February 26, 2007

Call for nominations: Community Leadership Awards

(SAN FRANCISCO) – Monday, February 26, 2007– The San Francisco Foundation announced today the call for nominations for the Foundation’s Community Leadership Awards. The deadline for nominations is Thursday, March 1, 2007. Four awards, $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for organizations, are given each year. The winners are selected by a community panel and will be announced at an awards ceremony September 25, 2007, at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

The Bay Area community is invited to nominate outstanding individuals and nonprofit organizations that have made a difference in neighborhoods throughout the region, including Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Marin, and San Mateo Counties.

“Meaningful change often begins with just one person or a single group,” said Sandra R. Hernández, MD, CEO of the Foundation. “The San Francisco Foundation’s Community Leadership Awards give us the opportunity to join together and celebrate those powerful leaders who are catalysts for change.”

Of the four awards, one, the Helen Crocker Russell Award, named for San Francisco arts philanthropist, is designated for an under-recognized, mature artist who has made a significant and ongoing contribution in the Bay Area. Artists from the performing, literary, media, and visual arts including craft, folk, and traditional forms will be considered.

Past winners include former Congressman Ronald V. Dellums, Alice Waters, Sherry Hirota, Mimi Silbert, David Lee, Dorothy Smith Patterson, Martin Jacks, Carlos Santana, Bridge Housing, and SF Performances, among dozens of others.