Africare Notable Awards and Honors

Africare’s leadership as well as individual employees and volunteers in the field in Africare have received numerous awards over the course of the organization’s 37-year history. The following chart shows just some of those awards and honors.

Year(s) / Award or Honor
1975 / Africare’s president received honorary doctorates from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (1975) and FiskUniversity for Africare leadership.
1980 – 1990 / Africare President C. Payne Lucas received National Orders of Benin (1990), Cote d’Ivoire (1984), Niger (1980), Senegal (1982) and Zambia (1986) -- the nations’ highest awards for humanitarian service.
1980 / The Capitol Press Club selected Africare’s president, C. Payne Lucas, as its Humanitarian of the Year for his leadership of Africare.
1983 / Africare’s president, C. Payne Lucas, was a member of the American delegation to Geneva, led by U.S. presidential appointee Shirley Temple Black, which convened a donors’ meeting to discuss the famine in Somalia.
1984 / President Ronald Reagan presented Africare’s president, C. Payne Lucas, with the Presidential End Hunger Award.
1986 / The Phelps-Stokes Fund presented Africare with the Aggrey Medal for accomplishments in establishing enduring links of friendship and
cooperation between the United States and Africa.
1990 / Africare was the first recipient of the Land Grant College Distinguished Bicentennial Award.
1991 / Africare’s president was the first African-American recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert H. Humphrey Public Service for Africare leadership.
1993 / Africare’s president, C. Payne Lucas, was appointed to the Board of Directors of the African Development Foundation.
1995 / Africare’s president, C. Payne Lucas, led a White House mission to Rwanda and Burundi to explore ways to reduce the tension between Hutus and Tutsis.
1996, 1998 - 1999 / The U.S. Embassy in Angola has twice recognized local Africare employees with its annual humanitarian award. The recipient in 1996 was Pedro Siloka, the provincial coordinator of Africare programs in BieProvince. Siloka survived the 18-month “Battle of Kuito” and organized emergency feeding centers that saved several hundred lives. The second Kuito employee, Diogo Castigo, was honored for his work in late 1998 and 1999 when fighting resumed.
2000 / The Washington Capital Area chapter of the United Nations Association cited Africare’s emergency relief work in Angola.
2001 / The Greater Washington Urban League presented Africare with the Ronald H. Brown International Community Service Award.
2001 / The National Conference on Black Philanthropy presented Africare an award for Outstanding Achievement in Philanthropy.
2001 / The Magic Johnson Foundation, Inc., honored Africare for helping African children affected by HIV/AIDS.
2002 / The Southern Christian Leadership Conference honored Africare for supporting national civil rights and humanitarian endeavors.
2003 / The Amistad Achievement Award was given to Africare president, Julius E. Coles, by the AmistadResearchCenter at TulaneUniversity for contributions to the African continent.
2004 / World of Hope Foundation Honoree.
2004 / Nominated for the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize for Sustainable Community Development work in Uganda.
2005 / Ordre de la Chevalier (Order of the Chevalier) honoree as bestowed by the Government of Burkina Faso.
2005 / Time Magazine cited Africare, rated “Four Star Charity” by CharityNavigator, as one of three charities highlighted for contributions.
2006 / The American Institute of Philanthropy has designated Africare as one of its “Top-Rated Charities” with an “A” rating.
2006 / Africare president, Julius E. Coles, was selected as “National Alumnus of the Year” by MorehouseCollege.
2006 / Africare senior vice president, Jeannine B. Scott, featured as outstanding alumnae for work in Africa, in cover article of Summer 2006 Vassar Quarterly; was selected as member of Center for Global Development’s High Level Working Group on the African Development Bank’s future orientation
2007 / Africare president, Julius E. Coles, was selected as the 2007 recipient of Princeton University’s James Madison Medal, given annually to a graduate alum of the university who has achieved distinction in public service and higher education; elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Public Administration; named a member of the President’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa; named co-chair of the Woodrow Wilson School Advisory Committee
2007 / Jeannine B. Scott received International Community Service Award from Black United Fund of Texas – with Congressional and local authority recognition; elected as Chairman of the African American Unity Caucus (AAUS)
2008 / The Princeton Alumni Weekly named Julius E. Coles one of the 250 most influential alumni of PrincetonUniversity since its founding.

3/27/08

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