Nonprofit Groups Win Awards of Excellence
12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ROBERT MILLER

The Center for Nonprofit Management has announced the recent winners of its Awards of Excellence, which acknowledge outstanding contributions to the community by the nonprofit sector. The $5,000 awards were presented at "A Night of Light," an awards dinner earlier this month at the Hilton Anatole benefiting the center.

In addition to the cash awards, winners received an etched crystal award from Tiffany & Co.
Steve Blow, The Dallas Morning News columnist, was master of ceremonies, and the Dallas Black Dance Theater provided the evening's entertainment.

The finalists for the 2009 Awards of Excellence were announced before the event, and the winners were kept secret until the dinner.

They included:

• Excellence in Mission Achievement for groups with operating budgets of $1 million and more: Dallas Children's Advocacy Center.
• Excellence in Mission Achievement for groups with operating budgets less than $1 million: Essilor Vision Foundation.
• Excellence in Board Leadership: Elizabeth T. Heyne, Low Birth Weight Development Center.
• Excellence in Communications: Promise House Inc.
• Innovation in Nonprofit Leadership: Rosemary Perlmeter, Uplift Education.
• Excellence in Environmental Practices: Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity.

George Baldwin of Baldwin Co. Investments was chairman of the dinner, and Brenda Jackson of Oncor was honorary chairwoman.

Citi was the presenting sponsor at $25,000. Other major underwriters included:

$20,000: Bank of America, The Dallas Morning News, Communities Foundation of Texas, KPMG LLP, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Oncor and Target.

$10,000; American Airlines Inc., Ashlee and Chris Kleinert, Landis+Gyr, Medical Clinic of North Texas and WRR-FM (101.1).

$5,000: Friends of George Baldwin, Gwen and Leldon Echols, Debbie and John C. Tolleson on behalf of the Tolleson Family Foundation, and TXU Energy.

$2,500: Association Works, Phil Baewer andFran Eichorst, Baylor Health Care System, Capital One, Marty and Russ Coleman, Comerica Bank, Dawson + Murray + Teague Communications, Fidelity Investments, Jones Day, Sarah and Alan Losinger, Bobby B. Lyle, Middleton Burns & Davis PC, Geraldine and Wade Owens, Gay and Randy Rekerdres, Texas Instruments Inc., the Verizon Foundation and Wells Fargo.

An independent panel, co-chaired by by Marty Marks and Gwen Echols, selected the winners.

"A Night of Light" gave cash awards to 45 agencies and individuals for a total of $225,000. The dinner benefited the Center for Nonprofit Management, which serves more than 1,300 nonprofit organizations annually.