated goals include fostering “intergenerational Commack, NY 11725 relationships,” and alleviating “elder loneliness.” The relationships (631) 404-0761 established are much more important than the makeup. Many of the young women note a connection with their own career aspirations in nursing and professional makeup artistry; meanwhile, residents admit that they “mainly like the company.” With over 800 members and 38 chapters in 14 states, Glamour Gals has provided an estimated 71,000 hours of service in just two years.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 13 THE WORKFAITH Based out of Houston, the WorkFaith Connection (WFC) seeks to CONNECTION help those transitioning out of homelessness, prison, or addiction. WFC accepts referrals of clients from 25 other relief organizations, Barbara Elliott and Sandy Schultz from churches, homeless shelters, and the courts. The goal being to 10120 Northwest Freeway provide the skills, knowledge, relationships, and experience required Suite 200 for building a new life. The program’s successes are clear—54 percent Houston, Texas 77092 of all graduates have kept their jobs for a year, and earn, on average, (713) 984-9611 $9 per hour. While WFC’s immediate goal for clients is to find and www.WorkFaithConnection. org keep an entry-level job for a year, they support the clients further with career-planning, work training, or school opportunities.
IMPROVED SOLUTIONS FOR ISUS (Improved Solutions for Urban Systems) has built a top- URBAN SYSTEMS (ISUS) performing school emphasizing career and vocational preparation, Ann Higdon focusing on some of the hardest-to-reach students; some 70 percent 140 N. Keowee St. of ISUS students have previously dropped out of high school, and Dayton, OH 45402 the majority have been involved with juvenile court. The charter (937) 223-2323 school provides a combination of academic and field-oriented www.isusinc.com/ vocational training with a focus on helping students obtain a high school diploma, not just a GED. Through partnerships with local businesses, students are certified in four areas: construction, health care, computer technology, and manufacturing.
MEDWISH INTERNATIONAL MedWish began when Lee Ponsky, then a college student, participated in a faith-based medical-missionary group that led him to the Baptist Dr. Lee Ponsky Missionary Hospital on Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Seeing the staff trying to 17325 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44112 adapt to a lack of equipment, he recalled the waste of medical supplies (216) 692-1685 he saw as a surgical assistant. He decided to approach nurses whom he www.MedWish.org knew from his days as a volunteer; they agreed to put out collection bins for surplus equipment. By 2006, the organization hired its first full-time employee—executive director Tish Dahlby. Since then, contributions have increased from 20,000 pounds to 800,000; staff has increased from one full-time member to eight; and relationships with 38 hospitals have been formalized.
14 The Manhattan Institute 2010 THE CRISTO REY NETWORK The Cristo Rey Network provides a quality, Catholic, college preparatory education to young people who live in urban Rev. John P. Foley, S.J. 14 E. Jackson Blvd. communities with limited educational options. Every student Suite 1200 works five full days a month to fund the majority of his or her Chicago, IL 60604 education, gain job experience, grow in self-confidence, and realize (312) 784-7200 www.cristoreynetwork.org the relevance of his or her education.
THE MISSION CONTINUES The Mission Continues was founded in 2007 after CEO Eric Eric Greitens Greitens returned home from service in Iraq as a Navy SEAL. 1141 South 7th Street Upon his return, Eric visited with wounded Marines at Bethesda St. Louis, MO 63104 Naval Hospital in Maryland. Inspired, Greitens founded The (314) 588-8805 Mission Continues to build an America where every returning www.missioncontinues.org veteran can serve again as a citizen leader, and where together we honor the fallen by living their values through service.
RESOURCES FOR Resources for Educational and Employment Opportunities is EDUCATIONAL committed to empowering community college students with the AND EMPLOYMENT opportunity to transfer to a four-year university, to earn a college OPPORTUNITIES (REEO) degree, and to obtain a professional position upon graduation. Scott Stimpfel REEO’s partnership model is aimed at creating mutually beneficial 1107 Fair Oaks Avenue relationships between community colleges, community college Suite 194 students, universities, and corporations. South Pasadena, CA 91030 www.reeo.org
CIVIC BUILDERS Civic Builders is a nonprofit facilities developer that provides turnkey real estate solutions for high-performing charter schools. David Umansky 304 Hudson Street By assuming responsibility for building financing, acquisition, 3rd Floor design, and construction, Civic Builders relieves charter schools of New York, NY 10013 the burden of navigating a complex real estate market and provides (212) 571-7260 www.civicbuilders.org affordable educational facilities.
