The Judith Rothbaum Indicators Award

Recognizing excellence in using social indicators for community action
Given in memory of Judith Rothbaum by NAPC

About Judith Rothbaum, her work, and the award   2012 criteria and call for nominations

The honorees:

2012 - Mary Dodd (Community Action Network - Austin, TX)
2011 - Joe Ahern (The Center for Community Solutions - Cleveland, OH)
2010 - Claudia Gooch (The Planning Council - Norfolk, VA)
2009 - Jan Figart (Community Service Council - Tulsa, OK)
2008 - Katrina Middleton (Community Services Planning Council - Sacramento, CA)


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2012 Award
presented to Mary Dodd


May 5, 2012

Video of the presentation and Mary's response

NAPC Board member Kathy Schlather (left) presented the award, saying:

I am honored to have been asked to present this year’s Judith Rothbaum Award on behalf of the awards committee, Claudia Gooch, Joe Ahern and myself, and to be a stand- in for committee chair Karen Wulfkuhle who could not be here this year but deserves the credit for actually doing the work leading up to this award.

This is the fifth time the award has been given out. NAPC established this award in 2008 to honor Judith Rothbaum who was a leader in the field of social indicators and to emphasize the importance of the gathering and tracking of sound indicators to all of the work that we do. Our honoree this year joins past recipients, Katrina Middleton, Jan Figart, Claudia Gooch and Joe Ahern who set the gold standard in demonstrating how sound data can inform policy and decision making in a community.

Joining this esteemed group is 2012 honoree Mary Dodd.

Mary has served as the Assistant Director of the Community Action Network in Austin Texas since 2008. She has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit community. Before she came to CAN, she worked as the Director of Development at the University of Texas Elementary School, Director of Development and Communication for the Austin Project, Industry Liaison for the Capital Area Training Foundation, and Executive Director of the Austin Area Research Organization. She also has been both a news reporter and anchor. All of this experience gives Mary a rare combination of analytical and communication skills indispensible in helping CAN be so successful in coalition-building in the Austin area. Mary enjoys bringing together people and organizations with diverse interests to identify common goals and concrete strategies to achieve those goals.

Under Mary’s guidance, Austin’s Community Action Network developed a Community Dashboard. The Community Dashboard tracks 16 socio-economic indicators and provides a framework with a common language for better understanding what collaborative attention and action is needed to move those indicators in the right direction. The community then can work together to achieve a vision of equity and opportunity for all people. Unlike so many reports that end up on the shelf, Mary is now preparing the third report to the community on the progress attributed to the Community Dashboard.  

As planners, we all know that numbers and indicators are one of our most important tools. We also know how hard it is to make those numbers come alive for those we continuously struggle to keep at the table. 

When I asked her nominator Vanessa Sarria (CAN Executive Director) to tell me a little about Mary, she said that Mary grounds her. She makes data accessible to everyone. She takes Vanessa's ideas and puts them into a common language and presents them in a way that makes people understand how the data can be useful in facilitating coordination and collaboration to move the community together in a common direction.

Mary Dodd exemplifies a professional who uses her gifts and expertise to carry on Judith Rothbaum’s work of using social indicators to mobilize community action. I am delighted to present this award to Mary. As part of the award, Mary will be the guest of NAPC at next year’s conference.

     Download Mary's PowerPoint about CAN's Community Dashboard

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2011 Award
presented to Joe Ahern


April 16, 2011

Watch the video of the award presentation and Joe Ahern's response here

Pictured below, left:  Karen Wulfkuhle (NAPC Awards Committee Chair) and Joe Ahern
Below, right:  Karen Wulfkuhle, Joe Ahern, John Begala (The Center for Community Solutions), Carolyn Ahern
Third row, right:  Suzanne Puryear (NAPC President) with Joe Ahern



View, download, and order all the award photos here
 

Joe Ahern is Policy and Planning Associate at The Center for Community Solutions in Cleveland, Ohio. 
The Judith Rothbaum Award was presented to him by Karen Wulfkuhle, Chair of NAPC's Awards Committee, at the NAPC Annual Meeting, April 16, 2011 in Alexandria, Virginia.  Karen said: 

The Judith Rothbaum Award was established in 2008 through a partnership between the United Way of Central Oklahoma and NAPC.  The award is named in honor of Judith Rothbaum who was a leader in the field of social indicators. Three individuals have been recognized with this award for their professionalism and dedication to the use of social indicators for community action.  Information is in your packet about Judith and the recipients – Katrina Middleton, Jan Figart and Claudia Gooch.

