Lipman Family Prize Strengthens its Commitment to Leadership and Innovation

Amber Mackay for GPA For several years the Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize has awarded prizes to organizations that celebrate leadership and innovation in the social sector. Earlier this month the Lipman Family Prize announced that the prize would doubled, be increasing to $250,000 to one outstanding organization, and $25,000 to two finalists.

The Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize would not be possible without Barry and Marie Lipman's commitment to aiding socially responsible organizations and actions. The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania gives out the prize, in addition it provides a tuition-free executive education program, peer learning events, pro-bono consultation from Wharton staff, and research from experts and current students to further aid the organization's work.

This past year the finalists were CareMessage, Innovation:Africa, and Riders for Health. CareMessage provides mobile technology to healthcare groups to enable improvements in health literacy and self-health management. Innovation: Africa's mission is "to engage in top-quality, sustainable, scalable and renewable infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa." So far the group has concentrated on solar and agricultural work in East Africa. Riders for Health--this year’s winner--works to aid health care workers to attain reliable transportation to reach remote communities in need of health care.

The Lipman Family Prize has enabled many non-profits and non-governmental organizations to grow and achieve much more. With the size of the grant doubled can one even imagine the positive impact that is to come? Congratulations to this year’s finalists, and to the Lipman Family Prize for this great achievement.