SQUASHBUSTERS/NATIONAL The SquashBusters/NUSEA mission is to promote squash and URBAN SQUASH AND education among urban youth. The organization’s ultimate aim EDUCATION ASSOCIATION is to oversee the creation and longevity of many urban squash Greg Zaff programs so that thousands of young people across America P.O. Box 619 benefit every day from athletic, educational, and community Bronx, NY 10458 enrichment activities. NUSEA acts as a catalyst, organizer, and (617) 373-7375 www.nationalurbansquash.org overseer of urban squash’s improvement and growth.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 15 2009 ROCKING THE BOAT Rocking the Boat uses boats to help young people challenged by severe economic, educational, and social disadvantage develop into Adam Green empowered and responsible adults. Participating during the school- 812 Edgewater Road day, after-school, and summer in hands-on wooden boatbuilding Bronx NY 10474 and on-water education programs, young people in the South (718) 466-5799 www.rockingtheboat.org Bronx develop the self-confidence to set ambitious goals and the skills needed to achieve them. Adam Green launched Rocking the Boat in 1996 as a volunteer project in an East Harlem junior high school. It has since developed into a fully sustainable independent non-profit organization annually serving over 2,500 young people and community members. NATIONAL KIDNEY REGISTRY The mission of the National Kidney Registry is to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, Garet Hil, Founder speed, and number of living donor transplants in the world. The P.O. Box 460 Registry’s vision is that every incompatible or poorly compatible Babylon, NY 11702 living donor in the world will pass through a common registry— www.kidneyregistry.org 95 percent of these pairs will find a match in less than six months with the majority being age-compatible, six-antigen matches— extending the functioning life of these transplanted kidneys while simultaneously reducing the deceased donor waiting lists.
CINCINNATI WORKS Cincinnati Works offers a holistic approach to eliminating poverty in the Cincinnati Tri-State area through a network of services and Dave and Liane Phillips partnerships designed to help its members overcome the barriers to 708 Walnut Street stable, long-term employment. Its members include the currently Floor 2 unemployed, and those who are underemployed (i.e. the working Cincinnati, OH 45202 www.cincinnatiworks.org poor). The short-term goal for the unemployed is to help them stabilize in a job that pays $7.00 to $10.00 per hour with health benefits. The long-term goal for the underemployed is for them to earn 200 percent of the federal poverty rate and move to economic self-sufficiency. Economically self-sufficient people become taxpayers and productive citizens who no longer require public assistance. UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD For two decades, the United Neighborhood Organization ORGANIZATION (UNO) has been challenging Hispanics to play active roles in the PATH TO AMERICAN development of a vital American community. UNO has carried CITIZENSHIP AND ASSIMILATION this mission into an array of major campaigns and initiatives, ranging from Chicago’s school reform movement in the 1980’s, Juan Rangel, CEO to our naturalization drive—which has serviced over 65,000 new 954 West Washington American citizens since the 1990’s—to the establishment of the Boulevard, 3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60607 UNO Charter School Network in 2004. (312) 432-6301 www.uno-online.org
16 The Manhattan Institute 2008 CAREERS THROUGH Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) is a curriculum CULINARY ARTS enrichment program linking public high school culinary PROGRAM (C-CAP) teachers and their students to the foodservice industry and Richard Grausman preparing students for careers in hospitality. New York City is the www.ccapinc.org headquarters and flagship program. The C-CAP National Network 250 West 57th Street includes Arizona (statewide); Chicago; Hampton Roads, Virginia; Suite 2015 Los Angeles; Philadelphia; and Prince George’s County, MD. New York, NY 10107 [email protected] (212) 974-7111
GIRLS EDUCATIONAL & Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS) is the only MENTORING SERVICES (GEMS) organization in New York State specifically designed to serve Rachel Lloyd girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual www.gems-girls.org exploitation and domestic trafficking. GEMS was founded in 1999 298B West 149th Street by Rachel Lloyd, a young woman who had been sexually exploited New York, NY 10039 as a teenager. GEMS has helped hundreds of young women [email protected] and girls, ages 12-21, who have experienced commercial sexual (212) 926-8089 exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and to develop to their full potential.
