Activist Awards
Citizen
International
Achievement
 
Board of Directors
 

Citizen Activist Award
 

Board of Judges

DR. ROBERT COLES, Dr. Robert Coles, a prolific and critically acclaimed writer, has authored more than fifty books recounting his research concerning children and the problems caused by poverty and racial discrimination, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning five-volume series, |Children of Crisis|. A research psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at Harvard University and Editor of Doubletake Magazine, Dr. Coles has been tirelessly devoted to social change and serves as a consultant or as a member of the board of directors of numerous public service organizations. In recognition of his achievements, he has received honorary degrees from more than thirty colleges and universities.

MORRIS S. DEES, JR., Morris Dees, a nationally prominent civil rights attorney and social activist, co-founded the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, known for its aggressive opposition to all forms of racial prejudice. The frequent object of death threats, Mr. Dees during recent years has been integrally responsible, among other accomplishments, for winning a $7,000,000 jury verdict for the mother of a black man lynched by the Klu Klux Klan and a precedent-setting $12,500,000 verdict for the family of an Ethiopian student murdered by Skinheads. Mr. Dees also developed the concept behind The Civil Rights Memorial in Alabama, bearing the names of many who lost their lives in the struggle for racial justice.

LOIS GIBBS, Lois Marie Gibbs is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), an organization that has assisted over 8,000 grassroots groups nationwide. Her vision has guided CHEJ's efforts to provide critical organizing and technical assistance to communities engaged in their own environmental struggles. More than two decades ago, she focussed world attention on the tragic health consequences to homes and schools resulting from the toxic contamination of Love Canal. Today, she sits on numerous Boards and Advisory Committees and has been recognized extensively for her critical role in the grassroots environmental justice movement.

CANDACE LIGHTNER, A leading catalyst of social change, Candace Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980, and built it from a grass-roots affiliation into an international organization with close to four hundred chapters worldwide. During her tenure with MADD, between 1980 and 1985, over five hundred state and federal laws dealing with drunk driving were passed, and the federal government endorsed raising the national legal driving age to twenty-one. During the same five-year period, there was a remarkable fourteen percent decline in alcohol-related accidents. In addition, Ms. Lightner, whose life was the subject of a NBC docudrama, has co-authored the book, |Giving Sorrow Words| and has received numerous honors for her activist achievements.

STANLEY K. SHEINBAUM, Stanley Sheinbaum is a noted political activist, economist and philanthropist. Constantly at the forefront of various causes related to the protection of constitutional rights, education, public justice and human rights, he is the Chairman Emeritus of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Chairman of Human Rights Watch of California, the founder of the Legal Defense Center in Santa Barbara, Chairman of the Clarence Darrow Foundation and on the Board of Directors of such organizations as the Bill of Rights Foundation and People for the American Way. Mr. Sheinbaum, who organized and coordinated the legal defense team in the Pentagon Papers trial, has also been active in working toward peace in the Middle East, is the publisher of New Perspectives Quarterly and served as President of the Board of Los Angeles Police Commissioners.

GLORIA STEINEM, Widely regarded as one of the foremost leaders of the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem has worked diligently for decades to achieve equality for women. She co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972 and helped establish the Ms. Foundation for Women, a national multi-issue, multi-racial women's fund. Ms. Steinem is also closely associated with a wide range of other women's-oriented organizations, including the National Women's Political Caucus and the Women's Action Alliance. Presently a consulting editor for the new reader-supported Ms. magazine, Ms. Steinem has received a number of honorary degrees and has written several books, including the best-seller, |Revolution From Within|.

ALAN L. GLEITSMAN, As President of The Gleitsman Foundation, Mr. Gleitsman also serves as a member of The Citizen Activist Award Board of Judges.