"In Harmony With Hope" Honors Three Visionaries

celebrates its fifth anniversary and the good works being done throughout America during its annual awards ceremony Tuesday, honoring innovators from across the country.

The Burlingame non-profit has made strides in overcoming some of the biggest challenges facing American society, from education to poverty to social injustice, and honors those who do the same.

This year's three recipients are making remarkable changes in the fields of education and foster care.

“These are people who really are just rocking the world,” said Elfenworks founder and CEO Lauren Speeth. “For me it’s a real night of hope.”

When choosing recipients of the award, Speeth and her team turn to seven criteria, handed down to Speeth during a mentoring session with President Jimmy Carter back when Elfenworks was just getting started. Speeth called the meeting an extraordinary opportunity that came at a time when she took a look at the issues facing Americans and tried to figure out how to create solutions.

The seven pillars include following one’s vision, tuning out naysayers, utilizing one’s special skills and having a long-term view.

“Ever single one of these visionaries measures up to these seven criteria,” Speeth said of the winners.

Speeth said in a time when positive news is hard to come by, the In Harmony with Hope ceremony highlights the people working towards real solutions—and making meaningful progress—builds bridges between the innovators and the community and generates hope.

“The lack of hope is a soul killer, and we can’t afford to be without hope,” she said. “Every one of these wonderful visionaries…are motivated to make a difference [and] are staying for the long-term.”

The award winners this year include Brenda Eheart of Champaign, Ill., who has developed Hope Meadows, a community when retired people live rent-free in exchange for raising foster children in a permanent home. She created a supportive environment on an old military base and is expanding the model throughout the country.

Another award recipient, Jim McCorkell of St. Paul, Minn., created Admission Possible to help low-income and often first-generation college students earn college admission. Of the Admission Possible students, 98 percent are accepted into college and 80 percent are receiving higher education.

The third recipient is Bill Milliken of Washington, D.C., who founded Communities in Schools to build networks of families, schools and community leaders to support at-risk youth. He began the program in Harlem and has grown it to serve 1.3 million students throughout 3,000 schools.

Tuesday night’s festivities will celebrate both the work of the award recipients and the five years of work by the Elfenworks Foundation and its partners.

“The whole night is supposed to make you happy,” she said. “It’s supposed to be the anecdote for what’s going on.”

The In Harmony with Hope Awards take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the . Check back tomorrow for Burlingame Patch’s coverage of the event.