BEACON HILL VILLAGE Beacon Hill Village is a membership organization in the heart of Boston. Created in 2001 by a group of long-time Beacon Hill Susan McWhinney-Morse residents as an alternative to moving into retirement or assisted www.beaconhillvillage.org 74 Joy Street living communities, Beacon Hill Village organizes and delivers Boston, MA 02114 programs and services that allow members to lead safe, healthy, and [email protected] productive lives in their own homes. (617) 723-9713
ST. BERNARD PROJECT The St. Bernard Project creates housing opportunities so that Hurricane Katrina survivors can return to their homes and Zack Rosenburg and communities. Started in March 2006 by Zack Rosenburg and Liz Elizabeth McCartney www.stbernardproject.org McCartney the organization provides vital resources and support to 8324 Parc Place families in a seamless and timely manner. The St. Bernard Project’s Chalmette, LA 70043 programs and goals are directly driven by the needs expressed by [email protected] the community members. (504) 277-6831
CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD The Center for Neighborhood Enterprise was founded in 1981 to ENTERPRISE: VIOLENCE-FREE help residents of low-income neighborhoods address the problems ZONE PROGRAM of their communities. CNE has headquarters in Washington, Robert L. Woodson, Sr. D.C., but operates throughout the nation to help community and www.cneonline.org faith-based organizations with training, technical assistance, and 1625 K Street NW, Suite 1200 linkages to sources of support. The Center chronicles and interprets Washington, DC 20006 their experiences to make recommendations for public policy and [email protected] works to remove barriers that hamper their efforts to solve societal (202) 518-6500 problems. CNE has provided training to more than 2,600 leaders of grassroots organizations in thirty-nine states.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 17 2007 MORE THAN WHEELS More Than Wheels (formerly Bonnie CLAC) helps people get the (BONNIE CLAC) best deal on a reliable and fuel-efficient car. Since its establishment in 2001, More Than Wheels has helped nearly 1,200 New Robert Chambers www.bonnieclac.org England residents get the best deal on a new or nearly new car by 89 South Street, Suite 401 negotiating with dealers to secure the lowest price and providing Boston, MA 02111 the lowest interest rate available. [email protected] (866) 455-2522
A HOME WITHIN, INC. A Home Within seeks to heal the chronic loss experienced by foster children by providing lasting and caring relationships to Toni V. Heineman, DMH current and former foster youth. A Home Within chapters around www.ahomewithin.org 2555 Van Ness Ave. the country improve the lives of foster youth through direct Suite 101 services, professional training, public awareness, and advocacy. San Francisco, CA 94109 [email protected] (888) 898-2249
RECLAIM A YOUTH Reclaim A Youth’s mission is to empower youth ages twelve ORGANIZATION through eighteen with basic values, affirm their individual talents, Addie Mix and help to build a healthy sense of self-worth and community. Reclaimayouth.org The vision is to improve the quality of life for our future young P.O. Box 740 leaders and ensure a better tomorrow. Glenwood, IL 60425 [email protected] (708) 757-7293
PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) helps ex-offenders PROGRAM (PEP) reintegrate into their communities. PEP staff, volunteer business executives, and MBA students teach business concepts, etiquette, Catherine F. Rohr www.prisonentreprenuership.com writing and grammar, interview technique, team dynamics, even P.O. Box 926274 how to offer a firm handshake. Within four weeks of release, 97 Houston, TX 77292-6274 percent of PEP graduates have found employment. [email protected] (832) 767-0928
THE FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE The Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to the families of children with special needs. In addition to helping Rabbi Levi and those in need, the Friendship Circle enriches its vast network Bassie Shemtov www.friendshipcircle.org of volunteers by enabling them to reap the rewards of selfless 6892 West Maple Road giving, and its affiliate, Friendship House, provides support to West Bloomfield, MI 48322 individuals and families struggling with addiction, isolation, [email protected] and other crises. (248) 788-7878
18 The Manhattan Institute 2006 VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) was started by retired physician Jack McConnell in 1994 in South Carolina, where seasonal Amy Hamlin unemployment left many people without health insurance. Executive www.Volunteersinmedicine.org 162 Saint Paul Street director Amy Hamlin, a former nurse practitioner from Vermont, has Burlington VT 05401 been the entrepreneurial chief executive for over a decade and now [email protected] oversees a network of sixty clinics in twenty-five states. (802) 651-0112
THE TAPROOT FOUNDATION The Taproot Foundation (TF), founded in San Francisco in 2001, Aaron Hurst delivers support to organizations through a structured volunteer www.taprootfoundation.org management process. TF provides “service grant” awards of teams 466 Geary Street, Suite 200 of prescreened volunteers with specific roles. Five volunteers work San Francisco CA 94102 together for about five hours per week for six months on each [email protected] project. A Taproot volunteer manager directs the team with a (415) 359-1423 detailed blueprint to deliver a specific product.
