Tides Foundation Announces 2006/2007 JBL Award Winners

Jane Bagley Lehman Awards for Excellence in Public Advocacy

April 16, 2007 –San Francisco, CA– Tides Foundation has awarded a total of $21,000 to the 2006/2007 recipients of the JBL Awards for Excellence in Public Advocacy.  Seven Gulf Coast activists, advocates, and organizers will be awarded $3,000 each in recognition of their deep commitment to the public interest and the innovative approach of their work towards social change.    

The JBL Awards focused on recognizing individuals that have been integral to the rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast.  The devastating aftermath left by Hurricane Katrina magnifies the long term social, political, and economic policies that have disproportionately hit communities of color and low-income communities.  A successful progressive strategy for rebuilding in the Gulf Coast needs to address the systemic problems affecting those communities.  The need for public infrastructure systems, a social safety-net, environmental monitoring and toxic clean-up, and the crucial element of civic participation to achieve these goals, are some of the issues the JBL awardees incorporated into their work.

This year’s awards were expanded to include seven activists due to the broad range of vital activities going on in the Gulf region.  Tides Foundation is hosting an event in New Orleans on Monday, June 11th, 2007 to recognize and honor these amazing activists, organizers and change agents.

This year marks the 17th anniversary of Tides Foundation’s JBL Awards.  The award is named after Jane Bagley Lehman, one of the founders of Tides Foundation and the Chair of the Board until her death in 1988.  An unconventional philanthropist, her insatiable curiosity was matched by a willingness to take risks. Jane was most intrigued by the approaches and strategies of advocates and organizers and their willingness to challenge traditional assumptions. She also cared deeply that the results of these efforts be translated into the broader area of public policy.

(In no particular order.)

Anne Rolfes

Anne Rolfes grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and is the founding executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.  Since the hurricanes, the major focus of her work has been to help organize the local communities affected by the storms so that they can make informed choices regarding their health and safety. She teaches community members sampling techniques to measure toxic sediments on their homesites located in the footprint of the Murphy Oil Spill and the Katrina disaster.  Anne’s current project is planning a gathering called “Fenceline Neighbor Power Conference.” This conference will bring together dispersed communities facing similar environmental problems to talk and work more collaboratively together. 

Father Vien thé Ngyuen

Father Vien thé Nguyen is the pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church in East New Orleans. He has been integrally involved in the struggle and rebuilding of Versailles in New Orleans East, home to one of the largest concentration’s of Vietnamese Americans in the United States.  Since saving lives during the storm, he has become known throughout the city and has grown to prominence in the fight and eventual win against the Chef Menteur landfill in New Orleans East.  Father Ngyuen is deeply committed to working to ensure that communities have a strong voice in determining public policies that invest in effective government systems which truly serve people.

Tanya Harris

Tanya Harris was born and raised in New Orleans.  Her family is deeply rooted in the Lower Ninth Ward and have been members of ACORN for over 23 years.  Tanya is currently the head organizer for New Orleans ACORN and since Katrina she has been working tirelessly to organize displaced residents from New Orleans and assist them in rebuilding their lives and communities.  Tanya has organized and recruited thousands of volunteers to help gut homes all across the city, saved thousands of homes from being seized by the city as public nuisance without due process, stopped land grab bills at the state legislature, and won certified water for the entire city. 

Rev. Jennifer Jones-Bridgett

A native of Baton Rouge, LA, Reverend Jennifer Jones-Bridgett is an ordained Baptist Minister and presently the executive director of PICO Louisiana InterFaiths Together (LIFT).  She believes that justice is not just a matter of putting the right policies in place or involving the community in a planning process, it means ensuring that families have the power to also define the agenda and control the future of the Gulf Coast.  It means equipping historically marginalized residents to organize themselves for power.  Reverend Jones-Bridgett strongly believes in community building across lines of race, class and denomination.

Malik Rahim

Malik Rahim, a veteran community organizer, was raised in New Orleans and has been fighting for racial, economic and environmental justice for the last thirty years. In 1970, he co-founded the Louisiana chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and the platform of the BPP has remained his guiding principles.  Malik co-founded the Common Ground Collective with Sharon Johnson and Scott Crow on September 5, 2005, only days after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, Common Ground has been working to deliver services and resources to the most marginalized communities in the Greater New Orleans area. Common Ground has initiated 15 program areas that have served over half a million people in the areas of medical care, legal assistance and advocacy, food and water distribution, roof tarping, house gutting, toxic remediation, children’s programs, a women’s center and much more.

Victoria Cintra

Victoria Cintra was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States when she was eight years old.  She is currently the Gulf Coast outreach organizer for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA), an organization that provides assistance and advocacy for immigrant workers across the state.  Since Katrina, Victoria has spoken forcefully and articulately on the struggle for justice for the thousands of immigrant workers who have come to rebuild the Gulf Coast.  She has become a forceful immigrant advocate with FEMA, the Red Cross, private contractors and state and local governments.  Victoria has been integral in identifying health hazard issues impacting immigrant workers, disparities between ethnic groups, discriminatory practices by both government and non government agencies and testifying before international commissions.

Derrick Evans

Derrick Evans is a sixth-generation native of Turkey Creek, a Mississippi Gulf Coast community settled by freed slaves in 1866.  Derrick founded Turkey Creek Community Initiatives to promote sustainable local development that is both environmentally and culturally sensitive.  After Katrina, Derrick maxed out credit cards and loaded up a U-Haul truck with $20,000 worth of water, gas and other supplies to build a volunteer camp in Turkey Creek. Since the storm, he has been a tireless organizer and advocate for the needs and rights of coastal communities.  Derrick was also one of the founding organizers of the Steps Coalition, a collaboration of groups fighting for fair and equal justice in the allocation of resources in rebuilding South Mississippi.