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BELL WINS 2007 SOCIAL CAPITALIST AWARD
FOR Award recognizes most outstanding non-profits using innovation and entreprenurship to create sustainable solutions to the world’s toughest social problems NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2006 – BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) has been selected as a winner of the 2007 Social Capitalist Award from Fast Company magazine and the Monitor Group. The Social Capitalist Award honors non-profits, or “social entrepreneurs,” who combine creativity and ingenuity with business-solutions to address urgent social challenges. BELL is being honored for its transformative educational after school and summer programs, which operate in public schools and annually help nearly 10,000 children strengthen their literacy, math and social skills. “BELL’s bottom line is the academic and social achievements of children,” explains Earl Martin Phalen, BELL’s Co-Founder and CEO. “The Social Capitalist Award recognizes that BELL is not only helping children excel, but is also effectively using operating metrics and embracing standards of accountability that drive the organization to provide the highest-quality educational opportunities to the children who need them most.” BELL stands out as a model provider of educational after school and summer programs because of the significant achievements children attain in its programs. BELL targets children performing below grade-level who attend the city’s lowest-performing schools. In each of the last six years, 100% of children “failing” in literacy, according to standardized test scores, advanced to a higher academic level in BELL’s programs. Each year, more than 75% of BELL “scholars” achieve proficiency in core academic skills, compared to 30% of their peers. An independent evaluation of BELL’s acclaimed summer program, BELL Summer, confirmed that the program has a significant, positive impact on children’s reading skills. Phalen continues, “Such recognition as a high-performing non-profit comes with responsibility: BELL has developed effective solutions to chronic trends of academic under-performance among children in under-resourced schools and communities, we must continue to deepen and expand our impact to strengthen the education field and ensure all children excel as scholars and leaders.” The winners are featured in Fast Company’s Dec./Jan. 2007 cover story, on newsstands Nov. 21, 2006 – Jan. 16, 2007. BELL also won the Social Capitalist Award in 2006. About BELL BELL, founded in 1992, is one of the nation’s leading providers of educational after school and summer programs. Its mission is to increase the academic achievements, self-esteem, and life opportunities of children living in low-income, urban areas. BELL serves nearly 10,000 children annually in public schools throughout New York City, Boston, and Baltimore. It has been recognized as a leader in out-of-school-time enrichment by policy makers such as Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and by organizations including the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University and the American Federation of Teachers. Visit www.bellnational.org for more information. |
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