FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Media Contact: Carolyn Edwards Community Call O) 617-236-1936 C) 781-789-7380 ceo@communitycall.org

COMMUNITY CALL GREATER BOSTON YOUNG LEADER AWARD 2013: Home Sweet Home Event honors two young leaders who have made a positive impact in our community, and whose philanthropic leadership sets an inspiring example for us all. September 1st, 2013 BOSTON Community Call will be presenting its inaugural Greater Boston Young Leader Award on Saturday, September 28th at the Cambridge Hyatt Regency to Benjamin Haideri and Jonathan Feinman. Nominations were gathered from all parts of the city, assisted by Community Call high school students, ONEin3 Boston, regional foundations and the general public. Community Call teaches social entrepreneurship through event planning to at risk high school students in the greater Boston area. Haideri and Feinman both serve as role models to Community Call students who are inspired to look beyond themselves and produce an event that benefits the broader community. This award is recognizing two people; one who is at the beginning of his community activism and someone who has already made a significant impact with his social entrepreneurship, says Carolyn Edwards, Executive Director of Community Call. The selection process was difficult for the committee because everyone nominated has made an impact on their community. However, these two individuals truly exemplify positive role models for high school students. The Community Call Greater Boston Young Leader Award recognizes social entrepreneurs from teenagers to 35 year olds that personally connect to their causes by working with the recipients of the services, understanding the needs of the community, and displaying a passion to make a difference in the lives of those in need of services. Community activist, Lenny Zakims work was the inspiration for the award criteria. Until his death from cancer at the young age of 46 in 1999, Zakim worked daily throughout Greater Boston to build and grow coalitions among the citys many diverse groups. The Community Call Greater Boston Young Leader Award will be presented at the Home Sweet Home event at the Cambridge Hyatt Regency on September 28th, 2013 by Lenny Zakims son, Josh Zakim. 1

In total, 24 unique nominations were made and included the following nominees: Pierre Berastain, Cambridge: Student at Harvard Divinity School, Immediate Past CoChair MA GLBT Domestic Violence Coalition, Director of Media Relations for Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Restorative Justice Collaborative Phil Beauregard, New Bedford: created a Marathon Bombing Victim fund raising over $350,000 Luis M. Echeverri, Quincy: Mentor and Math Tutor for Year Up, Councilmember for Year Up Leadership Council, Member of Executive Board of NSHMBA (National Society of Hispanic MBAs), Vice President of Corporate Relations for NSHMBA Jon Feinman, Boston: Executive Director and Founder of InnerCity Weightlifting Stas Gayshan, Wayland: Founder and CEO of Space with a Soul Benjamin Haideri, Roslindale: Council Member for Mayors Youth Council Representatives 2012-2013 Lindsay Hyde, Founder and President of Strong Women, Strong Girls Justin Kang, Cambridge: Campus and Youth Organizer, Opportunity Nation, Co-Chair, Social Investment Council, Echoing Green Becah Kaplan, Beverly: founder of Panthers Partner for Israel Johanna Marinova, Dorchester: Co-Director Press Pass Loan Nguyen, Dorchester: Volunteer for Viet AID Chris Powell, Maynard: Co-Founder and Director of The Capacity Lab, The Food Project, Board of Trustees, The Osprey Foundation, Board Member Cori Rosenberg, Boston: Development Assistant at Foundation for MetroWest, Founder of Boston Society of Young Philanthropists Rebekah Roulier, , Boston: General Manager of the Doc Wayne Youth Services, Inc. Harvey Simmons, Boston: Harvey founded EverTrues Raise the Rim fundraiser to benefit Innercity Weightlifting and co-founded the Techies Got Talent competition to benefit Music and Youth. Tom Smith, Newton: Executive Director, Founder, and Lead Attorney for Justice At Work Ellen Tang, Quincy: Volunteer for Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) Marquis Taylor, Boston: Founder and Executive Director for Coaching 4 Change Maria Vertkin, Medford: Founder and Executive Director of Found In Translation Scott Warren, Co-founder and Executive Director of Generation Citizen Samantha Eisenstein Watson, Boston: Executive Director and Co-Founder of The SAMFund for Young Survivors of Cancer Aaron Whittemore, Marlboro: Volunteer mentor and coordinator for Stand & Deliver Graham Wright, Boston: Founder and Host of Opus Affair

