The following bios were current as of the Sabbatical award date, but have not been updated.
Mark Gold is the Executive Director of Heal the Bay, an organization dedicated to making Southern California coastal water and watersheds safe, healthy and clean. He will work on the development of HtBX, a scientific problem solving consulting arm to Heal the Bay that will lend its expertise to environmental, community and governmental agencies. "The Stanton Fellowship will enable me to fulfill my dream to have Heal the Bay's approach of science-based problem solving become a model for other coastal environmental groups," says Gold.
Mark's Stanton Summary
Eve Hill is the Executive Director of the Disability Rights Legal Center, which provides information, education, mediation and legal representation for people with all types of disabilities. She will consult with national media and communications experts about how to change the public perception of disability rights, and create a plan for doing so with a disability rights coalition. Ms. Hill explains, "The law is not enough to change society's attitudes toward people with disabilities. We need to work on framing the discussion and influencing public opinion of the disability rights movement. We must identify the public values and beliefs that our issues resonate with, and we must fashion our messages to be based on those values."
Eve's Stanton Summary
Sister Jennie Lechtenberg is Chief Executive Officer of PUENTE Learning Center, a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization offering tuition-free educational programs to students of all ages. She will research the possibility of implementing adult charter schools in California. "Statistics prove that adult illiteracy and lack of basic education are rampant in the state of California. I will pursue the idea of creating adult charter schools to provide another venue through which already existing community-based organizations can continue to offer and strengthen fundamental educational services," says Lechtenberg.
Sister Jennie's Stanton Summary
Torie Osborn was until recently the Executive Director of Liberty Hill Foundation, which partners with Los Angeles grassroots organizations to combat poverty and injustice, and is now its Senior Advisor to Philanthropic Programs. She will serve as Special Advisor to the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, linking the Mayor's office to the philanthropic community. "Los Angeles has been named both America's poverty and wealth capitals, " says Osborn, "I will seek to identify and implement innovative policy ideas on complex issues such as economic development, homelessness and education through improving public-private partnerships and increasing coordination and communication between local government and the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors."
Torie's Stanton Summary
Beth Steckler is the Policy Director of Livable Places, Inc., which promotes a more livable and sustainable Los Angeles region through planning and by building urban residences that demonstrate efficient land use, green space and public transit access. Steckler's project will take her to different communities around the nation that have successfully generated public dialogue around sustainable communities and translated that into action locally. "I want to find out how other cities have made community people an integral part of figuring out the answers to the big-picture questions around how we grow," says Steckler.
Beth's Stanton Summary
Norma Stoker-Mtume is the Associate Director and Chief Financial Officer of SHIELDS for Families, Inc., a South Los Angeles family service agency providing services including mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing, and vocational and child development. A co-founder of five nonprofit organizations during her career, Stoker-Mtume is concerned about replenishing the graying leadership in the nonprofit sector. "I believe that more energy needs to be expended to develop and nurture future nonprofit executives. This fellowship will allow me time away from my regular duties to conduct research and develop a Young Executives Mentoring and Coaching Institute to train future nonprofit executives, with an emphasis on reaching out to young people of color in my South Los Angeles community."
Norma's Stanton Summary
The Stanton Fellowship