Awards of Excellence
Each year CAN Insurance Services recognizes outstanding nonprofits and their leaders with the CAN Awards of Excellence. Only CAN members are eligible to receive the awards, each of which carries a $5,000 prize.
Calls for nomination come out each spring or early summer, the nomination deadline is generally in September, and the awards are granted at the Annual CAN Conference each fall. Please visit the CAN Insurance Services website to download copies of the nomination form. If you have further questions regarding the award, please call (213) 347-2070.
Previous Award Recipients:
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
Excellence in Leadership award went to Marianne Haver Hill, Executive Director of MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity). Marianne Haver Hill has been the executive director of MEND since 1987. MEND is a comprehensive social services organization that serves the poverty population of northeast San Fernando Valley. Beyond the basics of sound management, Marianne has also made key decisions that have resulted in high-quality programs at MEND. During her tenure, MEND has gone through extraordinary growth from serving a few thousand people per month to over 40,000. Under Marianne’s guidance, MEND recently completed a multi million-dollar campaign resulting in a new 40,000 square-foot facility to serve the ever increasing numbers of clients. Marianne’s effective leadership has ensured MEND’s long-term financial health. While she is one of the most publicly recognized faces for the organization, Marianne always share credit for its success with the volunteers she works with at MEND.
Achievement in Innovation award went to the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership. The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership enriches and strengthens nonprofits, enhances community involvement and leadership and promotes the impact and value of the nonprofit sector through a broad range of services, programs and resources. The Center’s programs and services have played a significant role in creating a healthy nonprofit sector for five decades by offering workshops, seminars, and to provide affinity groups opportunities for networking, peer support, and learning best practices. The Center was one of 12 agencies in the country to receive a prestigious two-year grant from the Respectability Initiative of the National Council on Aging, Nonprofits, businesses, and volunteers look to The Center for programs and services in Marin County.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Elaine Leader, Ph.D., Executive Director and Co-Founder, TEEN LINE. TEENLINE was formed in 1980 to help troubled teenagers in a manner they would readily accept…teens helping teens. It is their mission to provide a safety net for teenagers, before their problems reach crisis proportions through their hotline, website, out reaches to youth and adult training workshops. Elaine Leader designed all of TEEN LINE’s programs, and has been instrumental in every aspect of the success of this organization.
Achievement in Innovation Award went to Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition, a dynamic social movement that works to overcome obstacles to care for children with life-threatening conditions and their families through collaboration with children’s hospitals, hospices, home health, social service, individuals, and grass roots agencies. CHPCC advocates for policies and programs that address the harsh realities faced by seriously ill children-particularly their need for coordinated, comprehensive support that integrates medical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual services from the point of diagnosis throughout the course of treatment.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to John Mealey, Executive Director, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition in Indio. Formed 25 years ago, the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition is a nonprofit housing development organization that serves low-income individuals and families in Riverside County. With Mealey at its helm, the Coalition has improved the living conditions of over 1,000 low-income workers by providing them with safe and affordable housing. Mealey and the CVHC staff also seek to establish a strong sense of community within these developments by sponsoring a variety of service projects including educational programs, a health clinic and communal gardens.
Achievement in Innovation Award (Northern California) went to Thimmakka's Resources, which helps restaurants reduce their impact on the environment by providing cheap, environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional supplies. Local county governments then recognize participating restaurants as certified green businesses. Currently there are over 90 restaurants participating in the program. Founded in 1998 as an outreach effort to the South Asian community, Thimmakka's Resources also targets and serves minority businesses and communities with culturally appropriate methods.
Achievement in Innovation Award (Southern California) went to Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE). For over a decade, SAJE has helped working class people in Los Angeles achieve a more equitable society through community organizing, coalition-building and grassroots policy. Their many programs and campaigns include Better Neighborhood, Same Neighbors; Redevelopment Projects that Provide Community Benefits; Jobs for Low-income Families; and Affordable Housing for Low-Income Families.
Volunteer of the Year was awarded to David "Bud" Sperman of Justice Now. A community-based nonprofit located in Oakland, Justice Now trains community members and students to provide direct legal services and support community organizing against human rights abuses in women's prisons. A computer engineer by day, Sperman has spent countless hours of his spare time upgrading and maintaining Justice Now's IT equipment. Among his many achievements: He created a network system out of donated equipment, built computer stations for 31 people and inspired his fellow engineers to volunteer in similar causes.
