The Charles Bronfman Prize is a humanitarian award created to honor the vision and talent of an individual or team, 50 years of age or younger, whose humanitarian work has contributed significantly to the betterment of the world. The program’s goal is to bring public recognition to dynamic individuals whose universally shared Jewish values infuse their humanitarian accomplishments and provide inspiration to future generations.

Now in its fifth year, the prize has considered hundreds of nominations on behalf of women and men representing more than twenty countries and a wide range of fields, including medicine and science, education, human rights, conflict resolution, social justice, community development, and compassionate care.

The prize includes an award of $100,000.

Nomination guidelines and forms are available at the prize program’s Web site.

RFP Link: http://www.thecharlesbronfmanprize.com/

For additional RFPs in Philanthropy and Voluntarism, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_philanthropy.jhtml

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (http://rwjf.org/) Community Health Leaders program each year honors ten outstanding and otherwise unrecognized individuals who overcome daunting odds to improve health and health care, especially to underserved populations in communities across the United States. The program elevates the work of these unsung heroes through enhanced recognition, technical assistance, and new leadership opportunities.

To be considered for a CHL award, a nominee must be accomplished in the field of community health at the mid-career level and have a three- to ten-year record of accomplishment; have created or substantially enhanced a health or healthcare initiative that improves both access to and quality of care in their community (e.g., broadened the reach of an established program; worked against conventional wisdom to establish a new initiative; changed the perception of a critical health issue); have positively affected a significant number of people in the targeted community; not have received significant national recognition  for their work; be a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. or its territories; and be affiliated with a public or nonprofit organization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Criteria used to assess nominees will include accomplishments; innovation; collaborative leadership; systems change; impact; resiliency; inspiration; level of recognition; and career status. In addition, the foundation seeks geographic, ethnic, and professional diversity among awardees.

Ten awards in the amount of $125,000 each will be made during the 2009 award cycle.

Visit the RWJF Web site for the complete Call for Proposals.

RFP Link: http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20422

For additional RFPs in Health, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_health.jhtml

Middle school students across the United States are invited to submit their solutions to environmental problems in their communities for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, a national sustainability education initiative.

The Siemens Foundation (http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/), Discovery Education (http://www.discoveryeducation.com/), and the National Science Teachers Association (http://nsta.org/) have partnered for this initiative to educate, empower, and engage students, teachers, and communities to become “agents of change” in improving their community.

Student teams from sixth through eighth grade, under the mentorship of a teacher or adult supervisor, can register for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge (http://wecanchange.com/). Teams of two to three students will identify an environmental issue in their community, research the issue using scientific investigation, and create a replicable green solution using Web-based curriculum tools. The mentors of the first hundred teams to register and complete a project for challenge will receive a Planet Earth series DVD set.

A total of fifty-one teams representing each state and the District of Columbia will be selected as state finalists and an additional fifty teams will be eligible for honorable mention awards. Three of the state finalist teams will be selected as national finalists, and one of those will be named the grand prize-winner. All student teams entering the challenge will receive prizes for their participation; top-performing teams  will earn cash, teacher education materials, and “Discovery Experience” trips. The grand prize winning team will receive a comprehensive prize package, which includes an appearance on Planet Green, Discovery’s eco-lifestyle network, and a Discovery Adventure Trip.

See the We Can Change the World Challenge Web site for complete competition information and program resources. The initiative will expand to elementary schools in 2009 and to high schools in 2010.

RFP Link: http://www.wecanchange.com/

For additional RFPs in Education, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_education.jhtml

The National String Project Consortium (http://www.stringprojects.org/) is a coalition of String Project sites based at colleges and universities across the United States. The NSPC is dedicated to increasing the number of children playing stringed instruments, and addressing the critical shortage of string teachers in the U.S. The NSPC is affiliated with businesses, foundations, professional music organizations, and individuals who support these goals.

