2008 Fred Rogers Award Honoree: Debra Delgado

Original Source At the 2008 Annual Conference in Chicago, Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families awarded the 2008 Fred Rogers Leadership Award in Philanthropy for Children, Youth and Families posthumously to our beloved friend and colleague Debra Delgado. Debra was a wonderfully fun and compassionate woman known for her unflagging advocacy on behalf of children and youth and for her infectious laugh, her uncommon wisdom and her common sense. During her career she held positions at Atlantic Philanthropies, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Program Office for School-Based Health Care, the Title X Family Planning Program for the District of Columbia, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, the Los Angeles Free Clinic and the Watts Health Foundation. Through her work Debra used her leadership skills to give voice to the needs and aspirations of the most vulnerable among us. Her career embodied the spirit and intent of this award-to honor a colleague who has made substantive contributions to the field, has provided leadership in an area of grantmaking that has inspired colleagues in the field, and has contributed to the advancement of the sector. The 2008 Fred Rogers Award honors Debra and pays tribute to her leadership, vision, and belief in philanthropy’s ability to make the world a better place for children, youth, and their families. The award is presented annually in honor of Fred Rogers, one of the country’s most beloved advocates for children and recognizes outstanding contributions by philanthropic staff or trustees on behalf of children, youth, and families. Fred McFeely Rogers, “Mister Rogers” to the world, devoted his entire career to communicating with and for children, so that regardless of the events in their lives, they would know that they are special and liked just for who they are. His wife Joanne Rogers graciously allowed GCYF the privilege of naming its annual leadership award in honor of her much loved and greatly missed husband. GCYF is proud that the recognition of outstanding contributions to grantmaking for children, youth, and families will carry the name of the man who was truly the “favoritest” neighbor of the world’s children. For more information on this year’s award and information on the 2009 Fred Rogers Award deadlines and submission instructions, click here. Photo: Members of the Atlantic Philanthropies Children & Youth Programme Team pose with Warren Simmons, Debra Delgado’s husband, who accepted the award on her behalf. When accepting the award, Mr. Simmons also thanked the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Atlantic for establishing the Debra Delgado Memorial Fund at the Coachella Valley Education Foundation. The $100,000 one time contribution from Atlantic (and matched by Casey) will pay for scholarships to young women from the Coachella Valley High School, Debra’s Alma Mater, to attend college. L to R: Sachi Yoshii, Mini Sanyal, Eyal Yerushalmi, Nicole Gallant, Warren Simmons, Marisha Wignaraja, and Alice Walker Duff.