Today, another colleague joins these outstanding individuals as the recipient of the 2011 Judith Rothbaum Award.  The honoree was selected by the Award Committee that includes Blair Schoeb, Martha Blaine, and Claudia Gooch. 

We begin a new tradition this year. This year’s honoree was informed in advance of the conference and will make a few remarks after I tell you a little about their accomplishments.

To be successful, it’s not enough to have high level analytical and data skills – which our honoree has.  It also requires a curiosity about what can be learned from data and an interest in a wide variety of topics – also true of our honoree.  And, it helps to have a degree in mathematics and expertise with statistical and mapping software – which our honoree has put to good use for the past 25 years.   

From the first day 25 years ago that our honoree started at their planning council as a student intern to the present, our honoree has been a major contributor to the production, explanation, presentation and publication of social and community indicators. 

Our honoree has been the lead author of community reports, as well as a contributor to dozens of their planning council’s projects.  The body of work includes inventories of services, needs assessments, and analysis of specific issues such as health disparities, education, and workforce development.  Working with colleagues, the honoree is currently helping develop a set of quality of life indicators for a 16-county region. 

A robust body of work and positive results over the span of 25 years led to the selection of Joe Ahern, Policy and Planning Associate, The Center for Community Solutions, as the 2011 recipient of the Judith Rothbaum Award.   

Dr. Mark Salling, Research Director at the Center for Community Solutions, said this, “Joe Ahern has had an exemplary year and continues to prove that his work has a significant impact on the region’s human services community and the people it serves.  His excellent writing and analytical skills are a foundation for the work of the research team at Community Solutions.” 

Congratulations to Joe Ahern.
 

Selected Publications - Joe Ahern, lead author or analyst

Social Indicators 2003-2005: Community Health  
Summit County Early Child Development Inventory of Resources and Early Childhood Services Survey  
Cuyahoga County Alcohol and Drug and Mental Health Board of Cuyahoga County Needs Assessment  
An Analysis of Health Disparities in Northeast Ohio Using the 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey  
Ohio Family Health Surveys, 1998, 2004 and 2008
Workforce Development Indicators, 2008
Community Health Needs Assessment, 2007

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2010 Award
presented to Claudia Gooch


April 18, 2010

Karen Wulfkuhle (right, below), Chair of the Awards Committee, presented the award:

The Award being presenting today is named for Judith Rothbaum.  Judith was among those who set the standard for social indicator work.  To honor her passion for community service and leadership in the social indicator movement, the United Way of Central Oklahoma has partnered with NAPC since 2008 to recognize an individual who exemplifies professionalism and dedication to the use of social indicators for community action.  Thank you to United Way and Blair Schoeb for providing the funding for this award.   

The first recipient of the award was Katrina Middleton, Vice-President, Information Research and Planning at the Community Services Planning Council in Sacramento.  Last year’s recipient was Jan Figart, Associate Director and Senior Maternal-Child Health Planner at the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa.  Both Katrina and Jan demonstrate the individual excellence that benefits the community, and serves as an example to all of us.  This year’s recipient demonstrates that same level of excellence. 

The selection of the award recipient is kept secret until now – so I’ll offer a few hints before revealing the person’ name. 

This year’s recipient of the Judith Rothbaum Award is a familiar face at the annual NAPC conference, and a colleague I always look forward to seeing.  She served along side Judith Rothbaum on the initial NAPC Social Indicators Committee.  The planning council where she works is a long-time member of NAPC, and the council’s director serves on the NAPC board.   

