Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Robert Gnaizda
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006
Connecting private enterprise and underserved communities in innovative investment partnerships
In 1966, at the age of 30, Robert Gnaizda co-founded California Rural Legal Assistance to organize and empower farm workers. Five years later, he started one of the nation’s first public interest law firms focusing exclusively on minority rights. But in 1993, Gnaizda, then 58, was ready for a new challenge. Fed up with “redlining” – the illegal, yet common practice of denying, limiting, or overcharging low-income and minority communities for financial services and products – he co-founded the Greenlining Institute in Berkeley, California, to boost community reinvestment. Today the Greenlining Coalition encompasses a diverse group of 40 organizations working cooperatively to improve the quality of life for low-income and minority communities in California. The Institute has created innovative partnerships between private enterprise — banks, utilities, insurance and telecommunications companies – and community organizations. The results: tens of thousands of home mortgages and business loans for low-income people, thousands of contracts for minority-run businesses, significant increases in philanthropy to the underserved, and overall economic development and opportunity for California’s poorest communities.