Marian Wright Edelman has been a voice for children for more than four decades. She graduated from Yale Law School and was the first black woman to pass the Mississippi bar exam. Marian was a powerful voice in the Civil Rights Movement, and in 1967 she testified before a congressional subcommittee overseeing the poverty program. Energized by Marian's testimony, Senator Robert F. Kennedy went with her into the Mississippi Delta to see the situation first hand. A year later Marian moved from Mississippi to Washington, D.C. where she became and remains today a strong and powerful voice for all children and families. Today Marian is the President of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization she founded in 1973. The Children's Defense Fund has been a voice for all children in America with particular attention to the needs of the poor and minority children and children with disabilities. The CDF has worked with policy makers to enact dozens of laws that have helped millions of children get the health care, education, and other resources to survive and thrive. This year the Children's Defense Fund celebrates 35 years of service to young people. In 2002 Marian was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has also been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.
Dr. Gary W. Harper
Dr. Gary W. Harper, Ph.D., M.P.H., has used research to better the lives of homeless, runaway and at-risk adolescents for more than 23 years. As a decorated scholar he has dedicated his research to examining HIV risk and protective factors among homeless and inner-city ethnic-minority youth. Gary has collaborated with community agencies and community members to develop and evaluate a range of youth-focused prevention programs promoting the health and well-being of adolescents, with a special focus on runaway/homeless youth, urban youth of color, gay/bisexual youth, and youth living with HIV. Gary uses his research to reach his ultimate goal: develop and refine culturally sensitive HIV prevention programs addressing a wide range of cultural, societal and contextual factors. Gary is a member of the Behavioral Leadership Group within the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions. He was recently appointed to the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Gary's research and work with youth and HIV stretches outside the borders of the U.S. He has conducted extensive HIV-focused work and research in urban and rural communities in Kenya. Gary is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Master of Public Health Program at DePaul University in Chicago.
Trudee Able-Peterson
Trudee Able-Peterson has more than 30 years experience in the youth services field. Through the years Trudee has touched the lives of thousands of youth in a variety of positions including consultant, administrator, program developer and direct care provider. In 1984, she developed the first outreach project to homeless youth in New York City's Times Square, The Streetwork Project. For nine years she managed her program which became New York's first consistent and professional outreach program. She and her team worked tirelessly with homeless youth being ravaged by drugs, sexually exploitation and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Trudee was able to extend her positive reach much further than Times Square. She is co-author of the first training manual on street outreach. Trudee has also worked as an International Consultant in 12 countries for street outreach to children and youth. Thousands of youth service workers in the United States and abroad have referenced her materials to make positive strides with street outreach in their own communities. In 2002 she was awarded the Bruce M. Vento Distinguished Service Award by Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless. Trudee continues her work today as Coordinator of Outreach Services at the StreetWorks Collaborative in Minneapolis.
Ernie Allen
Ernie Allen is a pioneer in the field of at-risk children and youth. Ernie started his career in Louisville, Ky., working in various public offices for the city of Louisville and spent 10 years as Executive Director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Crime Commission. Ernie created the Jefferson Co. Missing and Exploited Child Unit. Following a high profile child abduction case in Louisville, Congress funded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the Jefferson Co. program became a national model. He has served as President and CEO of NCMEC since 1989. Under his leadership, NCMEC has recovered more than 121,500 children. The organization has increased the nation's recovery rate from 62% in 1990 to 96% currently. In 2005, NCMEC worked around the clock to reunite all 5,192 missing children displaced from their families during Hurricane Katrina. Ernie has worked to help at-risk and exploited children across the globe with the creation of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, where he serves as CEO. Today, Ernie and the NCMEC continue to serve youth using technology and innovation. Advances in the field include age progression, forensic imaging, 24-hour missing children hotline, CyberTipline (the 9-1-1 for the Internet) and training for more than 235,180 law enforcement officers. In 2001 Sun Microsystems named him an "I-Force Hero" for his use of the Internet for social good. In 2005 he was named "Executive of the Year" by Non-Profit Times.
Larry Wooldridge
Larry Wooldridge has spent more than thirty years making it easier for youth in crisis to access essential services. Larry joined the YMCA of Greater Louisville in 1973; a year later he opened one of the country's first runaway and homeless youth shelters, Shelter House. Larry quickly expanded Shelter House to include "The Center for Youth Alternatives," an alternative school that included counseling for youth struggling to succeed in typical classrooms. The programs were quickly serving nearly 600 young people in Louisville each year, but Larry wanted to do more. Troubled by the number of youth across the city that had no way to get to Shelter House, he created Project Safe Place in 1983. Larry and Shelter House partnered with local businesses, fire departments and community buildings to offer "doorways" to shelter and safety all across the community. Soon, communities across the country wanted their youth to have multiple ways to access shelter and services. Since the program's inception 25 years ago, more than 140 Safe Place programs have provided immediate help and safety to nearly 110,000 youth. Youth can access counseling, shelter and other important services through the more than 17,000 Safe Place sites. Larry retired in 2004 as vice president of operations for the YMCA of Greater Louisville but continues to stay active and involved with the YMCA and National Safe Place. Larry bicycled from California to Maine in 2007 with three friends, taking donations to benefit Safe Place.