Our honoree has spent her professional career in the field of planning; and joined her current employer in 1991.  By now, if she really is any good at analyzing data, our honoree will know who she is.  But so there is no confusion, it’s my pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2010 Judith Rothbaum Award is Claudia Gooch.  

Claudia serves as Vice President of Community Planning at The Planning Council in Norfolk, VA.  Claudia’s interest and commitment to social indicators led to the publication in 2000 of the first edition of Visions and Indicators: An Investment in Priorities for South Hampton Roads.  The report has been regularly updated in 2003, 2006 and 2009, with Regional Report Cards issued in the interim years.  

This report has been used as a model by other communities across the country.  But, what makes this document and Claudia’s work most significant is the measurable impact on the community.  Suzanne Puryear, the Planning Council CEO, nominated Claudia and identified three outcomes from the landmark report Visions and Indicators. 

First, the work has led to the establishment of community priorities.  Prior to the publication of the first document, the area’s foundations had not engaged in discussion of community needs.  With leadership from Claudia, data is now a part of decision-making and attention is given to the big picture.  As one example:  an analysis by Claudia of funding patterns, led to increased interest in funding early childhood programs and community foundations have supported major new initiatives to address comprehensively the region’s needs in the early childhood arena.   

A second outcome:  the Visions and Indicators report is used by six partner organizations to direct their allocations – applicants must tie their requests to one of the indicators in the report.  As a result, funding is channeled into identified community needs.

The third outcome:  educating community leaders.  The data in the document is used to lead discussion on community problems and inform policy and decision-making.  These discussions are not just between the community’s human service organizations, but extend to the business community and local government.  Claudia uses the data to tell the story, not just present numbers. 

The Visions and Indicators report is not the only example of Claudia’s use of social indicators for community action.  Claudia has worked with particular passion on the issue of homelessness.  She helped convene a regional housing task force to analyze the needs of families and individuals who were experiencing homelessness.  She documented the gaps in services for single individuals who were homeless and researched studies of successful programs.  According to Suzanne, Claudia’s steadfast attention to this issue, coupled with her skillful and unrelenting use of data to drive decision-making, culminated in 2006 with the opening of the first regional Single Room Occupancy project for single and disabled homeless adults in the nation.  A second project was opened in 2008 and a third is now being built. 

Here’s what Suzanne wrote about why she nominated Claudia:

- for advancing the work of social indicators,

- for using data to inspire ideas and produce results and

- for dedication to positive community change. 

The Judith Rothbaum Award is presented to Claudia Gooch for an exemplary body of work and positive results encompassing her nearly 20 years at the Planning Council.

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2009 Award
presented to Jan Figart


March 3, 2009

    

Jan Figart with Karen Wulfkuhle, Chair of the Awards Committee, and with
Phil Dessauer, Executive Director, Community Service Council (Tulsa, Oklahoma)


Awards Committee Chair Karen Wulfkuhle presented the award:

If you’ve been to NAPC’s website, this language will be familiar — “Today’s councils are guided by an informed perspective on their communities’ social assets, resources, and needs.  This perspective comes from their wide and varied research and information gathering activities — the unique council asset which guides all their other actions.”

Often that research takes the form of social indicators.  Many of us have learned about the importance of social indicators from our colleagues at NAPC member organizations.

Judith Rothbaum was one of our colleagues who set the standard for social indicator work.  Judith passed away in 2007.  To honor her passion for community service and leadership in the social indicator movement, the United Way of Central Oklahoma partners with NAPC to recognize annually an individual who exemplifies professionalism and dedication to the use of social indicators for community action.  Thank you to United Way for providing the funding for this award.  Blair Schoeb and Heather Elmenhorst are here representing the United Way.

2008 was the inaugural year for the Judith Rothbaum Award.  The first recipient was Katrina Middleton, Vice-President, Information, Research and Planning at the Community Services Planning Council in Sacramento.   Katrina was unable to be here this year — but like Judith, Katrina demonstrates individual excellence that not only benefits her community, but serves as an example to all of us.

For 2009, NAPC solicited nominations from member organizations.  The award committee was greatly impressed by the accomplishments of all the nominees.  NAPC is fortunate to have such outstanding individuals among our membership.  It was a difficult decision to select just one person to honor this year.