PROJECT LEAD THE WAY Founding benefactor and CEO Richard Liebich established Richard C. Liebich Project Lead the Way in 1997. The mission: to create dynamic www.pltw.org partnerships with schools to prepare a diverse group of students 3939 Priority Way South Drive for success in science, engineering, and engineering technology. Suite 200. Indianapolis, IN 46420 [email protected] (317) 699-0200
PROJECT KID — RESPONDING Project K.I.D. promotes the development of intentional and TO KIDS IN DEVASTATION, integrated community-based capabilities for effectively addressing Paige T. Ellison-Smith the needs of children and families in disasters. Project K.I.D. Dr. Lenore Ealy, Chairman was founded in September 2005 in the days immediately after www.project-kid.org Hurricane Katrina and successfully developed and deployed its 1807 Remington Green Circle PlayCare response model in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana Tallahassee, FL 32308 for six months. (888) 352-4453
INNER-CITY NEIGHBORHOOD The mission of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie Inner-City ART HOUSE Neighborhood Art House is to enable children to experience beauty, Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB grow in positive self-expression and self-discipline, and develop into Sister Anne Wambach, full and productive human beings. The program provides classes in Executive Director the visual, performing and literary arts to “at risk” children in Erie, www.eriebenedictines.org PA in a safe, nourishing and caring environment. 201 East 10th Street Erie, PA 16503 [email protected] (814) 455-5508
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 19 2005 MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF GREATER Jose-Pablo Fernandez, with the Houston public HOUSTON, INC. schools and the Monterrey (Mexico) Institute of Jose-Pablo Fernandez, Founder Technology, created a program that helped hundreds CCA Alliance, Inc. of recent immigrants, some barely literate in Spanish, www.mexicaninstitute.org become computer-literate. Through school computer 4601 St. Caroline Street rooms and distance learning, graduates get jobs and Houston, TX 77004 start their own businesses. The community learning (713) 871-0744 center program draws immigrants into American life, brings them to their children’s schools, and motivates them for higher education.
PHILADELPHIA FUTURES FOR YOUTH Philadelphia Futures prepares students from low- income families to enter and succeed in college, Joan C. Mazzotti providing mentoring, academic enrichment, college www.philadelphiafutures.org 230 S. Broad Street, 7th Floor guidance, and financial incentives. The goal is to Philadelphia, PA 19102 increase the percentage of Philadelphia graduates [email protected] prepared for higher education and to reduce the (215) 790-1666 institutional barriers to their academic success. Corporate attorney Joan Mazzotti took charge in 1999.
RISE (RESOURCES FOR Temp Keller, a former teacher, founded Resources INDISPENSABLE SCHOOLS for Indispensable Schools and Educators (RISE) AND EDUCATORS) to connect job-seeking teachers with dynamic Temp Keller principals and to strengthen work environments. www.risenetwork.org The target clientele are experienced teachers with 2601 Mission Street, Suite 902 enthusiasm and a valid teaching credential. San Francisco, CA 94110 [email protected] (415) 821-7473
SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER Grady “Mack” McCarter, a minister without COMMUNITY RENEWAL a congregation, revived Jane Addams’s early settlement-house movement in the black Reverend Mack McCarter www.sbcr.us neighborhoods of Shreveport and neighboring 838 Margaret Place Bossier, building eight “Friendship Houses” in Shreveport, LA 71101 some of the poorest neighborhoods in America. [email protected] Some 40,000 people have joined Shreveport-Bossier (318) 425-3222 Community Renewal’s (SBCR) “We Care Team,” paying $2 a year and wearing an SBCR button. Block leaders unite these members and help them become friends as well as neighbors.