Marian Wright Edelman has been a voice for children for more than four decades. She graduated from Yale Law School and was the first black woman to pass the Mississippi bar exam. Marian was a powerful voice in the Civil Rights Movement, and in 1967 she testified before a congressional subcommittee overseeing the poverty program. Energized by Marian's testimony, Senator Robert F. Kennedy went with her into the Mississippi Delta to see the situation first hand. A year later Marian moved from Mississippi to Washington, D.C. where she became and remains today a strong and powerful voice for all children and families. Today Marian is the President of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization she founded in 1973. The Children's Defense Fund has been a voice for all children in America with particular attention to the needs of the poor and minority children and children with disabilities. The CDF has worked with policy makers to enact dozens of laws that have helped millions of children get the health care, education, and other resources to survive and thrive. This year the Children's Defense Fund celebrates 35 years of service to young people. In 2002 Marian was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has also been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.
Dr. Gary W. Harper, Ph.D., M.P.H., has used research to better the lives of homeless, runaway and at-risk adolescents for more than 23 years. As a decorated scholar he has dedicated his research to examining HIV risk and protective factors among homeless and inner-city ethnic-minority youth. Gary has collaborated with community agencies and community members to develop and evaluate a range of youth-focused prevention programs promoting the health and well-being of adolescents, with a special focus on runaway/homeless youth, urban youth of color, gay/bisexual youth, and youth living with HIV. Gary uses his research to reach his ultimate goal: develop and refine culturally sensitive HIV prevention programs addressing a wide range of cultural, societal and contextual factors. Gary is a member of the Behavioral Leadership Group within the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions. He was recently appointed to the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Gary's research and work with youth and HIV stretches outside the borders of the U.S. He has conducted extensive HIV-focused work and research in urban and rural communities in Kenya. Gary is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Master of Public Health Program at DePaul University in Chicago.
Trudee Able-Peterson has more than 30 years experience in the youth services field. Through the years Trudee has touched the lives of thousands of youth in a variety of positions including consultant, administrator, program developer and direct care provider. In 1984, she developed the first outreach project to homeless youth in New York City's Times Square, The Streetwork Project. For nine years she managed her program which became New York's first consistent and professional outreach program. She and her team worked tirelessly with homeless youth being ravaged by drugs, sexually exploitation and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Trudee was able to extend her positive reach much further than Times Square. She is co-author of the first training manual on street outreach. Trudee has also worked as an International Consultant in 12 countries for street outreach to children and youth. Thousands of youth service workers in the United States and abroad have referenced her materials to make positive strides with street outreach in their own communities. In 2002 she was awarded the Bruce M. Vento Distinguished Service Award by Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless. Trudee continues her work today as Coordinator of Outreach Services at the StreetWorks Collaborative in Minneapolis.
Ernie Allen is a pioneer in the field of at-risk children and youth. Ernie started his career in Louisville, Ky., working in various public offices for the city of Louisville and spent 10 years as Executive Director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Crime Commission. Ernie created the Jefferson Co. Missing and Exploited Child Unit. Following a high profile child abduction case in Louisville, Congress funded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the Jefferson Co. program became a national model. He has served as President and CEO of NCMEC since 1989. Under his leadership, NCMEC has recovered more than 121,500 children. The organization has increased the nation's recovery rate from 62% in 1990 to 96% currently. In 2005, NCMEC worked around the clock to reunite all 5,192 missing children displaced from their families during Hurricane Katrina. Ernie has worked to help at-risk and exploited children across the globe with the creation of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, where he serves as CEO. Today, Ernie and the NCMEC continue to serve youth using technology and innovation. Advances in the field include age progression, forensic imaging, 24-hour missing children hotline, CyberTipline (the 9-1-1 for the Internet) and training for more than 235,180 law enforcement officers. In 2001 Sun Microsystems named him an "I-Force Hero" for his use of the Internet for social good. In 2005 he was named "Executive of the Year" by Non-Profit Times.
Larry Wooldridge has spent more than thirty years making it easier for youth in crisis to access essential services. Larry joined the YMCA of Greater Louisville in 1973; a year later he opened one of the country's first runaway and homeless youth shelters, Shelter House. Larry quickly expanded Shelter House to include "The Center for Youth Alternatives," an alternative school that included counseling for youth struggling to succeed in typical classrooms. The programs were quickly serving nearly 600 young people in Louisville each year, but Larry wanted to do more. Troubled by the number of youth across the city that had no way to get to Shelter House, he created Project Safe Place in 1983. Larry and Shelter House partnered with local businesses, fire departments and community buildings to offer "doorways" to shelter and safety all across the community. Soon, communities across the country wanted their youth to have multiple ways to access shelter and services. Since the program's inception 25 years ago, more than 140 Safe Place programs have provided immediate help and safety to nearly 110,000 youth. Youth can access counseling, shelter and other important services through the more than 17,000 Safe Place sites. Larry retired in 2004 as vice president of operations for the YMCA of Greater Louisville but continues to stay active and involved with the YMCA and National Safe Place. Larry bicycled from California to Maine in 2007 with three friends, taking donations to benefit Safe Place.