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  1. About AARP
  2. About the AARP® Purpose Prize® Award

Meet the AARP Purpose Prize Fellows

En español | The AARP Purpose Prize award recognizes the work of these fellows who are using their life experience to build a better future for us all.

Gulshan Harjee. M.D.

Clarkston Community Health Center - Atlanta, Georgia

The center is a free health clinic with a mission to be a state-of-the-art, culturally and linguistically competent primary and preventive health care facility, providing a medical home to Clarkston residents and to those in need throughout north Georgia. 

Judith Heilman

Montana Racial Equity Project - Bozeman, Montana

A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, the project advocates equity and justice for historically marginalized, disenfranchised and oppressed peoples in Montana. 

Chien-Chi Huang

Asian Women for Health - Somerville, Massachusetts

AWFH is a peer-led, community-based network dedicated to advancing Asian women's health and well-being through education, advocacy and support.

Debra Isaacs

Unshakeable - Henderson, Nevada

Unshakeable’s mission is to guide women recovering from trauma (homelessness, domestic violence, substance addiction and human trafficking) to return to the workforce and achieve financial independence.  

Mishelle Rudzinski

Spoon - Portland, Oregon

Spoon empowers caregivers to meet the feeding and nutrition needs of children living outside of family care and children with disabilities, so they have the best chance possible to reach their full potential. 

Charles Schmuck

Peninsula College Fund - Menlo Park, California

PCF’s mission is to empower low-income, first-generation college students to graduate and obtain a job that aligns with their career goals.

Richard Sesler

Camp Blue Skies - Charlotte, North Carolina

Camp Blue Skies was established with a mission to offer camps to adults with developmental disabilities, enhancing their lives through recreation, socialization and life skills education.  

Elizabeth Shaughnessy

Berkeley Chess School - Berkeley, California

The school’s mission is to help all children, especially those struggling with learning inequalities, reach their full academic potential, flourish as good citizens and good human beings, and become champions of their own lives.   

Richard Valenza

RaiseAChild - Santa Rosa, California

RaiseAChild recruits, educates and nurtures prospective foster families while partnering with agencies and the Department of Children and Family Services to improve the process of advancing foster children to safe, loving and permanent homes.

Michele R. Wright, Ph.D. and Terry Gene Wright

National Organization of African Americans with Cystic Fibrosis - North Little Rock, Arkansas

The mission of NOAACF is to engage, educate, and raise CF awareness in the African American community to help bring valuable resources, knowledge, empowerment and support to CF patients, families, health care professionals and the community.