NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Time Warner Inc. today announced the recipients of its 30th annual Heiskell Community Service Awards. Named for Andrew Heiskell, the late former Chairman and CEO of Time Inc., the awards were presented at a ceremony at the Time Warner Center in New York City.
Time Warner presented seven individuals with awards for their outstanding community and public service contributions and one Business Citizenship Award, which recognizes a strategic business initiative that adds value to the company and benefits the community.
“The 30th anniversary of the Heiskell Awards commemorates Time Warner’s longstanding commitment to volunteerism and public service efforts,” said Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc. “Our employees have always displayed a passion for helping to enrich the lives of others as well as the communities in which we do business. I’m proud to recognize our extraordinary colleagues, and applaud all their efforts in finding creative ways to help make a difference.”
Each Heiskell Community Service Award recipient receives a $3,000 donation to the nonprofit organization or organizations of his or her choice and a personal honorarium of $2,000. For the Business Citizenship Award, Time Warner makes a $10,000 donation to the nonprofit organization of the recipients’ choice.
The Heiskell award recipients, who were nominated by their colleagues and chosen from Time Warner’s more than 31,000 employees worldwide, are profiled below.
Individual Awards
Jacqueline Burgos, Financial Analyst, Finance and Analysis, HBO, is the co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer of Motivation, Opportunity, Viability, Enterprise (M.O.V.E.), a three year college preparatory program for inner city high school students in New York. The first class of M.O.V.E. students (now high school seniors), has received 24 acceptance letters to four-year colleges and universities.
Martina DeSimone, Senior Financial Analyst, Ad Sales Finance, Turner Broadcasting, co-founded the Christian L. DeSimone Foundation in honor of her late brother, Christian, who passed away in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Foundation's mission is dedicated to giving people the chance that her brother once had to excel, and also hosts an annual golf event and luncheon called Chris' Chance, which draws more than 200 people and has raised $120,000 for scholarships and grants.
Rob Goodman, Associate Director, Procurement Technologies, Time Warner, has been a supporter and fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, specifically through his involvement with the Pan Mass Challenge, a 194-mile bike ride and main fundraiser for Dana-Farber. As a consistent top-50 fundraiser, Rob has personally raised more than $215,000 during the past 10 years and was recently honored with a Sliver Lifetime Recognition Award.
Lucinda Martinez-Desir, Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution, HBO, as a heart attack survivor, Lucinda decided to join the American Heart Association (AHA) and use her personal experience to help fight the nation's number one health issue facing women. As the AHA's first Latina Board member, she launched the annual Latino Heart Health Summit that drew experts from 124 organizations and raised $600,000 for the cause.
Hal Rubenstein, Fashion Director, InStyle magazine, Time Inc., is co-founder and co-director of Fund in the Sun, an organization that helps fund non-profits that don't have an infrastructure to raise money. So far, close to $400,000 has been raised and distributed to non-profit groups, including Live Out Loud, which supports gay, lesbian and transgender teens.
Bradley Silver, Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Legal, Time Warner, initially became involved in Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA), a non-profit that works in the U.S. and Africa to advance human rights, empower youth, combat AIDS and more, to help stay connected to his native homeland. Bradley is now a member of the Board and has been involved in a wide range of efforts, including executive producing Nelson Mandela's Favorite Folktales, an audio book that has already raised $90,000 for African children in need.
Jody C. Zucker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Legal, Warner Bros., is the President of the Board for Project Chicken Soup (PCS), a volunteer organization that delivers home-cooked Kosher meals to people with life-threatening illnesses. Under Jody's leadership, PCS has increased fundraising by fifty percent and doubled the number of meals it delivers from 20,000 a year to 40,000.
Business Citizenship Award: Cartoon Network, CNN and PEOPLE magazine:
In the spring of 2009, Cartoon Network's audience found that bullying was one of the biggest concerns among kids. As part of a larger commitment, Cartoon Network, CNN and PEOPLE magazine teamed up to focus their collective media power on this epidemic facing young people.
The "Stop Bullying: Speak Up" campaign was created to help stem the crisis by offering information to kids looking to protect their friends from bullying. In addition, PEOPLE magazine dedicated significant coverage to the bullying epidemic over the last several years and CNN used its journalism expertise to shine a light on the issue.
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