BOSTON – Sappi Fine Paper North America announced today the 11 grant recipients for its 14th annual Ideas that Matter program, the industry's highly respected grant program aimed at helping designers create and implement print projects for charitable causes. Since 1999, Sappi's Ideas that Matter program has awarded over $12 million worldwide in grants to designers around the globe to support their work for nonprofit programs and organizations. This year's winning projects reflect the on-going commitment in the design community to utilize design in combination with innovative thinking to solve social problems. Grantees submitted outstanding proposals outlining their ideas, creative execution and their unique ability to instill positive social, cultural or environmental change.
The selected proposals were determined by an independent judging panel of leaders from the design profession. This year's judges, all widely recognized for their forward-thinking commitment to design for social good, included Bill Drenttel, President of Winterhouse Institute based in Connecticut; Erin Huizenga, Founder of EPIC and Director of Remedy in Chicago; Jennifer Kinon, Founding Partner at Original Champions of Design/OCD based in New York City; Michael Lejeune, Creative Director at Metro in Los Angeles; Alissa Walker, freelance design writer in Los Angeles.
"Each year, all of us at Sappi are inspired by the quality of the submissions, as well as the creative and compelling design solutions to a wide range of real social needs," said Patti Groh, Marketing & Communications Director, Sappi Fine Paper North America. "We are proud that Sappi's Ideas that Matter program continues to be important platform for social change, giving designers the powerful opportunity to use their skills and expertise to support the greater good."
The 2013 Ideas that Matter grant recipients are:
Designer, Firm Project Title Nonprofit to Benefit from Ideas that Matter Grant
Gwen O'Brien, Plenty (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Citizen Forester—increasing community engagement through designing Citizen Forestry workshops and collateral
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks—working to protect, enhance and expand parks and public spaces in Michigan's second largest citywww.friendsofgrparks.org
Naomi Usher, Studio Usher,(New York, N.Y.)
EducationSuperHighway White Paper—advocating to transform public education by closing the K-12 digital divide
EducationSuperHighway— providing information, expertise and advocacy to upgrade the Internet infrastructure in America's K-12 schoolswww.educationsuperhighway.org
Marc Moscato, Know Your City, (Portland, Ore.)
Renter's Rights—educating tenants about their rights through a bilingual illustrated book, in collaboration with Community Alliance of Tenants
Know Your City—connecting the people of Portland with their city through tours, lectures, and publications focusing on experiential learning, policy-making and culture http://knowyourcity.org
Steve Daniels, Makeshift (Merrick, N.Y.)
Makeshift Institute: Education from the Fringe—empowering teachers with instructional publications on global economic innovation
Analog Digital Inc. (Makeshift)—researching, communicating, and supporting grassroots innovation around the world www.mkshft.org
Tina Chang Walderman and Anne Jaconette, Nyaya Health (New York, N.Y.)
Crowdfund Health —raising funds to improve Nepali health care through a crowdfunding platform
Nyaya Health—delivering transparent, data-driven health care for Nepal's rural poor through dedicated, entrepreneurial solutions www.nyayahealth.org
Sarah Baugh and Nicole Lavelle, Sincerely Interested (Green River, Utah)
The Green River Magazine—a community-powered publication capturing the unique character of Green River, Utah, made in collaboration with local residents to create opportunities for the region
Epicenter—accentuating the rural pride and pioneering spirit in Green River, Utah by providing housing, business resources and promotion of the arts in the community http://ruralandproud.org
Maribeth Kradel-Weitzel, Kradel Design and Philadelphia University, (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Fresh Artists Storytelling Tools—a multi-faceted campaign to increase sponsor participation and support for arts education
Fresh Artists—raising the funds and resources necessary to ensure a robust art education for children in under-served public schools while creating opportunities for students to be philanthropic www.freshartists.org
Mike Weikert, Ryan Clifford, and Mira Azarm, Center for Design Practice at MICA (Baltimore, Md.)
Design for the Neighborhood Design Center—promoting civic design collaboration to improve life in Baltimore
Neighborhood Design Center —a pro-bono design studio dedicated to realizing community initiatives to revitalize Baltimore neighborhoods http://ndc-md.org
Jeff Lai and Andrew Sloat, The Center for Urban Pedagogy (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Zoning Toolkit Guidebook and Game Board—a simple, informative, community-developed game and guidebook explaining zoning issues in NYC
The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)—using the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement around complex policy and planning issues.http://welcometoCUP.org
Steffanie Lorig and Jana Nishi Yuen, Art with Heart (Seattle, Wash.)
Draw It Out Classroom Kit &Grief Outreach—developing therapeutic art lessons for young students to express their feelings after tragedy
Art with Heart—helping heal children's emotional wounds from unbearable hardship through expressive, therapeutic books, and creative programs http://artwithheart.org/
Vicky Jones, Brand Fever (Atlanta, Ga.)
City of Refuge- 180º Kitchen Catering—catering good food and good causes with heart and soul
City of Refuge, Inc.—restoring strength, light and hope for Atlanta residents in refuge from crisis through shelter, food, job training, healthcare and educational support www.cityofrefugeatl.org
"The exciting thing about this year's Ideas That Matter grant proposals was their diversity: from community engagement programs to design education programs; as well as international health communication to diabetes health management for young women; or important projects focused on civic engagement to urban development," said Bill Drenttel, President of Winterhouse Institute, and member of the 2013 Ideas that Matter judging panel.
"The Ideas that Matter program truly sets Sappi in a category of its own in the hearts and minds of the design community," said Erin Huizenga, Founder of EPIC and Director at Remedy in Chicago, and member of the 2013 Ideas that Matter judging panel. "The work that was most memorable had a distinct approach that it was truly going to progress that nonprofit's work. It wasn't storytelling around what is—it was telling of what could be."
For more information about Sappi's 2013 Ideas that Matter grant recipients in North America, please visit Web site: http://www.na.sappi.com/ideasthatmatterNA or call 800-882-4332. The Call for Entries for next year's Ideas that Matter program will be announced in the spring of 2014.
About Sappi Fine Paper North America
Sappi North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent North American producer of coated fine and release papers, as well as dissolving pulp (DP) and market kraft pulp headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its coated fine papers, with highly recognized brand names such as McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are used in premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. Its food packaging brand, Lusterprint is a greaseproof product with an excellent print surface. The company is also the world's leading supplier of release papers for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries, including the globally recognized Ultracast brand. Sappi's release papers provide the surface aesthetics for synthetic fabrics used in footwear, clothing, upholstery and accessories, as well as the textures for decorative laminates found in kitchens, baths, flooring and other decorative surfaces. Sappi globally is the world's largest manufacturer of dissolving pulp, a versatile raw material for a wide range of products including textile fibers and household products. Sappi North America, through the recent conversion of the Cloquet pulp mill, manufactures dissolving pulp under Sappi's Specialised Cellulose division primarily for the textile markets.
Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 14,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com/na.
Contact a Sappi Representative
Olga Karagiannis
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