The Harbus Foundation Celebrates Area Grant Recipients

Source: Harbus News
Issue date: 4/18/06 Section: News
By: Charlotte Jones (OJ), Contributing Writer

The dust of another Harbus Foundation grant-making process settles this week with the annual Grantee Celebration held on campus. The event gathers together Harbus Foundation team members and community stakeholders to hear each organization describe its mission and celebrate their receipt of grant funds to further that mission.

"It's a time to come together to celebrate the good work our teams have done throughout the year and the essential work our grantees are doing throughout the community," said Harbus Foundation Director of Development Marni Weil.

The Harbus Foundation is the only entirely student-run foundation in the country. It was originally founded in 1997 with a grant from The Harbus News Corporation. Today, approximately 35 students staff seven teams, each of which awards a $10,000 grant to a local non-profit focused on education, literacy or journalism.

As reported previously, this year three teams gave venture philanthropy grants that provided free consulting services along with the regular monetary grant. The three organizations selected for those grants were notified in January. The full-funding cycle ended last week when four additional organizations were selected to receive the remaining four grants.

The grantee celebration takes place Wednesday evening on the HBS campus. Each organization will give a brief explanation of its mission and accept its grant award. This year each venture philanthropy team will also present a synopsis of its consulting project to show how business consulting can deepen the impact of monetary grants.

The celebration not only elevates the profile of recipient organizations in the HBS and broader community but also allows them to network and develop relationships with managers of other recipient organizations.

Fenway High School
Founded in 1983 as an alternative academic program for disadvantaged and/or disaffected students who were failing in Boston's large public-school setting. Fenway has been a pioneer in the small-schools movement, which values personalized relationships between teachers and students; integrated, flexible curriculum; on-site, shaped decision-making; and learning partnerships with outside organizations.

The school's mission is to create a socially committed and morally responsible community of learners, which values its students as individuals. Its goal is to encourage academic excellence and the Habits of Mind, self-esteem and leadership development among the school's students.

The Association of Haitian Women
Helps low-income women access social and economic opportunities to expand their knowledge; become self sufficient, independent, and confident; and take control of their destiny. The association provides after-school mentoring and tutoring programs, a food pantry and adult education.

Project: Think Different
An organization that creates music, film and video that empowers people to think differently and think big about their ability to change the world. The organization offers a variety of products and services for music and audio production as well as educational workshops on issues in the media.

According Director Scherazade Daruvalla King, "Project: Think Different was born out of a desire to stop complaining about the media and to start doing something....It's about creating a renaissance in media that facilitates individuals getting engaged and playing more powerful roles as agents of positive change."

The Edward W. Brooke Charter School
Provides an academically rigorous public education to students from the city of Boston, with the goal of preparing them to attend and succeed in college. The school currently serves 275 students in fifth through eighth grade from various neighborhoods in Boston, particularly Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. According to the school's charter, "The Edward Brooke Charter School is based on responsibility and accountability."

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