Justice Now co-director Cassandra Shaylow spoke on his behalf. In addition to his IT work, Shaylor commended Sperman's commitment to Justice Now's mission. As a child of Holocaust survivors, Sperman is determined to make sure that state violence does not happen again. Like so many nonprofit volunteers, Sperman is inspirational not just because of the work he does but also because of the passion and dedication he brings to his work.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Libby Maynard, Executive Director of The Ink People Center for the Arts, for nearly three decades of tireless work to create an encompassing organization and a viable arts community in Eureka. In addition to ensuring the strength and advancing the mission of The Ink People, Maynard has been active in local decision-making and new initiatives that have resulted in heightened opportunities for artists and a more prominent arts and culture scene in the city. Nominator Marcia Wolhandler, a volunteer with The Ink People, said that Maynard's "persistent voice was one of the reasons Humboldt County acknowledged arts and culture as a primary industry cluster. The arts are a real and powerful economic force in the county... This means a great deal to a community that has had to rapidly transition from a lumber and fishing economy to tourism, retail, and light manufacturing."
Achievement in Innovation Award went to Seacology in Berkeley, for its work on the Tsunami Relief Fund. Seacology trades aid to island communities around the world in exchange for preservation of local environments. The organization dedicated every penny of income raised for the Tsunami Relief Fund to projects in its island communities and asked local people there what they needed to get back on their feet. While their answers were often surprising, the organization put faith in the people they were helping to know best. Said Executive Director Duane Silverstein, "We wanted to be able to look them in the eye and say every cent we raised, we passed onto you."
Achievement in Innovation Award also went to the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Fund in Sausalito for its efforts to reduce child labor in Nepal, and particularly for its Indentured Daughters program, which has already rescued 1,600 girls -- some as young as six -- from lives of bonded servitude in a remote area in western Nepal. The program succeeds by replacing the money families get by selling their daughters with a piglet or goat, which they can breed and sell. In addition, the program runs a micro-lending program, pays for the girls' educational expenses, and runs an aggressive awareness campaign to stop the age-old practice.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Frances A. Espinoza of the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles for her strong vision and steady determination that have resulted in important advances in southern California’s fair housing movement, and for strengthening her organization during tough times through a merger, fund diversification, and infrastructural upgrades.
Achievement in Innovation Award went to the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking in Los Angeles for its innovation in creating a comprehensive menu of services to aid victims of forced labor and slavery in southern California—including social services, advocacy, and nationwide training programs.
Innovation in Health Services Award went to Beverly Burns, L.Ac., Medical Director of the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic in Oakland for her longtime diverse work in developing this one-of-a-kind organization; serving the low-income women with cancer who seek complementary medicine there; training staff; and educating communities about the importance of complementary care.
Volunteer of the Year Award went to Edmund Evans of Independent Living Services of Northern California in Chico for his 20-year tenure as an inspirational, upbeat, and dedicated volunteer who creates a culture of acceptance and respect among staff and consumers alike.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Joseph Neisen, Ph.D., Executive Director of New Leaf: Services for Our Community in San Francisco. Niesen has led New Leaf since 1996, during which time the organization has doubled in size, dramatically decreased its reliance on public funding, and expanded programs to ensure access to mental health services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Addressing the crowd, Neisen said, “Our work is clearly a labor of love.”
Achievement in Innovation Award went to the Sensory Access Foundation in Sunnyvale. Led by Executive Director Diana L. Drews, who accepted the award, the organization has helped blind and visually impaired people find and retain competitive employment since 1973. With a 97% retention rate among clients over the last seven years, the Sensory Access Foundation is now developing a national model for employment preparation, job development, placement, accommodation, retention, and training for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Innovation in Health Services Award went to Lawren Miller Askew, BSN, RN, PHN, Health Services Coordinator at Westside Children’s Center in Culver City. Miller Askew has developed community-based preventive health services that cut across programs at this organization, which provides a continuum of services for families overwhelmed by poverty, addiction, isolation, and cultural separation. She has also initiated partnerships with universities in Los Angeles to provide community-based interdisciplinary training to nurses and pediatricians. Miller Askew said, in accepting her award, that “being recognized in this way encourages you to think, ‘What’s next?’”
