Twenty years ago, The James Irvine Foundation set out to recognize Californians who are finding real solutions to some of the state’s toughest challenges. The Leadership Awards Program was then created to give these leaders not just recognition, but the resources and credibility to go further.
Two decades later, the impact is clear. Recipients have used the Award to pass statewide legislation, build new institutions, shift how entire fields understand issues like human trafficking and foster youth, and ensure that young people’s voices shape the policies that affect their lives.
In their own words, past recipients share what the Award meant to them — and how it helped move their work, and California, forward.
”I was blown away when we won the Award. The recognition came when we were a little more than 10 years old and growing. It was validating and raised the stakes about the importance of this type of work – outside thinking that was filling an unmet community need. It was very meaningful and inspiring to the team.
You’re always trying to build relationships, and this took that to a new level of credibility. The university really appreciated it, and people started to see us in a more meaningful light.”
Dr. Ellen Beck, UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project, 2010 Award recipient
“The Award let me do something I had wanted to do for a long time but that wasn’t part of our services. I used the funds to convene leaders in the state about the field’s lack of power to respond to the needs of foster children, especially during crises. It led to statewide legislation, and I had more impact with that money than other things with strings attached.”
Ken Berrick, Seneca Family of Agencies, 2017 Award recipient
”It was very meaningful for the organization, particularly as it oriented us more toward policy. It was really helpful to have more of a connection to legislators, as they began to reach out and see us as experts. I was [later] appointed to an advisory committee, which was quite impactful.”
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Center for Youth Wellness, 2014 Award recipient
“The Award was given at such a perfect time. It was an important point in our work because we had just launched offices statewide, so it was vital to have that platform and be seen as more than Northern Californian. And the Award helped us to define and use youth voice. We moved conversations from being about youth commissions to more real, intentional listening.
We were working on some heavy policy change at the time, including in Fresno on the oversaturation of liquor stores in the city. The Award elevated the youth work on that – after 7 years of it – and allowed us to push it further and pass the law in 2020.”
Yammilette Rodriguez, Youth Leadership Institute, 2019 Award recipient
”The Award was a great opportunity to spotlight human trafficking. At the time, our office was the first to investigate it; no one understood it. We made it a critical issue for others – and educated other counties, law enforcement, and health agencies to think differently and to look for it.
The Award allowed me to form the Human Exploitation And Trafficking (HEAT) Institute, which included a commission – state leaders, Kamala Harris, the head of CA HHS – that developed an analysis and report that we took across the state to educate medical providers, social services, probation, child welfare, and others. Many of those commission members went on to recognitions themselves for this work, [which] furthered understanding and acceptance.
Then the federal government took notice, including issuing a Congressional award linking sexual assault to human trafficking. ”
Nancy O’Malley, Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, 2015 Award recipient