The consortium seeks to help support the creation of up to ten more String Projects which will be centers of excellence in the training of string teachers around the country. Each center will receive up to five years of grant support from the NSPC, to be matched each year by $10,000 from the host college. The grant money would be reduced over the five-year period in order to encourage the String Project to increase its number of students in order to become self-sufficient. The university’s match may include the income from the fees charged for the lessons and classes, and it may include in-kind expenses such as secretarial help for running the program.

Please visit the consortium Web site for complete background information and program guidelines.

RFP Link: http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/15014145/stringprojects

For additional RFPs in Arts and Culture, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_arts.jhtml

Deadline Dec. 1, 2008

Mad as Hell? Now Move (or Draw, or Act…): Organizing for Social Justice @ PTO Gathering ‘09

What makes you mad? What injustices compel us to act? What are the success stories? How do we organize long-standing and sustainable changes for the good of our communities? How might we use problem-posing to address the conflicts that confront us? How do we navigate the spaces between the World As It Is and the World As It Should Be? The PTO Board and the Local Organizing Committee request proposals for interactive presentations, panels, performances, dialogues, and workshops that wrestle with our organizational mission: To challenge oppressive systems by promoting critical thinking and social justice.

In particular, we invite proposals that reflect participatory models of engagements, that speak to broad audiences and cross borders of environmental justice, immigrant rights, racial justice, growing poverty and wealth, militarism and peace, and the other great issues of our time; and that bridge academic work and community organizing.

Presentations might include:

* Issues central to people of color and lower-income communities;
* Case studies of organizing that effectively used the arts to address a particular issue;
* Workshops or discussions about the use of PO and TO in community organizing;
* Workshops, presentations and investigations into the practice of Theatre of the Oppressed; the relation between Joker, actor and spectactor; and their potential to change people and institutions;
* Proposals that prescribe or examine what happens after TO workshops: in other words, how to move from theatre to action.
* Dialogues between creative organizers and activist PTO artists;
* Problem-posing and popular education;
* Investigations, through PO or TO or related practices, into the nature and causes of class relations, how they have come into existence, and how they can be overturned;
* Investigations into the use of dialogue, creative expression and physical activity (movement) as tools for social and political engagement.

Please note that proposals that model interactive critical engagement will receive preference.

Local Organizing Committee: Charles Adams  (University of Minnesota); alejandra tobar alatriz (PTO board member, Grassroots Nonviolence); Victor Cole (Metropolitan State University); Ben Fink (conference office manager, University of Minnesota); Shannon Gibney (lead conference organizer, Minneapolis Community and Technical College); Andrew Granger (Minneapolis Community and Technical College); Dana Jeffries (St. Paul Central High Black Box Theater); Rachel Johnson; Sonja Kuftinec (PTO board member, University of Minnesota); Michael Kuhne (lead conference organizer, Minneapolis Community and Technical College); Elle Meza (PTO board member, Multicultural Indigenous Academy); Chaka Mkali (PTO board member, Hope Community Center); Mankwe Ndosi (Center for Independent Artists); Larry Olds (The Popular Education News); Crystal Spring (St. Paul Central High Black Box Theater); Diane Scovill (Minneapolis Community and Technical College); Deborah Torraine; Cheryl Wilson (PTO board member, organizer).

For questions contact: PTO2009@gmail.com, or call Ben Fink, conference office manager, at 612-840-0141.

Also, even if you don’t have a vehicle, we still need your help on-site, helping to collect bikes from donors and load them into the trucks.  You can volunteer for any chunk of time.  There will be rides available with the pick-up/drop-off trucks going from our headquarters at 40th St. to the dump.  This is a really fun day and a great way to help out NBW!  Please call our office or reply to this email if you are interested.
Also, even if you can’t help out this time we are always in need of truck pickups, so if you want us to keep you on the list, please let us know!!

To volunteer, contact Manya Scheps at 215.386.0316.

Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania presents its fourth annual conference, featuring 30 workshops, eight three-hour institutes, and eight three-hour symposiums on a wide range of housing and community development issues.

