The Daily Tell

The winners of the Peter F. Drucker Award for 2009 were announced last week by the trustees of the Drucker Institute. The award is given yearly to the non-profit organization that the selectors feel has made the most positive difference in the community that it serves.

This year’s first place winner was the Center for Court Innovation, a non-profit think tank in New York City that attempts to help judges and courts aid victims of crime, reduce overall crime rates, and boost the public’s trust in the U.S. justice system. The center studies numerous facets of the justice system, including drug courts, domestic violence courts, and mental health courts. The center will receive $100,000 to further its development instead of the $35,000 distributed to previous years’ winners, thanks to a grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation.

Second place honors, along with $7,500, went to Urban Farming, a group based in Detroit that plants gardens on unused land and in unusual urban spaces like rooftops. Many people in relatively poor urban areas like Detroit struggle to be able to provide themselves and their families with sufficient quantities of healthy food. Urban Farming provides those people with fresh produce.

The third place winner, which will take home a prize of $5,000, was the Population Media Center of Shelbourne, Vermont. The center’s mission is to help combat overpopulation, which it accomplishes by using soap operas translated into various languages to promulgate important facts about AIDS, family planning, and women’s rights.

All three winners will be honored at a dinner in Los Angeles next month, as part of the celebrations of Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday.