Congratulations to Ralph Smith, a senior vice president at the Annie E. Casey Foundation,who this week received the 2011 Fred Rogers Leadership Award in Philanthropy for Children, Youth, and Families for the integral role he’s played in building the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

The award—given annually by the Grantmakers for Children Youth and Families— recognizes Smith’s leadership in bringing together a collaborative network of 80 funders and partners to target investments that will ensure more children are reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

Since 2003, the Fred Rogers Leadership Award in Philanthropy for Children, Youth, and Families has been given annually in memory of Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”)—star of the one of the longest running program on public television, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and one of the country’s most beloved advocates for children. Each year, the prestigious award recognizes outstanding contributions and leadership in the field of children, youth, and family philanthropy. 

Smith received the award  at the GCYF 2011 Annual Conference on Tuesday in San Francisco.

Smith praised Rogers, saying “He was ferocious in his belief that every child mattered. He convinced millions of children and their parents that they were special, that they deserved the best the world had to offer, and that the world deserved the best they had to offer. For that reason, he is my hero, and for that reason I will treasure this award for the rest of my life.”

GCYF presented Smith with a $5,000 donation for the charity of his choice, which he gave to Abriendo Puertas. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit group teaches Latino parents how to help prepare their children, from birth to age 5, for success in school. Abriendo Puertas is a part of Families in Schools’ broader parent engagement strategy.