For information, contact info@housingalliancepa.org or visit http://www.housingalliancepa.org.

Confronting the Neighborhood Impacts of Foreclosure
Monday, October 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

This capstone conference of the Federal Reserve System’s Recovery, Renewal, Rebuilding series of events on the impact of housing foreclosures on neighborhoods will be simulcast in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Boehne auditorium.

Conference topics include:
• Effectively using and leveraging national resources for abandonment
• Navigating ownership and control of vacant property
• Creating a standard valuation model for vacant properties
• Models of vacant property disposition.

Please enter through the Bank’s Sixth Street entrance between Arch and Race streets. The Bank’s security procedures are similar to those at airports. Photo identification will be required for admission to the Bank.

The latest agenda is posted at http://www.philadelphiafed.org/community-development/events/. Please contact Amy B. Lempert at amy.lempert@phil.frb.org if you have questions.

produced by CFSI and SourceMedia

Building on successes and popular topics from previous years, we are bringing you the leading underbanked event in the financial services industry.  This forum will offer creative networking opportunities and interactive sessions focused on deepened learnings, informed strategies, and proven approaches to serving underbanked consumers, profitably and well.  Mark your calendar!

The 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum
June 1-3, 2009 | Dallas, Texas| Westin Galleria

http://www.cfsinnovation.com/cfsi-produced-events.php

Call for Presentations, Speakers, and Exhibitors for the 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum

Now is your chance to offer your insight and expertise around underbanked strategies, consumer research, and innovative products/solutions at the premier underbanked event of the year–The 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum.  We are now accepting proposals for presentations, speakers, and exhibitors.  The Center for Financial Services Innovation invites YOU to contribute to the 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum in Dallas, Texas on June 1-3, 2009.  Find the call for presentations and download the speaker abstract submission form from our website.

http://www.cfsinnovation.com/cfsi-produced-events-detail.php?article_id=330447

Website:  http://www.ohiocampuscompact.org/page.cfm?ID=96

“Dream the Possible” brings students, staff, and year of service individuals together to learn about all of the great community work occuring in our state. This gives campuses a chance to connect, share ideas, and offer information to develop students into service leaders.

This conference experience will help to increase student development, social action, and leadership through civic engagement and to raise awareness of service opportunities during and after college. We invite you to join Ohio Campus Compact and its member institutions at The Ohio State University to “Dream the Possible: Learn.Lead.Change.” Participants will be be engaged in a variety of ways including innovative, student-led workshops, inspiring key-note speakers, a graphics competition, and an opportunity to receive grant money for a new project/program through the “Seeds of Change Initiative.”

Flyers, registration options, and the conference schedule are available at:  http://www.ohiocampuscompact.org/page.cfm?ID=96

For More Information Contact:
Brandon Donelson-Sims
Ohio Campus Compact VISTA Leader/Program Director of Student Outreach
740-587-8568
occleader@alink.com

Download the publication (PDF) at http://snipurl.com/beyond_the_classroom.

Archived issues of Youth Impact are also available at the Resource Center at http://snipurl.com/youthimpact.

To receive new issues by e-mail, subscribe to our electronic mailing list at http://snipurl.com/learns_youth_impact.

LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of Education. We are funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide training and technical assistance to projects focused on tutoring, mentoring, literacy, and out-of-school time.

For additional tools, training, and information visit The Resource Center at http://www.nationalservice.gov/resources.

The third Civic Health Index, a public opinion survey studying the level of democratic engagement among Americans, confirmed the obvious current excitement about this year’s presidential elections and showed broad support for measures to increase democratic engagement among Americans. The Civic Health Index, intended to measure public attitudes about a broad set of democratic engagement issues, was developed from 1,005 telephone surveys and 1,000 respondents to an online panel. The results were released at the National Conference on Citizenship, convened in Washington, DC on September 22.

