Today, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), the only international forum of business leaders exclusively focused on raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy, presents the 11th Annual Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy to two corporations and one nonprofit from among an extraordinary pool of applications: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. for 10,000 Women; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, for the SECURE THE FUTURE® Technical Assistance and Skills Transfer Program (TAP); and DonorsChoose.org for its partnership with Crate and Barrel. Winning programs are selected by a distinguished, independent, cross-sector jury who determine excellence according to the following criteria: demonstrated CEO leadership, dedication to measurement, successful partnership, and innovation.

The Excellence Awards will be presented to recipient chairmen or CEOs at a special afternoon ceremony at the Time Warner Center in New York by CECP Chairman Douglas R. Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company. Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., James M. Cornelius, Chairman, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Charles Best, Founder and CEO, DonorsChoose.org will participate in a panel discussion moderated by past Excellence Award winner Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder of the nonprofit KaBOOM!. The Excellence Awards ceremony will be webcast live on CECP's website at 4:30 PM EST.

"We are honored to present the Excellence Awards to these three exemplary programs," says Charles Moore, Executive Director of CECP. "Each of these organizations has created a multiplier effect by building upon their initial investment and partnership successes, resulting in an even greater positive impact on important societal issues."

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. receives the Chairman's Award, given annually to a corporation with revenues greater than or equal to US $20 billion. The company's 10,000 Women initiative is a five-year, $100 million program that is providing 10,000 underserved women in developing and emerging markets with a business and management education. The program is designed to foster economic growth around the world and was based on Goldman Sachs research highlighting the role that educating and empowering women plays in lifting GDP. 10,000 Women invests in the exponential power of women as entrepreneurs, managers and catalysts of social change.

By the end of 2011, 10,000 Women will have reached 5,000 women business owners in 22 countries. To date, nearly 70 percent of graduates of the program have reported increasing revenue and more than half have added new jobs.

"Goldman Sachs is honored to work with a network of more than 70 academic and nonprofit partners and to demonstrate that investing in women is one of the best ways to stimulate economic growth," said Dina Habib Powell, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. "We are very pleased to see that thousands of graduates of 10,000 Women are building businesses, creating jobs and opening opportunity for others in their community."

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is awarded the President's Award, given annually to a corporation with revenues less than US $20 billion. The SECURE THE FUTURE® Technical Assistance Program (TAP) provides technical assistance, capacity-building tools and seed funding to extend community-based approaches for fighting HIV/AIDS to an increasing number of African countries and communities. SECURE THE FUTURE® is Bristol-Myers Squibb's pioneering $160 million initiative addressing HIV/AIDS in Africa. Since 1999, SECURE THE FUTURE® has engaged in more than 240 projects in more than 20 countries. Now in its third evolution, SECURE THE FUTURE® is leveraging its past investments by sharing its lessons across the continent.

"SECURE THE FUTURE® has always been about Africans helping Africans," says John Damonti, president, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and vice president, Corporate Philanthropy, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Working with our public and private partners over the past 12 years, we have identified many world-class solutions for harnessing and strengthening community-based resources, building health care system capacity and improving the effectiveness and sustainability of community outreach programs. Through TAP, we are now replicating those successes in more than 20 countries throughout southern and western Africa so many more people may benefit from our experience."

DonorsChoose.org, nominated by Crate and Barrel, is presented the Directors' Award given to a nonprofit organization in recognition of their highly effective partnership. This award includes a $25,000 grant by CECP's Board of Directors. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need in schools across America. Since 2006, Crate and Barrel and DonorsChoose.org have developed a partnership through which Crate and Barrel customers have received 1.1 million co-branded DonorsChoose.org gift cards to support 347,000 students. Sent in five distributions (the first with DonorsChoose.org prize funds), these pre-paid gift cards were received by mail and email and allowed Crate and Barrel customers to fund classroom projects proposed by teachers at schools across the country. The campaign has demonstrated continuous ability to meet the partners' objectives of deepening Crate and Barrel customer loyalty and inspiring civic engagement at DonorsChoose.org.

Barbara Turf, CEO of Crate and Barrel, who is a former elementary school teacher, said "We're proud to continue our partnership with DonorsChoose.org and to share the experience of giving with our customers. We believe in the power of education and providing children everywhere with the opportunity to learn and grow."

Charles Best, Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, said, "The outcomes of this pioneering partnership are evident from both the positive feedback of Crate and Barrel customers and the letters and photos from the students and teachers who have benefitted from the donations; we are proud of our Crate and Barrel partnership and the continued success of this program."

About the Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy

Since 2000, CECP has presented Excellence Awards annually to more than 20 companies such as Cisco Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, GE, General Mills, Inc., Hasbro, IBM, Intel Corporation, Merck, Moody's Corporation, Novartis, Pfizer, The PNC Financial Services Group, salesforce.com, Target, The Western Union Company, and Whole Foods Market, and to nonprofits including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, The Children's Health Fund, Community Voice Mail, Jumpstart, KaBOOM!, National Academy Foundation, and Partners In Health. The awards jury comprises representatives from corporate, nonprofit, government, investment, consulting, media, and academic communities.

About the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)

CECP is the only international forum of business leaders exclusively focused on raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. Membership includes more than 180 global CEOs and chairpersons of companies that collectively account for more than 40 percent of reported corporate giving in the United States.

CECP

CECP

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is the only international forum of business leaders focused on increasing the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. Membership includes more than 180 global CEOs and chairpersons of companies that collectively account for more than 40% of reported corporate giving in the United States. Membership is by invitation and is renewed annually.

CECP provides member companies with peer-to-peer executive convenings, premier networking events for corporate giving industry professionals, cutting-edge research publications, a proprietary, on-demand benchmarking system of corporate philanthropy data, and exclusive media opportunities.

Founded in 1999 by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, together with John Whitehead, Peter Malkin, and other business leaders, CECP continues to inspire and challenge leaders in the private sector to find innovative ways to fulfill unmet social needs and to lead the way towards better alignment of business and social strategies.

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