Common Cents

Common Cents
Company NameCommon Cents
FoundersTeddy Gross and Nora Gross
Key PeopleTeddy Gross and Judith Shapiro
Founded1991
LocationNew York City
TypeNon-Profit
Websitecommoncents.org

Common Cents is a national educational, not-for-profit organization, which specializes in creating and managing service-learning programs for young people between the ages of four and 14.[1] Common Cent's most popular and best known program is The Penny Harvest, the largest child philanthropy program in the United States.[2]

Other Common Cents programs include the Student Community Action Fund (a high school leadership council.)

History

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Common Cents grew from the desire of a four-year-old Nora Gross (co-founder) to feed a homeless man in 1990. That need led her to ask her father (Teddy Gross Co-founder and executive director), how she could help.[3] In 1990, Teddy Gross and Nora Gross conducted the first Penny Harvest in an effort to collect money to feed and clothe New York City's homeless.

Awards

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Common Cents is the winner of the 2007 NY1 New Yorker of the Year award.[4] Common Cents was also shortlisted for the 2007 Carl Bertelsmann's Award.

Leadership

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The organization's co-founder and executive director is Teddy Gross.

Funding

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Common Cents receives major funding from several major foundations and the government including: The Ford Foundation, Foundation for Jewish Community, JPMorgan Chase, The New York City Council, The New York City Department of Education.

Board of directors

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  • Judith Shapiro (chair), retired president of Barnard College, New York, NY
  • Susan Andersen, professor of psychology, New York University New York, NY
  • Margi Booth, president, M. Booth & Associates, Inc., New York, NY
  • Elizabeth Campbell, Vice President for Programs, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York, NY
  • Jonathan Dorfman, Citi Alternative Investments (CAI) - Global Fixed Income, New York, NY
  • Gardner Dunnan, New York, NY
  • Jon Goldman, Chairman & CEO, iContaqt, Venice, CA
  • Laird Grant, Retired Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, US Trust Company, New York, NY
  • Nora Gross, Co-founder Common Cents, New York, NY; Director, Writing & Media Center, North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School, Chicago, IL
  • Teddy Gross, Co-founder & Executive Director, Common Cents, New York, NY
  • Evelyn Lipper, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weil Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY
  • Jeanne Mininall, Retired Managing Director & Associate General Counsel, JPMorgan Chase, New York, NY
  • Michael Pohly, Portfolio Manager- Fixed Income, Kingdom Capital, New York, NY
  • Adam Rich, Senior Government Relations Associate, Law Offices of Claudia Wagner, New York, NY
  • James Seuss, CEO, Cole Haan, New York, NY
  • Molly Tschang, managing director, International Programs, Cisco Systems, New York, NY
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References

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  1. ^ Lauffer, Armand (1997). Grants, Etc. SAGE. pp. 225–226. ISBN 0-8039-5469-7.
  2. ^ "Inspiring Oprah's charity". The Daily Princetonian. 2007-09-19. Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  3. ^ Roberts, Sam (1990-12-24). "A Way to Help, with a Penny and a Thought". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  4. ^ "Tens Of Millions Of Pennies For Charity Gathered From Huge Pile". NY1. 2008-04-14. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by NY1's New Yorker of the Year
2007
Succeeded by