One of the most notable findings in this third survey was that 80 percent of Americans supported the involvement of “more than one million Americans in a national discussion of an important public issue and requiring Congress to respond to what the citizens say.” America Speaks and others have championed the national deliberation proposal. It was included in a package of proposals advanced this past summer at a conference of democracy reformers convened by Demos, America Speaks and Everyday Democracy. The proposal was also endorsed by Senator John Edwards during his 2008 presidential campaign. Public dialogues, a form of direct democracy, have been organized used in many communities to achieve broader consensus on critical issues and are attracting increasing attention across the nation.

http://www.ncoc.net/pdf/civichealth2008-web.pdf

This year we have an exciting agenda that includes a keynote address by Donna Cooper,  Policy Secretary for the Rendell Administration, who will provide perspective on the energy crisis and new federal and state initiatives to address it.  We have also invited Mayor Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania State Senator Shirley Kitchen.  One topic of this discussion will be a major expansion of both the LIHEAP and WAP programs, recently approved by the U.S. Congress.  Pennsylvania’s LIHEAP Program Director, Ed Zogby, will comment on how this additional funding will effect the LIHEAP program.

Other highlights to this year’s program include a “What’s New in Conservation” section that will include the discussion of new legislation supporting energy conservation and solar energy, ECA’s new statewide energy website, and interactive demonstrations of energy audit equipment and conservation treatments.

Enjoy breakfast with us before this exciting annual event, while learning about the best ways to help your clients and constituents save money and energy in this shifting political and economic landscape.  We will focus on energy pricing and assistance issues important to energy consumers, like the expiration of PECO’s rate caps, and new resources that homeowners can use to conserve energy.   For a full listing of the conference agenda log on to http://www.ecasavesenergy.org and click on agenda.

The conference will be a half day on Friday, October 24th 2008. Registration opens at 8:00 am with the conference from 9am to1pm. Our new venue, the Arch Street Methodist Church at the corner of Broad and Arch Streets is easily accessible and seats 900 so sign up everyone who is interested! Please fax in your registration on the enclosed form now.  (Do NOT respond by replying to this e-mail.)  Following your fax, please mail your registration fee of $30 to Carol Sinkler, ECA, 1924 Arch Street, Phila, Pa. 19103.

2008 ANNUAL ENERGY SERVICES CONFERENCE
REGISTRATION FORM

Friday, October 24, 2008
8:30 A.M. – 12:45 P.M.

Arch Street Methodist Church
55 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia

Registration Fee:  $30 per person covers the cost of a continental breakfast, the 2007-2008 Energy Services Directory, and conference materials.  An additional $10 fee will be charged for all registrations post marked after October 17 or faxed after October 20.

Attendee Name(s)
Organization
Address
Phone                                                               Fax
e-mail

Early registrants____@ $30     =          $
Late registrants ____ @ $40    =          $
Check enclosed                        =          $

Please fax this form to Carol Sinkler at:  215   988-0919
AND mail it with your check to:
Energy Coordinating Agency, 1924 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

For registration related inquiries call Carol at:  215-988-0929 extension 234

Would you please encourage your youth to enter the Poetry & Speech Contests and attend “Teens United for Peace”/ Poetry for Peace Festival inside the auditorium of The Philadelphia Art Museum 10 – 3 PM on Sun., Nov. 2, 2008?

We’ll come together on this journey of healing youth, their parents, and families for the sake of alleviating senseless violence in Philadelphia.

Guidelines
Youth are asked to choose a subject from the 70 topics provided and to write a poem or speech. These subjects are uncomfortable for many adults to handle, but these are topics youth keep inside or discuss amongst peers.

Send: Email/Fax/Mail

Community Programs Poetry & Speech Contest
Esperanza Altamar
Philadelphia Museum of Art
26th St. & Ben Franklin Pky
Phila., PA 19101
Fax: (215) 684-7395 -or-

GwenyLove@msn.com
Phone (215) 387-1696

Purpose
To address the epidemic of violence and distress amongst our youth, as adults, we need to hear what they’re thinking so we can be better equipped to handle the realities that confront them.

