SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tipping Point Community, the Bay Area's leading poverty-fighting organization, honored grantees Eastside College Preparatory School, Larkin Street Youth Services and Opportunity Junction at its seventh annual Awards Breakfast this morning. In addition, McKinsey & Company was recognized with the Tipping Point partner award, presented to an organization or individual that has given dollars, time and resources to support Tipping Point and its grantees. The event was held at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. 

Presenters at the breakfast included Tipping Point board chairman Thomas Laffont, Tipping Point board members Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and Mick McGuire and leadership council member Dorian Stone.

"As the Bay Area charges ahead, financial gain shouldn't be our sole measure of success—not when 1 in 5 people in our community are too poor to meet their basic needs," said Daniel Lurie, Tipping Point Founder + CEO. "I'm thrilled to announce that Jon and Linda Gruber have generously stepped forward to issue a challenge to our community. If we can raise $1 million within the next 30 days, they will match it dollar for dollar. Join us as we transform the landscape of this entire region. There is so much left to do."

Each year, Tipping Point Community honors Bay Area organizations working to prevent poverty in the region. The 2013 grantee honorees will each receive a grant of $50,000 from Tipping Point.

The 2013 Tipping Point grantee honorees:

Chris Bischof, Co-Founder and Principal, Eastside College Preparatory School
Located in East Palo Alto, Eastside College Preparatory School provides students in grades 6-12 who are historically underrepresented in higher education with the rigorous academic curriculum needed to succeed in college and beyond. Since Eastside opened in 1996, every graduating senior has been accepted to a four-year college or university.

"I had teachers who cared at my other schools, but at Eastside they were like my extended family. Since so many of us couldn't do work at our houses, the tradition on Sundays was to open the computer lab so we could go in and study. Even though we only lived a couple blocks away, Coco, my physics teacher, would spend all day tutoring us and then drive us home at night. Because of Eastside, even though I'm the youngest, I became the first person in the history of my family to graduate from high school and when I got to Sonoma State, I was far more prepared than most of the incoming class." – Franklin Matthews, Eastside College Preparatory School Class of 2003

Sherilyn Adams, Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Services
Larkin Street Youth Services offers homeless, runaway and at-risk youth the comprehensive support they need to resolve immediate crises and move beyond the streets. The organization's continuum of housing, education, employment and mental health services impacts the lives of over 4,000 young people each year and three-quarters of those who complete the transitional housing programs exit to self-sufficiency.

"Some of the youth we serve are the ones you notice, like the tough-looking girl on the street with the tattoos and piercings. But many are those you don't notice – the kid who's still trying to go to school everyday even though his parents kicked him out for being gay, or the 15-year old runaway sleeping in our shelter at night with her stuffed animals. After carting around everything they own and feeling ostracized or invisible, Larkin Street is the first place these young people feel seen. As I think about the 70,000 of them who have been served by Larkin Street over the past 30 years, I wonder: Who would be here for all the homeless youth in the Bay Area if we weren't?" – Sherilyn Adams, Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Services

Alissa Friedman, Executive Director, Opportunity Junction
Opportunity Junction combines technology training and personal development with real job experience to help low-income adults gain the skills and confidence needed to support themselves and their families. While every participant enters the program unemployed, 96% are placed in new jobs within three months of graduation.

"I had been unemployed for two years and had a 48-hour notice that our power would be shut off when I met a woman who told me about Opportunity Junction. The program taught me new technical skills and helped me master the Microsoft Office suite. They even hooked me up with the internet at home so my daughter could work on her college applications. Today, I love my job as the Office Manager at a new charter school in Antioch. I'm proud to be building a career and to have stability for my kids."  – Rasheeda Davis, Graduate, Opportunity Junction

The 2013 Tipping Point partner honoree:

Dorian Stone, Principal, McKinsey & Company
Since 2010, McKinsey & Company has contributed nearly $3 million-worth of pro bono strategy and evaluation support to Tipping Point and three organizations in its portfolio. In 2011, Principal Dorian Stone joined the Tipping Point leadership council, a body dedicated to fundraising, strategy and providing grantee support. This year, McKinsey & Company launched a cohort training called Strategic Planning 101 for Tipping Point grantees.

"The more I learned about Tipping Point, the more I came to see that the model was addressing exactly what I thought the problems in the sector were. There was a commitment to outcomes and an emphasis on transparency. This kind of tough love is rare in philanthropy. Tipping Point continues to challenge itself, to grow and change. When it comes down to it, there's no lack of requests for pro bono help, and there's nothing on that long list of requests that doesn't feel good. With Tipping Point, our time and resources simply go further than anywhere else I can think of." – Dorian Stone, Principal, McKinsey & Company

About Tipping Point Community
Tipping Point Community screens non-profits rigorously to find, fund and partner with the most effective organizations serving Bay Area individuals and families in need. Tipping Point's board underwrites all operating and fundraising expenses so that 100% of every dollar donated goes directly toward the fight against poverty. Since 2005, Tipping Point has raised more than $60 million and has reached nearly 250,000 people in need. More information about Tipping Point Community is available at tippingpoint.org.

Board of Directors

TONY BATES

ZACHARY BOGUE

KATE HARBIN CLAMMER

PHAEDRA ELLIS-LAMKINS

EGON DURBAN

CHRIS JAMES

THOMAS LAFFONT
Chair

DAVID LAMOND

RONNIE LOTT

DANIEL LURIE
CEO + Founder

MICK McGUIRE

MASON MORFIT

KATIE SCHWAB PAIGE

ALEC PERKINS

ERIC ROBERTS

JED YORK

GIDEON YU

DAVID ZIERK

SOURCE Tipping Point Community