CECP Award Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
About the CECP Awards and Community Voice Mail
What is CECP? What kind of awards do they give?
CECP is the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy which was co-founded by Paul Newman (Actor and Chairman of Newman’s Own) and Ken Derr (retired Chairman and CEO of Chevron) in 2000. It is the only international forum of business CEOs and Chairpersons pursuing a mission exclusively focused on corporate philanthropy.
CECP hosts the Excellence Awards in New York annually on National Corporate Philanthropy Day. Over 300 CEOs, Chairpersons and corporate community relations representatives from across the country attend. Awards are presented to two companies (large company and small company) who are leaders in corporate philanthropy and one nonprofit whose partnership with a corporation exemplifies a successful alignment of both parties’ missions. All three award winners participate in the closing bell ceremonies at the New York Stock Exchange.
What award is Community Voice Mail receiving and why?
Community Voice Mail is being presented with the CECP Directors Nonprofit Excellence Award on National Corporate Philanthropy Day (February 25th, 2008) in New York. It accepts the award on behalf of its 41 community-based partners across the country, representing a broad array of social service organizations.
Community Voice Mail is being recognized for its exceptional long-standing partnership with Cisco Systems and the Cisco Foundation, who nominated it for the award. The partnership is an excellent example of how a nonprofit organization and global corporation can come together and have a significant impact on major social issues of homelessness and the technology/telecommunications gap that exists for the poor.
Where will this award be celebrated?
The CECP award presentation takes place in New York. Community Voice Mail is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and will hold a joint celebration with Cisco employees there. Community Voice Mail partners with 41 community-based partners across the country and anticipates that they will be celebrating the award locally.
Who selects the winners?
All three CECP awards: Large Company, Small Company and Directors Nonprofit are selected by a jury from the corporate, nonprofit, government, investment, consulting, media, and academic communities.
What is Community Voice Mail?
Community Voice Mail is the only nonprofit that provides free, 24-hour, personalized telecommunications access nationwide, directly linking people to jobs, housing and stability. It was started in 1993 in Seattle, Washington and today partners with community-based organizations in 41 cities across the U.S. who represent a broad array of social service agencies. State-of-the-art telecommunications technology that Cisco donated and has helped to customized with Community Voice Mail is utilized to bring centralized, reliable, cost-effective voice mail service to over 41,000 clients annually who use it to find jobs, housing and other social services.
Community Voice Mail is continually seeking to improve telecommunications access for the homeless and phoneless. In addition to providing a voice mail number for clients to use to communicate with people, it utilizes the centralized voice mail system to distribute critical and timely information to clients about job postings/fairs, weather warnings, free health screenings, flu shots, etc. It has also paired cell phone usage with its voice mail service in some communities in light of pay phone availability decreasing.