(San Francisco, California, September 14, 2009) — The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) will be honored by the San Francisco Foundation with its Community Leadership Award on Tuesday, September 22, 2009, in recognition of NCLR’s pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBTQ people. NCLR will receive the John R. May Award made for organizational initiatives in response to a significant contemporary problem.
“I am thrilled that NCLR was chosen to receive the John R. May Award at this year’s San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Awards,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. “It is truly an honor to me and all of us at NCLR to have been selected and to be recognized in this way along with such an esteemed group of Bay Area community visionaries and leaders.”
The Community Leadership Awards showcase individual or organizational excellence in leadership as demonstrated by outstanding initiative, impact of work, and inspiration of others. With each award, The San Francisco Foundation publicly affirms present
achievements, seeks to encourage further work on the part of the recipients, and hopes to motivate others to follow their lead in service to Bay Area communities. $10,000 awards are given to individual leaders and $20,000 awards to organizations recognized for their contribution to positive social change.
Fellow recipients of this year’s Community Leadership Award include Mary Lou Breslin, co-founder of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, artist and activist Michael Franti, Eugene Rodriguez, founder of Los Cenzontles Mexican Cultural Arts Center, and Children’s Book Press, the first independent, nonprofit publisher of bilingual, multicultural books and stories for children.
Recipients will be recognized by the San Francisco Foundation at the 2009 Community Leadership Awards Celebration at the Herbst Theater. The awards celebration will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the 2009 Community Leadership Award, its recipients, and the awards celebration please visit the San Francisco Foundation website.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.