HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.28.15_Mayor_Buttigieg_Co-Recipient_of_JFK_New_Frontier_AwardMayor Pete Buttigieg Co- Recipient of 2015 John F. Kennedy New
Frontier Awards
Boston, MA —Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, IN, and Kirsten Lod al, Co- Founder and
CEO of LIFT, a non - profit dedicated to providing holistic social services to those struggling with
poverty, have been named this year's recipients of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards.
The awards will be presented by Congressman Joe Kennedy III on November 12, 2015 during a
private ceremony at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
"Enlisting talented young Americans to help solve our nation's problems was central to President
Kennedy's vision of a New Frontier," said Jack Schlossberg, grandson of John F. Kennedy and a
member of the New Frontier Awards Committee. "Pete Buttigieg is an inspiring example both in
his innovative leadership of South Bend and in his service to country as a member of the U.S.
Navy Reserve. Kirsten Lodal's novel approach to addressing the often complicated causes of
poverty is transforming the lives of countless people in need. They both represent a new
generation of leaders who are making a difference in our world."
The John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards were created by the John F. Kennedy Library
Foundation and Harvard University's Institute of Politics to honor Americans under the age of 40
who are changing their communities and the country with their commitment to public service.
The awards are presented annuallytotwo exceptional individuals whose contributions in elective
office, community service, or advocacy demonstrate the impact and the value of public service
in the spirit of John F. Kennedy.
One of the New Frontier Awards honors an elected official whose work demonstrates the
importance of elective service as a way to address a public challenge or challenges. This award,
called the Fenn Award, is presented to a young elected official in honor of Dan Fenn, the Kennedy
Library's first director and a former member of President Kennedy's staff. The other New
Frontier Award honors an individual whose contributions in the realm of community service,
advocacy or grassroots activism have had a positive impact on a broad public policy issue or
challenge.
For more information visit the Kennedy Presidential Library's website at www.*fklibrarV.org or
the Institute of Politics' website at www.iop.harvard.edu.
Pete Buttigieg
Mayor, South Bend, Indiana
Fenn Award Recipient
In January 2012, at age 29, Pete Buttigieg became the youngest mayor to serve a U.S. city of more
than 100,000 people, and he quickly established South Bend as a model for municipal innovation
and smart government.
Buttigieg led the implementation of a landmark open data policy in South Bend, including a
website that provides freely accessible, user - friendly and transparent data about the city. He also
launched the "311" system, which allows residents to identify issues or concerns via smartphone
and then track the city's follow -up. The city, in turn, collects data from the system to analyze its
own performance.
In 2013, Buttigieg proposed an ambitious project to address a surge in abandoned homes in the
city: the Vacant and Abandoned Property Initiative called for the demolition or refurbishment of
1,000 homes in 1,000 days. Buttigieg launched a partnership with Code for America, a nonprofit
that offers technological support to communities seeking to solve core public problems. Under
the partnership, South Bend developed an innovative approach to data collection and property
assessment, and met its goal of addressing 1,000 vacant homes before 1,000 days had passed.
Pete Buttigieg serves as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve; in 2014, he was deployed to
Afghanistan for a seven -month tour of duty. A graduate of Harvard University, he was born and
raised in South Bend.
Kirsten Lodal
Co- Founder and CEO of LIFT
Kirsten Lodal co- founded LIFT, an innovative anti - poverty nonprofit, during her sophomore year
at Yale University. While volunteering in mentoring programs focused on at -risk children, Lodal
was struck by the lack of comprehensive support services available to the parents of the children
she served. She and co- founder Brian Kreiter established LIFT, then called National Student
Partnerships, as a one -stop resource center for low- income adults who were struggling to
support themselves and their families. Lodal has served as CEO since its founding.
LIFT strives to address the complicated, often disparate causes of poverty by pairing highly
trained volunteers with low- income individuals and families. LIFT volunteers, many of whom are
college students, provide ongoing one -on -one support to help those in need gain access to crucial
resources such as food and housing assistance, job training, educational opportunities, health
care, and more. Equally, volunteers serve as mentors and advisors in helping those they serve to
develop life skills and professional networks to break the cycle of poverty. Lodal is now focusing
on incorporating the latest science related to brain development into LIFT's work, to interrupt
the inter - generational transmission of poverty by helping low- income and poor parents mitigate
toxic stress and early adversity for their children.
