Best-of-Business Strategies Turn Around 3 Low-Performing California School Districts
Partners in School Innovation in Partnership with The Applied Materials Foundation Receive Coveted Directors’ Award
New York, NY, June 4, 2013 /3BL Media/ – CECP, where Fortune 500 CEOs turn to achieve societal progress and sustainable business performance, announced Partners in School Innovation, in partnership with The Applied Materials Foundation, as the winner of the 2013 Directors’ Award, presented today at the CECP Summit in New York City as part of the CECP Excellence Awards. Applying skills and resources from Applied Materials, Partners in School Innovation has enabled radical transformation in three of the lowest-performing school districts in San Jose, California. A cash prize of $25,000 donated by CECP’s Board of Directors was also presented to Partners in School Innovation.
CECP Excellence Awards are an honor among companies that have developed programs to enrich the communities around them. Now in its 13th year, Excellence Awards have acknowledged a select list of some of the world’s most impressive and effective corporate societal engagement programs.
“Education—creating a pipeline of talented and equipped future employees and citizens—is vital to CECP’s members,” stated Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP. “In fact, the 2013 Corporate Giving Standard survey found companies surveyed commit 29 percent of their giving budget to K-12 and higher education—the highest percentage ever for the issue area and the leading priority across companies surveyed. These companies know that most strategic employee engagement programs occur well before a person comes in for an interview.”
The Applied Materials Foundation and Partners in School Innovation have developed an active and dynamic partnership over the past 10 years, working with three of the lowest-performing school districts in San Jose, California to help achieve remarkable improvement in student results. Leveraging each other’s connections, communications channels, experience, and investment of dollars and expertise, they have successfully collaborated on everything from from district-level meetings to presentations before districts’ school boards, in order to strategically improve student performance.
“We are honored to receive the Directors’ Award from CECP,” stated Derek Mitchell, CEO, Partners in School Innovation. “But we are even more honored that The Applied Materials Foundation saw the potential in our school district and put its expertise in business planning strategies to work for our students. This partnership has made a lasting difference in the lives of so many.”
CECP Chairman Doug Conant, Founder and CEO, ConantLeadership, presented the 13th Annual Excellence Awards on February 25 at the CECP Board of Boards CEO Conference in New York City. The 2013 Chairman’s Award went to IBM for its Smarter Cities Challenge and was received by Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and the 2013 President’s Award went to The Mosaic Company for The Mosaic Villages Project and was received by James Prokopanko, President and CEO.
Other past Excellence Awards winners include Kraft Foods, Xylem Inc., Good360 in partnership with The Home Depot, DonorsChoose.org in partnership with Crate and Barrel, and more.
The 2014 application process is open now and the deadline is September 5, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST. CECP encourages companies of all sizes—not only CECP members—and nonprofits engaged in a transformative partnership with a company to apply for this game-changing recognition.
Companies and nonprofits honored with Excellence Awards exemplify the Standards of Excellence: CEO Leadership, Innovation, Dedication to Measurement, and Partnership. CECP knows that these four elements are crucial to the success of any program addressing pressing societal needs. Two award categories for corporate applicants are presented at the Board of Boards CEO Conference in February: the Chairman’s Award for companies with revenues greater than or equal to US $20 billion and the President’s Award for companies with revenues less than US $20 billion. The Directors’ Award recognizes a partnership between a corporation and a nonprofit and is presented at the CECP Summit in June.
Presented annually since 2000, these awards are juried by an external Selection Committee comprised of representatives from the corporate, nonprofit, multilateral, social investment, consulting, media, and academic communities. The 2014 jury will be announced this summer. Current members include Andrea Taylor, Microsoft; Jeff Bradach, The Bridgespan Group; Robert Lynch, Americans for the Arts; Luther Ragin, Global Impact Investing Group; and many others.
In addition to the special ceremonies where the awards are presented, organizations are featured in a video shown at the event, posted on CECP’s website, and shared through other communications channels. CECP works with the communications teams of the winning organizations to raise awareness through the media.
To receive the 2014 award, the winning company’s CEO/Chairperson is required to accept it in person on Monday February 24, 2014 in New York. The nonprofit CEO/Executive Director is required to accept it in person at an event currently scheduled for Tuesday June 3rd, 2014 in New York.
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About CECP
CECP draws together and empowers senior executives of the world’s leading companies to achieve unprecedented progress on societal challenges while driving performance. Through high-powered connectivity and platform to multiply investments in solving the world’s most pressing issues, CECP is an irreplaceable tool catalyzing the forces that drive big change.
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About the Excellence Awards
CECP has presented Excellence Awards annually to more than 25 companies and nonprofit partners since 2000. The awards jury comprises representatives from corporate, nonprofit, government, investment, consulting, media, and academic communities. The 2014 jury will be announced this summer.
