Sunday, November 22, 2009 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Refreshments immediately following

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard (at W. 136th Street)
Harlem, New York

Donations accepted. Seating is limited.
Please RSVP to Marilyn Greene
e-mail: marilyn.greene@andrewgoodman.org
phone: 201-995-1808 ext. 10
include your name, email and phone number

Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council

The Foundation has awarded Frances the Hidden Heroes Award for leading NRDC's steadfast commitment to environmental justice. This growing issue addresses a statistical fact – people who live, work and play in America’s most polluted environments are commonly low-income people. NRDC has partnered with community-based grassroots groups across the country to help protect the health and environment of this under-protected community.

From the Hunts Point community in the South Bronx suffering with toxic sludge to a rural enclave of African American families in Dickson County, Tennessee suffering from cancer caused by contaminated drinking water wells, NRDC provides these communities with the resources to fight big polluters. In Los Angeles, the Clean Trucks Programs will phase out the use of older, more polluting trucks at the ports, making the air cleaner for the primarily Latino communities adjacent to the ports.

After 30 years of working for NRDC, Frances took the helm as president in 2006.

Not surprisingly, Fortune magazine has named Frances one of the five “power people in the right place at the right time”. In her own words, "If the environment is healthy, human well-being will be improved." Learn more about NRDC>

Tashi Dolma, Founder, Tibetan Home of Hope

Tashi founded Tibetan Home of Hope in 2006 as a nurturing home and school for children who would otherwise be abandoned. She is a trained medical doctor who was forced to flee her homeland of Amdo, Tibet in the winter of 1990. After years in exile, including time receiving Kalachakra Teaching from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tashi continued her medical practice caring for the health of 500 children at the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala. After rebuilding her life in the U.S., she founded the Home to help the children of her homeland.

Tashi has created a home in the deepest sense of the word, where young people receive loving care, food, shelter and medical attention and modern and traditional Tibetan education. The children who are taken in by the Home are often found wandering the streets, abandoned or orphaned. Through their new lives at the Home, they are given the secure base to mature into independent adults. The Home has recently built a large dormitory and classroom facility serving 68 children and hopes to expand even more to accommodate many more children in need of care.

Learn more about Tibetan Home of Hope >

Gwenn Levine, Founder, Paterson Youth Photography Project

Gwenn founded PYPP in 2001 with a powerful mission – to enrich the lives of local youth in Paterson, NJ by introducing them to photography as a means for self-expression and an opportunity for personal growth. Since its inception, PYPP has given underserved youth in that community a sense of self-worth and pride in their accomplishments and abilities. Considering that Paterson has three times more children living in poverty than in the rest of the state, Gwenn’s work, and that of all the volunteer PYPP teachers, is vital to providing local youth with a sense of hope for the future.

“It’s all about believing in yourself”, said one of the program’s young photographers. And that is the credo at the heart of the program. The PYPP curriculum includes lessons, field trips and group exhibits which foster creativity, enthusiasm for learning, confidence and self-respect. Because Paterson kids are surrounded by drug and gang activity, broken homes and underperforming schools, the one-on-one attention and positive mentoring provided by PYPP help these youth break out of the cycle of failure and pave their way to a successful future. Learn more about PYPP>

Toni Maloney, Chairperson, Business Council for Peace

Toni has put her renowned marketing expertise into creating the Bpeace organization, a non-profit international volunteer network of business professionals that helps women entrepreneurs in post-conflict countries expand their businesses. With support from Bpeace, these entrepreneurs are able to build their businesses, create employment and build a peaceful future for their communities.

After years of growing companies during executive positions at leading global firms, Toni responded to the events of September 11, 2001 by cofounding Bpeace to nurture small and medium-sized businesses in countries emerging from war – specifically Rwanda and Afghanistan. In her own words: “What we share is a belief that business can create peace”. It is on that fundamental premise that her organization has deployed an international volunteer force to consult and train women to grow their sustainable business enterprises. Through Toni’s vision and unwavering focus, Bpeace has assisted these women entrepreneurs in creating jobs, double-digit business growth and positive change in their communities. Learn more about Bpeace>

We welcome your support of the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Your donation provides vital assistance to these and future Hidden Heroes. Thank you!