Kirsten Lodal has built LIFT into a national model for poverty alleviation. Hundreds of LIFT
volunteers annually provide critical support and advocacy to more than 10,000 individuals and
families seeking better lives. LIFT now operates resource centers in New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Lodel is the mother of two young girls and is expecting her third
child in March 2016.
About the New Frontier Awards
At the New Frontier Awards ceremony, Congressman Kennedy will present Buttigieg and Lodal
each with a ship's navigational compass in a wooden box bearing the inscription: "We stand today
on the edge of a New Frontier .... I believe the times demand new invention, innovation,
imagination, decision. I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier." —John F.
Kennedy.
The New Frontier Awards are named after President Kennedy's bold challenge to Americans
given in his acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention on J my 15, 1960:
We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier ... a frontier of unknown opportunities and
perils -- a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats. The New Frontier of which I speak is
not a set of promises -- it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the
American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not to their
pocketbook -- it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security....
Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of
peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions
of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the
safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric... but I believe
the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision. I am asking each of
you to be pioneers on that New Frontier.
Past recipients of the New Frontier Awards include Svante Myrick, Mayor of Ithaca, New York,
Nina Dudnik, Founder and CEO, Seeding Labs, Charles Best, founder and CEO of
DonorsChoose.org; Cory A. Booker, U.S. Senator and former Mayor of Newark, New Jersey; U.S.
Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles; Wendy Kopp,
Founder and CEO of Teach for America; Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General; Rebecca Onie,
Co- Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Health Leads; and Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of
Women for Women International.
A distinguished bipartisan committee of political and community leaders selected Dudnik and
Myrick based on their contributions to the public and their embodiment of the forward - looking
public idealism to which President Kennedy hoped young Americans would aspire. The 2015 John
F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards Committee was chaired by Heather Campion, Chief Executive
Officer, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and Maggie Williams, Director, Institute of Politics
at Harvard University. Committee members are: Ranny Cooper, President & COO, Weber
Shandwick Public Affairs and former Chief of Staff for Senator Edward M. Kennedy; The
Honorable William "Mo" Cowan, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, ML
Strategies and former United States Senator (D -MA); Dan Fenn, former member of President
John F. Kennedy's staff and former Director of the John F. Kennedy Library; Tina Flournoy, Chief
of Staff, Office of President Clinton, The Clinton Foundation; The Honorable Rachel Kaprielian,
Regional Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and 1999 recipient, Fenn
Award; Vivien Li, President and CEO, Riverlife, and former President, The Boston Harbor
Association; Kica Matos, Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice, Center for Community
Change and recipient, 2005 New Frontier Award; Kristin McSwain, Executive Director, Boston
Opportunity Agenda and former Director, Americorps; The Honorable Doug Palmer, Former
Mayor, Trenton, New Jersey; Aneesh Raman, Former Vice President of Marketing and Audience
Development, OZY Media and former domestic policy speechwriter, President Barack Obama;
Kristen Soltis Anderson, GOP strategist, columnist, The Daily Beast and Fellow, Institute of
Politics, Fall 2014; Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy; Barbara Souliotis,
former State Director, Office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy; and The Honorable Richard Tisei,
Former Minority Leader, Massachusetts Senate.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Harvard University's Institute of Politics both have
their origins in the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Inc., a non - profit corporation that was
chartered in Massachusetts on December 5, 1963, to construct and equip the John Fitzgerald
Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts.
About the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
The mission of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is to carry President Kennedy's legacy
forward. We aim to inspire and engage Americans and people throughout the world with his
timeless vision and ideals of building a positive future through peace, optimism, innovation and
service. The Foundation also supports the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in
their efforts to preserve and provide public access to historical materials related to President
Kennedy and his administration, and to provide a dynamic, inspiring and educational experience
for visitors.
About the Harvard University's Institute of Politics
Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of
Government, was established in 1966 as a memorial to President Kennedy. The IOP's mission is
to create the future of politics and public service every day, inspiring undergraduates to lead lives
of purpose by committing themselves to the practice of politics, governing, public service and the
countless opportunities to make a difference in the world. More information is available online
at www.iop.harvard.edu.
Media Contacts: Rachel Flor (617) 514 -1662
JFK Library Foundation
Rachel. Flor @J FKLFoundation.org
Esten Perez (617) 496 -4009
The Institute of Politics
Esten Perez (@ harvard.edu