Yesterday, Catherine Jones, CPR's Operations and Finance Manager, received Public Citizen's 11th annual Phyllis McCarthy Public Service Award, in recognition of her contributions to the organization and the nonprofit community.
Catherine's been with CPR for eight of our eleven years, and she's been a lynchpin of the organization for most of that time. CPR began small — first as an idea shared by a group of scholars around a restaurant table — then morphed into a somewhat more formal gathering of scholars, and then over the course of a few years grew out of its "garage band" phase into the full-fledged organization that's now making a re
al difference.
Anyone who's ever built an organization of any type — a nonprofit, a small business, a theater company, you name it — will recognize the challenges inherent in organizational evolution of that sort. Catherine made — and makes — it possible. She figured out how to navigate the challenges of tax filings and unemployment, she built the scaffolding for our fundraising efforts, she devised ways for us to function as the virtual organization that we are with staffers scattered across the region and scholars across the nation.
As CPR Executive Director Jake Caldwell said in nominating her for the award, "Catherine handles every such task with an incredible amount of good humor, patience and persistence, giving our virtual group a strong sense of cohesiveness and structure…. Catherine is the foundation that enables all of us to work at our full capacity at CPR. She truly amplifies our effectiveness and voice with her talents and support. And because she shares our values, we also benefit from her enthusiasm and sense of purpose."
The award is named for Phyllis McCarthy, a 24-year employee of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, who passed away in November 2002. She worked for 24 years as a managing editor and office manager, playing an integral part in the development and preparation of publications, reports, medical journal articles and petitions to government agencies. The award recognizes individuals who have worked long and hard for a public interest group, performing critical functions as did McCarthy, but who have not received public credit commensurate with their contributions.
Catherine said in her remarks accepting the award that "service to a worthy cause is its own reward." She's exactly right about that, of course, and she brings to the task a palpable sense of joy and fulfillment that makes everyone else's job more fulfilling, too.
We're all incredibly proud of her and grateful to Public Citizen for recognizing her outstanding work.
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Matthew Freeman | November 20, 2013
Yesterday, Catherine Jones, CPR’s Operations and Finance Manager, received Public Citizen’s 11th annual Phyllis McCarthy Public Service Award, in recognition of her contributions to the organization and the nonprofit community. Catherine’s been with CPR for eight of our eleven years, and she’s been a lynchpin of the organization for most of that time. CPR began […]
Lisa Heinzerling | November 18, 2013
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced its tentative determination that most of the trans fatty acids in our diets – specifically, partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) – are not “generally recognized as safe” within the meaning of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and thus must be regulated as food additives. If the FDA finalizes this […]
Thomas McGarity | November 14, 2013
From frozen meals and spices to nutbutters and cheeses, processed foods have been responsible for an alarming number of outbreaks in recent years. The FDA’s proposed rule on “preventive controls for human food” would require manufacturers, processors, and warehouses to design a written food safety plan tailored to each facility’s products and operations. (The rule would also apply to mixed-type facilities that conduct processing […]
Lisa Heinzerling | November 14, 2013
One of the healthiest things a person can do is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Unless they’re contaminated with dangerous pathogens, that is. Contaminated produce has been responsible for an alarming number of deaths and illnesses in recent years, from Listeria-tainted cantaloupes that killed up to 43 people in 2011 to a Cyclospora outbreak linked […]
Michael Patoka | November 14, 2013
CPR Member Scholars Rena Steinzor Lisa Heinzerling, Tom McGarity, Sidney Shapiro, and I submitted comments to the FDA on two food safety rules—one on raw produce, and one on preventive controls for human food (which applies to food manufacturers and processors). In separate blogs posted today, we address issues of regulatory design and how the […]
Erin Kesler | November 13, 2013
Today, Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar and law professor at the University of Texas School of Law, Wendy Wagner will testify at a House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment Hearing entitled, “S. 1009, Chemical Safety Improvement Act.” Wagner’s testimony can be read in full here. According to her testimony: My testimony will focus […]
Rebecca Bratspies | November 13, 2013
We have a problem in New York City: We generate more than 30,000 tons of waste each day. Roughly one third of that waste is household trash, and the daunting task of collecting garbage from New York City’s three million households falls to 7,000 workers from the NYC Department of Sanitation. They are, in the words […]
Erin Kesler | November 7, 2013
Today, Center for Progressive Reform board member and University of Texas School of Law professor Thomas O. McGarity will testify at a Hearing hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee entitled, “Justice Delayed II: the Impact of Nonrule RuleMakiing in Auto Safey and Mental Health.” McGarity’s testimony can be read in full here. According to the […]
Thomas McGarity | November 6, 2013
Tomorrow, a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D. Connecticut) hosts a Hearing on the consequences of excessive regulatory “ossification” entitled, “Justice Delayed II: The Impact of Nonrule Rulemaking on Auto Safety and Mental Health.” I will be testifying at that hearing on the effects of agencies’ moving to more […]