Last week The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation celebrated the 2019 HALO Award winners, who were awarded last fall by a Selection Committee made up of local nonprofit and foundation leaders. The six organizations, including Community Coalition, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, My Friend’s Place, POPS the Club, St. Joseph Center, and Stepping Forward LA, gathered at the iconic Marion Davies Guest House in Santa Monica to celebrate and kick-off their HALO Award year and to recognize their inspiring volunteer nominees.
2019 Volunteer Awardees
2019 Selection Committee
From left: Kristina Deutsch, Trustee, The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation; Jennifer Vanore, President & Chief Operating Officer, UniHealth Foundation; Irene Quevedo, Executive Director, Operation Jump Start; Chris Ko, Managing Director of Homeless & Strategic Initiatives, United Way of Greater LA; Keren Taylor, Executive Director, WriteGirl; Diana Pinto, Executive Director, South Central LAMP; Mark Supper, President & CEO, Youth Emerging Stronger
We were honored to be joined by John Kobara, Social Entrepreneur & Chief Operating Officer at the California Community Foundation, who presented this year’s keynote address. John has dedicated his life, both personally and professionally, to helping others build a more joyful, equitable, just, and compassionate world. He beautifully reminded us that volunteers deepen the impact and effectiveness of the organizations who are serving the most vulnerable populations in our communities.
John Kobara
After the Luncheon, we wasted no time jumping into the HALO Award year with a short program Orientation. Irene Quevedo, Executive Director of Operation Jump Start and member of Cohort 8, and Keren Taylor, Executive Director of WriteGirl and member of Cohort 7, returned to the HALO Award family to share their own capacity building experiences with the new Cohort 9. It’s the Foundation’s hope that in addition to the capacity building work and grant dollars, the HALO Award program will facilitate a network of peer support that continues after the designated program year. Since 2011, over 50 organizations have been impacted by the HALO Award; we are grateful to the program alumni who volunteer their time to share their successes, challenges, and lessons learned during and post-HALO!
Interested in following Cohort 9’s capacity building journey and learning more about the HALO Award program?
Follow along this year on Instagram and Twitter: @halo_award