The 2013 Community Call Greater Boston Young Leader Award will be presented to eighteen year old Benjamin Haideri, who is an active Council Member of the City of Bostons Mayors Youth Council. Each year, the City of Boston, in partnership with the Boston Bar Association and Northeastern University, selects 40 students to serve on the council, which meets with Mayor Thomas Menino and other city leaders throughout the year to discuss youth issues and develop innovative solutions. Ben also actively serves with the Mayors Youthline program, maintaining its website and submitting posts with Youth Council news and developments. 2

As a council member, Ben outreaches in his neighborhood to listen to the concerns of his peers, to share program information, and to organize community service projects. Recently, at the National League of Cities Congress of Cities Conference, Ben addressed an audience of over 3,000 local elected officials and community leaders from across the nation and challenged them to recognize and focus on the importance of including young people in government. In his spare time, Ben writes uplifting and motivational poetic pieces for two local newspapers in his neighborhood. The second presentation will be made to twenty-nine year old Jonathon Feinman, of Boston. Feinman is the Executive Director and Founder of InnerCity Weightlifting which seeks to involve any student on a direct path to gang involvement, former and active gang members, and young victims of domestic abuse with alternate goals based upon physical fitness. Using individualized weightlifting and fitness goals, the program seeks to empower at risk youths to say no to violence, gang activity, drugs and other negative factors and say yes to opportunity. Under Feinmans leadership, InnerCity Weightlifting has grown to engage over 200 students throughout the Boston area, and has provided them with the training and support they need to stay away from violent tendencies. Feinmans devotion to providing a positive pathway for change for his students not only changes the lives of youth through the weightlifting, but ultimately creates a safer community for all. Once at Innercity Weightlifting, participants interests evolve towards more positive and complex goals such as finishing school, getting a job, eventually leaving a gang. Students most committed are eligible for an in-house career track in personal training and job opportunities running the InnerCity Weightlifting training locations, a career path that deepens them in a support system that has helped guide them through the most difficult decision points. The sport, coaches, and training atmosphere, however, facilitate positive change. The lifters help pump up the students morale and something unexpected happens: children, who have been given limited support outside of a gang, are now encouraging each other. They bond and a team is formed. They gain the confidence needed to succeed despite the odds. The award ceremony with the presentation from Josh Zakim will be part of the Home Sweet Home event, a signature dessert tasting competition of 20 top dessert chefs from around Massachusetts competing for guest votes and the top choice from the panel of celebrity judges. The event offers live music and dancing with the fabulous Love Dogs and VJ Rick Hodgkins, wine tasting hosted by Sommelier Augusto Gabriel of Vine Link (VIP ticket), magic by mentalist Christopher Bolter, and an art exhibition provided by Future Boston Alliance. All nominees will be honored at the event. Individuals who are unable to attend the event may show their support of Community Call by making an online donation. To purchase event tickets, make a donation or learn more, please visit http://www.communitycall.org. About Community Call: Community Calls mission is to develop social entrepreneurship within the Greater Boston area population of at-risk and financially disadvantaged high school students through an event planning enrichment program. Our students are inspired to look beyond themselves and collaborate to identify a social need, develop a plan, and produce an event that benefits the broader community. Students learn organizational, business and entrepreneurial skills, resulting in a sense of achievement and self-empowerment that influences all areas of their lives. 3

Our enrichment program produces a variety of entirely student-run community events providing unparalleled opportunities to learn first-hand about business and leadership and giving back to the community. By using their passion, talents, and skills, these students are more likely to believe that they can make a difference in their community while making a difference in their own lives. ####