From Span to Risley to East High to USC to Standford and now CEO

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/BRYAN KELSEN
Lawrence Hernandez, CEO of the Cesar Chavez Network of charter schools, smiles as he socializes at the El Pomar Foundation's 2006 Awards For Excellence Wednesday at the Broadmoor International Center in Colorado Springs. Cesar Chavez Academy was named the category winner for the Award for Excellence in Education.
By JAMES AMOSTHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
COLORADO SPRINGS - Two nonprofit programs in Southern Colorado were chosen for special awards Wednesday night by the El Pomar Foundation.
The Cesar Chavez Network of charter schools in Pueblo, started and run by Pueblo native Lawrence Hernandez, won a prestigious El Pomar award for excellence in education.
Winning for excellence in special projects was the San Luis Valley Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program, based in Alamosa.
El Pomar is the state's premier philanthropic foundation, started in 1937 by mine owners Spencer and Julie Penrose. The $550 million foundation has given $320 million in grants in Colorado and another $35 million in stewardship programs in the state.
Cesar Chavez Network and the San Luis Valley program were among seven nonprofit programs or agencies in Southern and Southeastern Colorado to be named finalists for this year's El Pomar recognition awards.
Hernandez said he was delighted his charter school system was chosen for the award, joining an elite list of nonprofit entities to have done so.
"I'm overwhelmed," he said. "You struggle, and you wonder if anyone ever notices what you're doing."
Hernandez started the charter school system six years ago, using all of his $75,000 in retirement savings from teaching at Harvard University and another $75,000 given to him by Cherry Creek banker Donald Sturm.
The school now has a high school, a total enrollment of 1,150 students and 200 staff members. Academy officials like to note that almost all their students have scored at or above proficient levels on state education tests.
Hernandez said he was pleased his charter school network has become successful enough to become part of the distinguished group of programs and agencies honored by the El Pomar Foundation.
"It's incredible," he said.
Alice Price, executive director of the San Luis Valley Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program said she too was honored by the recognition.
"We were very, very overwhelmed and proud," she said. "We had many community volunteers over the years who helped make this happen." The 12-year-old program brings juvenile offenders and the people they have harmed together to heal and discuss how to make things right. The program has touched 800 to 900 juvenile offenders and trained 75 or more community volunteers to help mediate and facilitate.
Price said the program started small, with just her and a few others who wanted to create a program to bring people in the community back together.
The group received a $5,000 grant and, years later, can look back proudly. The program now has a staff of one full-time and two part-time people and also provides conflict resolution and leadership training to teenagers across the San Luis Valley.
"It's just great to be included in such a prestigious group," Price said of the award. "We were surprised to be a finalist."
El Pomar gave its Special Trustees Award to Gov. Bill Owens. Bill Hybl, chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation, said Owens could not attend because he was meeting with other Republican state governors.
Owens was chosen for his long record of environmental stewardship, according to the foundation, including the preservation of more land in Colorado than any other governor and the creation of three state parks.
Governor-elect Bill Ritter also, like several other invited guests, could not attend because of poor weather.
But Hybl said he thinks Ritter will be a friend to nonprofit groups in the state.
"He has a genuine interest," Hybl said. "I think we have a real supporter."
Hybl also lauded all the agencies and programs chosen as finalists for the awards this year, saying they show what Coloradans are really about.
"The core of the state is what you do," he said.
Southern and Southeastern Colorado's other finalists in various categories were:
Valley-Wide Health Systems in Alamosa, for large health-care programs.
A Caring Pregnancy Center in Pueblo for small health-care programs.
Lamar Area Hospice in Lamar, also for small health-care programs.
Mi Casa Resource Center for Women in Pueblo, for self-sufficiency programs.
El Pueblo . . . An Adolescent Treatment Community, located in Pueblo, for youth development programs.

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