Together, we have the power to affect change in our homes, schools, and communities.

Let them talk!

Let us listen!  Let us no longer exist with blinders on, afraid to accept and deal with painful truths about a generation of lost innocence.

This ground-breaking symposium has been organized to address the role of urban design in the face of one of the most profound and important challenges facing global society: the need to re-imagine and rethink how cities are designed and organized in a future without the plentiful and abundant oil upon which prosperous urban economies have been built.

The program speaks to the depth and diversity of the challenge with sessions on innovations in the way cities are conceived, adapted, designed, developed, and managed in a post-carbon world. The conference will conclude with a manifesto on educating the next generation of urban designers and how best to equip them for the road ahead. An accompanying exhibition showcases innovative ideas, projects, initiatives, and policies from around the world that seek to reduce emissions by changing the way we inhabit cities. Documenting the rise in oil dependency, changing development patterns, and demographic trends, the exhibition threads prescient theories and artifacts surrounding the 1958 conference with contemporary challenges of the urban design profession.

To help create a better Philadelphia, GRID will cover emerging food, energy and housing challenges while exploring our local living economy.  Expect to find investigative reports, coverage of community action, and helpful how-tos.  Download a pdf of the prototype at http://www.gridphilly.com, become a charter subscriber and discover ways that you can help make your community more sustainable!

Don’t miss this year’s national SVI conference-the only place in the U.S. dedicated to the Triple Bottom line principles of doing business-to effect change in your community, act responsibly towards the environment and the world and grow your business.

The format of SVI is organic and practical, as well as highly interactive and experiential. Join entrepreneurs, innovators, community organizers, government officials, investors and green business leaders as you explore social and environmental innovations, and expand your business skills and network with recognized national and regional innovators in the sustainable community.

Register online at
http://www.sbnphiladelphia.org

The free, online Cleaning for Healthy Schools Toolkit will educate you about green cleaning. It can also be tailored to create state or local educational programs for agencies, education officials, workers, and parents and communities. The externally reviewed training tools are also ‘open-source’ and ‘industry-free’– in short, a unique, comprehensive program to advance policy and practices that help safeguard child and adult health, reduce the use of toxic chemicals, cost-effectively improve cleaning, and improve school IAQ.

Toolkit Webinars are also available
TOOLKIT WEBINAR PREMIERES

(each Webinar is a separate session with different handouts; you must register for each one you wish to attend)

* Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 1-2 p.m. Eastern, 10-11 a.m. Pacific
In-School: Initiating a Cleaning for Healthy Schools Program- what schools need to know
Presented by Carol Westinghouse, INFORM
To Reserve your Webinar seat, please go to:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/380902332

* Tuesday, Oct. 14th, 1-2 p.m. Eastern, 10-11 a.m. Pacific
Chemicals/Hazard Communication: your health and right to know – for workers
Presented by Denise Bowles, AFSCME and Tolle Graham, MassCOSH/Healthy Schools Network
To Reserve your Webinar seat, please go to:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/179596236

WHEN: Sunday, December 7, 2008, 3:00-7:00 pm

WHERE: The Ethical Society Building
1906 South Rittenhouse Sq
Philadelphia, PA 19103

WHAT: Celebrate the end of our third season.
Learn about Mill Creek Farm’s work growing and distributing fresh food and educating the community about urban agriculture and sustainability.
Activities include: light food and drinks, silent auction, live music.

WHY: The Mill Creek Farm makes fresh, locally grown food more widely available in West Philadelphia and helps to increase food security for the community. Supporting urban agriculture improves city environments, builds the local economy, saves energy resources, and facilitates community education about food, health, and sustainability.

Childcare will be available.

We’ll send more information about tickets and other details as the event gets closer. We’ll also post information on our website: http://www.millcreekurbanfarm.org