20 The Manhattan Institute 2004 BRIDGES TO LIFE Bridges to Life believes that understanding the impact John Sage of crime will spark remorse in criminals and lessen www.bridgestolife.org the chance that they will commit new crimes after P.O. Box 570895 being released from prison. Bridges is a fourteen- Houston, TX 77257 week project conducted in prison and led by trained [email protected] volunteers. The curriculum includes victim-impact (713) 463-7200 panels and small-group discussions, typically with five inmates, two victims, and a lay facilitator.
CENTER FOR TEACHING The Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship (CTE) ENTREPRENEURSHIP was founded fifteen years ago in Milwaukee’s East ReDonna Rodgers Side neighborhood by ReDonna Rodgers as an www.ceoofme.biz effort to revive the tradition of self-reliance and 2821 N. 4th Street, Suite 305 business skills that she was fortunate to learn as a Mailbox 58 child. Fundamental to the program philosophy is the Milwaukee, WI 53212 “CEO of me”: punctuality, self-discipline, business [email protected] (414) 263-1833 etiquette, perseverance, motivation, leadership, and money management.
READ ALLIANCE READ Alliance (the Reading Excellence and Discovery Foundation) was founded in 2000 to help children Al Sikes, Chairman learn to read. The READ model pairs pool readers in www.readalliance.org 80 Maiden Lane, 11th Floor kindergarten, first- and second-grade with academically New York, NY 10038 successful teenagers, to tutor them after school or in [email protected] an intensive summer program. The program is also (646) 867-6101 designed to provide jobs and encourage teaching careers.
UPWARDLY GLOBAL Upwardly Global acculturates immigrants to succeed in America and helps employers understand the Jane Leu, Founder skills of the immigrant workforce. Founded in San Nikki Cicerani, Executive Director www.upwardlyglobal.org Francisco, UpGlo opened a second office in New 582 Market Street, Suite 1207 York in 2008, and in 2009, a Chicago office was San Francisco, CA 94104 opened. It serves immigrants of less than five years [email protected] who have permanent work authorization, a university (415) 834-9901 degree, good English and computer skills but who are unemployed or underemployed because they don’t know how to apply for work in America. UpGlo also enlists corporate partners seeking workplace diversity and immigrants’ job skills.
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 21 2003 FIRST PLACE FUND FOR YOUTH Life in foster care is arduous for children whose parents Amy Lemley, Cofounder cannot adequately raise them. A continued concern is the fate of these children as they “age out” of foster care at age Sam Cobbs, Executive Director eighteen. These teenagers are handed their possessions www.firstplacefund.org 426 17th St. and sent out into the world with poor academic skills, few Oakland, CA 94612 life skills, and much psychological damage. Amy Lemley, [email protected] cofounder of the First Place Fund for Youth in Oakland, (510) 272-0979 created an organization that helps with housing, reading skills, and health care, and prepares these teenagers for self- reliance and independent living.
LIVING LANDS AND WATERS Living Lands and Waters (LL&W) is a floating recycling center visiting a long list of river towns once a year. The Chad Pregracke organization has grown from three barges a year (with a www.livinglandsandwaters.org 17624 Route 84 North fourth for crew quarters and office) to using six or seven East Moline, IL 61244 barges, visiting nine states in the Midwest and collecting [email protected] four million pounds of garbage annually from the (309) 496-9848 Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers. LL&W has trained 1,500 teachers in educational workshops on the history and ecology of the rivers.
THINK DETROIT PAL Mike Tenbusch and Dan Varner founded Think Michael Tenbusch and Detroit in 1997. These two University of Michigan law Daniel Varner school graduates remembered their own sports teams as children and started a baseball league in a Detroit Think Detroit PAL (2007) housing project, appealing to local merchants for funds Daniel S. Varner, Chief Executive Officer to renovate the nearby city-owned baseball diamond. www.thinkdetroit.org By 2003, their nonprofit organization Think Detroit 111 West Willis enrolled 4,000 kids in baseball and soccer leagues with Detroit, MI 48201 500 volunteers as coaches. [email protected] (313) 833-1600
WORKING TODAY Sara Horowitz founded Working Today in 1995 to address the needs of the growing independent workforce. Sara Horowitz www.freelancersunion.org Working Today seeks to update the nation’s social safety 20 Jay Street, Suite 700 net, developing systems for all working people to access Brooklyn, NY 11201 affordable benefits, regardless of their job arrangement. [email protected] As executive director, Horowitz takes an entrepreneurial (718) 228-9580 approach, pursuing creative, market-based solutions to
pressing social problems.