But, after collecting and analyzing the data available to us — we selected a nominee who we believe exemplifies all of the award criteria. 

The selection has been a secret until this moment, when it’s my pleasure to announce that this year’s recipient of the Judith Rothbaum Award is Jan Figart.  Jan is Associate Director and Senior Maternal-Child Health Planner at the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa.  Many of you are familiar with her work on The Perfect Storm.  This work is just one example of Jan’s vision and skills for how to engage and empower people to understand and use indicator data.

Jan was nominated by Phil Dessauer, Executive Director of the Community Service Council – and I’d like to read from the section of the nomination form where he discusses why he believes Jan should receive the award…..

Jan’s work has been characterized by her commitment to the importance of this work, her intelligence and analytical skills, her strong work ethic and high level of productivity in completing projects, and her ability to motivate, lead and manage teams to accomplish results.

Along with technical expertise related to identifying, collecting, analyzing, and presenting social indicator data, Jan also excels in using data as a tool to stimulate and inform positive community action.   

Another thing which sets Jan apart is her ability to see the big picture of the convergence and interrelatedness of many complex factors, and how one indicator needs to be understood in a broader context involving several other indicators.  She has the ability to explain this in such a way that even non-data people see the patterns and can grasp the importance. 

I believe Jan Figart’s combination of perspectives, skills, and accomplishments exemplifies the unique contribution that planning councils can make in the social indicators field.  She is well qualified to be honored with the Judith Rothbaum Social Indicators Award.

The selection committee agreed; Jan is well qualified to be honored with the Judith Rothbaum Award.

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2008 Award
presented to Katrina Middleton


May 8, 2008



Pictured above:

Ed Pulido - United Way of Central Oklahoma (sponsor of the award)
Nancy Findeisen - Executive Director, Community Services Planning Council
Ben Warner - President, National Association of Planning Councils
Katrina Middleton - the 2008 Judith Rothbaum Award Honoree

Ed Pulido spoke about Judith Rothbaum, long-time indicators leader and creator of Choosing Our Future, one of the nation's first community indicators reports, leading to Oklahoma City's Vital Signs.  "
Judith started our indicators movement, establishing a legacy for our community and for the country on the importance of measuring indicators and planning and acting together to address them.  She was a beacon of light, in our community and nationally."  

In memory of her life and work, the United Way of Central Oklahoma has underwritten an award which NAPC will present each year to honor Judith's memory and to recognize outstanding achievements in using indicators as a tool for community improvement.

 
Katrina Middleton described Judith's valuable contributions to NAPC's indicators initiatives in the early years, resulting in the identification of a set of leading indicators and stories of how they have shaped communities' actions to address social and health problems effectively.  Katrina spoke of Judith as a long-time colleague and friend. 
"She was bold.  She stood tall.  She was intelligent...extremely practical...clear, direct, and fearless…and had the most delightful wry sense of humor.  Judith understood that indicators are about people and their collective story.  Her leadership allowed people [doing indicators work in many communities] to understand what they had in common, and work together to make change happen."

 

Then NAPC President Ben Warner surprised Katrina with the announcement that she had been selected to receive the first annual Judith Rothbaum Award, in recognition of her years of excellent work on social indicators in the Sacramento region as a staff member of the Community Services Planning Council (CSPC), and through NAPC as leader of NAPC's indicators initiative and author of NAPC's community indicators report, "From the Bottom Up."  An engraved crystal vase and a cash award were presented. 

 
 
 

Katrina received congratulations from Nancy Findeisen, CSPC Executive Director (above), who spoke about her fine work in Sacramento.  "Her focus is on making sure that data is used in a constructive and positive way.  It is not about the data itself, but about using the data in a productive and rewarding way--taking data from dull to changing the fabric of the work of a community."

Katrina was congratulated by many long-time NAPC colleagues and friends, including (below) Ed Pulido, David Swain, Ben Warner, (Katrina), Nancy Findeisen, and Caroline Swain. 

 
 

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