RECENT WINNERS
Stephen Ritz – Green Bronx Machine
greenbronxmachine.org/ | Bronx, NY
Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator / administrator who believes that students shouldn’t have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one. Moving generations of students into spheres of personal and academic successes which they had never imagined — while reclaiming and rebuilding the Bronx — Stephen’s extended student and community family have grown more than 40,000 pounds of vegetables in the Bronx while generating extraordinary academic performance.
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Rose Tourje – ANEW
anewfound.org/ | Los Angeles, CA
Rose Tourje began ANEW after a successful career in commercial interior design. As her leadership role advanced, Rose found her specific niche in procurement, taking practical cost-effective & sustainable measures by sourcing locally and regionally whenever possible. This caused her to look more closely at industry practices as a whole, noting that the surplus furniture and equipment liquidation process was antiquated and overlooked.
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Melaney Smith – Books For Keeps
booksforkeeps.org | Athens, GA
In 2009, Melaney Smith heard about a little girl who was not looking forward to summer. The reason? This second-grader loved to read, but had no books at home. Melaney asked around and learned that there were many children in the same situation. In asking the question, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about this?” she realized, “I am somebody. I can do something.”
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