Volunteer of the Year Award went to Josie Lopez, a volunteer at The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of OC in Garden Grove. As a volunteer for The Center since 1993, Lopez has put in countless hours organizing events, running HIV and syphilis testing services, training counselors, and conducting outreach to people who might be hesitant to come into The Center. She has taken on more responsibilities for The Center when needed, including organizing an annual fundraising event and stepping up to cover expanded hours in The Center's testing clinic. Upon accepting her award, Lopez said, “Volunteering feels good. Give one day and you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
Mission Impact Award, funded by Wells Fargo Foundation and The Management Center, went to People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation in San Luis Obispo County. The organization provides affordable housing and programs leading to self-sufficiency for low-income families, farmworkers, older adults and other special needs groups on California’s central coast. The organization also developed and now manages more than 4,000 affordable apartments and has helped nearly 1,000 low-income families to build their first home.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Mary Gimenez-Caulder, Executive Director of Harbor Interfaith Services, Inc. in Los Angeles County. The organization provides a host of support services to homeless and working poor people, striving to build self-sufficiency and end hunger and homelessness and assisting clients through every step of becoming self-sufficient. Executive Director since 1994, Gimenez-Caulder has brought Harbor Interfaith Services from being “two paychecks from closing” to boasting a solid base of funding, a staff of 30, and a volunteer corps 100 strong.
Achievement in Innovation Award went to Harriet C. Prichard, Executive Director of Alternative Gifts International in San Bernardino County. Alternative Gifts International (AGI) supports 300 “alternative gift markets” each year where people can buy gifts for family and friends that benefit causes worldwide. Pritchard developed the AGI idea in 1980 in an effort to counter the commercialism of the holidays. Her organization now raises funds for 33 national and global projects each year and has raised a total of $14 million in grants for hundreds of projects.
Achievement in Innovation by a Health Care Organization, funded by The California Endowment, went to Ysabel Duron, Founder & Executive Director, Las Isabelas in Santa Clara County. Las Isabelas provides information, treatment and support for uninsured, low-income and immigrant Latinas battling breast cancer and trains community members as health educators. The organization was launched after community health workers found that Latinas have a disproportionately high mortality rate due to breast cancer. Under Duron’s leadership, Las Isabelas has developed Casa a Casa, a program that assists Latinas to host health meetings in their homes, training women to perform self-breast exams and signing them up for free mammograms.
Volunteer of the Year in a Health Care Organization, funded by The California Endowment, went to Abby Vincent, a volunteer with the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. The Commission provides support services for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, including a 24-hour crisis line and education and prevention programs. Vincent has volunteered at the Commission since 1983, filling numerous roles including advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, staff and volunteer trainer, and crisis line worker.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Father Joe Carroll. As President of St. Vincent De Paul Village, Inc. in San Diego, Fr. Carroll has expanded this homeless services program to three locations and a multimillion dollar budget. And, he promised, “if there are homeless people in Maui, we’ll be going there next.” His ready humor and contagious energy made it easy to see the great leader in Fr. Carroll.
Volunteer of the Year went to Mary Jackson. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago, Jackson said, she promised God that – should she survive – she would bring the crucial moral support she received back to the African-American community. A committed volunteer with the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in Oakland, Jackson brought tears to everybody’s eyes when she said, “I have a family. I have a house. But I’ve never gotten a plaque before.”
Achievement in Innovation Award went to Abby Lehrman. The tears kept flowing when the presenter of this award, Marion Standish from The California Endowment, revealed that she had just found out the recipient was a longtime friend. As Patient Care Navigator at the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, Lehrman’s stories of the homeless people to whom she provides health care made true her comment that “every day, I see the faces of the invisible.”
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Gail Church, Executive Director of Tree Musketeers, an El Segundo-based organization that was the nation’s first known nonprofit actually administered by kids with the support of adult partners. The organization’s mission is to “empower young people to be leaders of environmental and social change in Earth’s communities.” Tree Musketeers provides intensive youth leadership training to young people, who themselves manage grassroots projects in urban forestry, recycling, and environmental public education. Church’s nominators noted she is quick to duck praise and give credit to others. True to form, Church even used her spotlight at the CAN conference to say, “Tree Musketeers would not be here today if CAN hadn’t been there when we desperately needed help.” She recounted a financial crisis early on that led her to call CAN’s Managers' Helpline – and said that the helpline “truly saved us.” Church also spoke about her passion and reasons for continuing her tireless work at Tree Musketeers – and revealed the spark of innovation that characterizes her own brand of excellent leadership.
Excellence in Leadership Award went to Elizabeth “Biz” Steinberg, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County (EOC). Biz “is a woman who always steps up to the plate and usually hits a homer,” said nominator Lillian Judd, EOC’s Planning Director. At the EOC’s helm for 15 years, Steinberg has not only grown and strengthened the organization but has made special efforts to forge community alliances that better serve the people she works for. She has not only spoken out against the things she views as injustices but has also taken action to right them, such as urging a class action suit that resulted in the reinstatement of $24 million from the state for health care for low-income women. At the same time, says Judd, Steinberg “works at staying in touch with real families” through a variety of service activities.
