The Council on Foundations has announced the 2013 recipients of its Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, Wilmer Shields Rich Awards, and Distinguished Service Award.

Darren Sandow, executive director of the Hagedorn Foundation, a family foundation in Port Washington, New York, that seeks to support and promote social equity on Long Island, will receive the Scrivner Award at the council's annual conference in Chicago later this month. Since joining the foundation in 2005, Sandow has spearheaded several initiatives that have helped reduced tensions between established residents and immigrants newly arrived to the area.

"Darren Sandow's commitment to his foundation's mission fosters positive and lasting changes not only in the communities his foundation serves, but across the entire philanthropic sector," said COF president and CEO Vikki Spruill. "This important work is a perfect example of how philanthropy creates hope and opportunities when neither seems possible."

In previous years, the Rich Awards honored foundations and corporate giving programs for exemplary communications vehicles such as annual reports, newsletters, and Web sites. This year, however, the council and its partner, the Communications Network, have re-imagined the program to highlight foundations that integrate strategic communications into their operations to achieve greater impact. The 2013 Rich Award winners are the California Endowment, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.

"It was gratifying to see that many foundations recognize that communications is an essential element of effective philanthropy," said Communications Network executive director and Rich Awards selection task force chair Bruce S. Trachtenberg. "While each entrant offered a different rationale for why strategic communications matters, one summed it up best by saying communications work is not something that is set apart from the foundation's program activities but is instead an integral part of the overall work of the organization."

Vartan Gregorian, the longtime leader of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, was recognized with the council's Distinguished Service Award, which honors exceptional individuals who embody the intellect, integrity, leadership, and accomplishments that define excellence in the field of philanthropy. Gregorian joined Carnegie in 1997 after a distinguished career in academia and the nonprofit sector.

"Vartan Gregorian has been a true champion of the Carnegie Corporation's mission to do 'real and permanent good in this world,'" said Spruill. "All of us in the philanthropic sector seek to have an impact in the communities we serve, and Vartan absolutely exemplifies the power of philanthropy to drive innovation and create change."