Single Stop USA
Company: Single Stop USA, NY, NY, U.S.A.
Company Description: Single Stop USA, a national nonprofit, helps low-income students and families build economic security by connecting them with existing government benefits and services intended for them. It also offers free financial, legal and tax counseling.all in one location.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Executive - Non-Profit or Government - Up to 100 Employees
Nomination Title: Elisabeth Mason, CEO
Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):
Since July 2010, Elisabeth has presided over the expansion of Single Stop USA, an antipoverty organization, into perhaps the most vital area of economic
opportunity and mobility in the nation for low-income students: community colleges. She guided the organization as it opened offices on all six community college campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY), and formed a system-wide partnership with Miami Dade College (the largest community college in the U.S.) more than doubling the number of community college campuses where Single Stop USA was operating in one year.
She attended the first White House Community College Summit last October, one of just a handful of non-profit organizational leaders invited. Elisabeth co-authored two papers. One, with Julie Kashen, "Connecting the Dots: Community Colleges, Children, and Our Country’s Future," was a chapter in Big Ideas: Game Changers for Children, a book published by the influential bipartisan advocacy organization First Focus. Elisabeth also was a co-author, with William O'Leary of the Microsoft Corporation, of "Improving Health, Human Services, and Education Outcomes and Reducing Poverty," a paper that was part of a Stewards of Change and the Yale School of Management event on March 8, 2011.
In addition, she was a co-presenter at the annual meeting of the Association of Community College Trustees in October 2010 and was cited as the Huffington Post's "Greatest Person of the Day" on Oct. 27, 2010.
To help fund the expansion, Elisabeth took the lead in securing for Single Stop USA a ground-breaking White House Social Innovation Fund grant via New Profit Inc. specifically to promote community college student retention and graduation, which was announced in February 2011.
As a result, Single Stop USA’s community college initiative is on target in 2011 to exceed its 2010 results, when it served almost 10,000 students, connecting them with $23 million in benefits, services, tax credits and income tax refunds. These crucial benefits helped them to provide their families with basic necessities such as food, health insurance and housing while remaining on a path to a coveted college degree.
At the same time, Elisabeth oversaw Single Stop USA's continuing work with partners such as food pantries, hospitals, settlement houses and other community- based organizations in New York, New Jersey, and California, where Single Stop's trained counselors help individuals and families in need get the government benefits and services for which they are eligible, plus free financial counseling, free legal advice and free tax preparation.
Overall, in 2010 Single Stop USA helped a total of over 120,000 families unlock an amazing $412 million in resources. What's more, Elisabeth makes sure the return on investment in Single Stop USA is high: Every $1 spent brings in $20 in benefits and services for the people it serves.
List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SingleStopUSA#p/a/u/0/yK44E86yASQ
http://www.singlestopusa.org/BigIdeas_Mason_and_Kashen.pdf
http://www.singlestopusa.org/MiamiDadeCollegeSingleStop5.17.2011.pdf
http://www.bronx.com/news/education/1241.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/27/greatest-person-of-the-da_2_n_774779.html?
Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):
Elisabeth Mason is CEO and co-founder of Single Stop USA. She developed Atlantic Philanthropies' $1 billion plan to help disadvantaged children, was a Robin Hood Foundation managing director, senior advisor at Innovative Philanthropy, and practiced Law at Cleary, Gottlieb, and Steen & Hamilton. Elisabeth was the founder and Executive Director of Fundacion Kukula, which served street and working youth, helped start the Latin American Street Kids Movement, was an advisor to the United Nations on human and children's rights, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica..J.D. Columbia University, A.B. and M.A. Harvard.