Year Up Gerald Chertavian’s Year Up (YU) combines high expectations with marketable job skills, stipends, Gerald Chertavian www.yearup.org apprenticeships, college credit, and a behavior 93 Summer Street management system to place young adults on a path Boston, MA 02110 to economic self-sufficiency. YU places participants in [email protected] information technology help desks and other behind- (617) 542-1533 the-scenes computer-dependent jobs.
22 The Manhattan Institute 2002 SHEPHERD’S HOPE In 1996, the Reverend William Barnes, pastor of Saint Luke’s United Methodist Church of Orlando, Dr. William S. Barnes Florida, felt compelled to help the working men www.shepherdshope.org 4851 S. Apopka-Vineland Road and women in Orlando who had no access to health Orlando, FL 32819 care. Thinking that some medical professionals in [email protected] his congregation might be interested in helping, he (407) 876-6699 could not have imagined the network of volunteers that would become Shepherd’s Hope, a consortium of local churches that treats patients free of charge.
COLLEGE SUMMIT Through summer workshops, College Summit motivates and trains students to boost college Jacob Schramm, Founder and CEO enrollment in their high schools. College Summit www.collegesummit.org 1763 Columbia Road NW also works with educators to embed postsecondary Washington, DC 20009 planning structures and resources into each school. [email protected] This includes a for-credit College Summit class, (202) 319-1763 teacher training, and application-management tools.
THE NEW JERSEY ORATORS The New Jersey Orators is a volunteer organization founded in 1985 by a small group of New Jersey James G. Hunter African-American corporate executives who set out www.njorators.org 812 Hamilton Street to improve the language skills primarily of African- Somerset, NJ 08873 American youth, from ages seven to eighteen years, in [email protected] preparation for roles of leadership and employment. (732) 846-5011
Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 23 2001 JUMP (JUNIOR UNIFORMED John Dixon, a retired army sergeant, and his wife MENTORING PROGRAM) Catherine knew that the legions of fatherless and undisciplined kids in their Buffalo, NY neighborhood John and Catherine Dixon Buffalo, NY 14204 would benefit from a structured military-style program run by former military officers. Sadly, John Dixon passed away, and the Junior Uniformed Mentoring Program (JUMP) is no longer in operation. His legacy is the many lives he touched in Buffalo.
NEIGHBORHOOD TRUST FINANCIAL Starting with $85,000 in seed money from the PARTNERS Echoing Green Foundation, Mark Levine established Mark Levine Credit Where Credit Is Due, a nonprofit organization Justine Zinkin, Executive Director that promotes economic empowerment in upper www.cwcid.org Manhattan by increasing low-income people’s 1112 St. Nicholas Avenue access to, understanding of, and control over New York, NY 10032 financial services. CWCID runs a bilingual financial [email protected] education program and in 1997 opened a community (212) 927-5771 development credit union called Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union (NTFCU).
THE SEED FOUNDATION Eric Adler and fellow management consultant Rajiv Vinnakota built and manage a boarding Eric Adler and Rajiv Vinnakota school in an impoverished area of southeast www.seedfoundation.com 1776 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., providing underserved students Suite 600 with a college-prep education. The SEED School Washington, DC 20036 opened in 1998, admits all students by lottery, and [email protected] is the only urban public boarding school in the (202) 785-4123 nation. SEED has a rigorous academic program in a safe and structured environment.
THE STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION Founded in 1990, Steppingstone develops and implements programs that prepare urban schoolchildren Michael Danziger for educational opportunities leading to college. The www.tsf.org 155 Federal Street, Suite 800 program began in Boston and Philadelphia and recently Boston, MA 02110 expanded to Hartford. Currently, 850 students are [email protected] enrolled in Boston, 200 in Philadelphia, and thirty in (617) 423-6300 Hartford. Steppingstone “Scholars” participate in a fourteen-month program, from fourth to seventh grade.
24 The Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212.599.7000 Fax: 212.599.3494 www.manhattan-institute.org
The Manhattan Institute is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. EIN#13-2912529