OGUNQUIT, Maine, July 15, 2024 — The TramutoPorter Foundation, a non-profit organization co-founded in 2001 by author and philanthropist Donato Tramuto and Jeffrey Porter, announces its 2024 Compassionate Leadership Award recipients. The Maine-based Foundation maintains an unwavering commitment to making the world more compassionate and kind by making resources available globally to individuals and communities in need. Award Grants will be presented during National Compassionate Leadership Week, September 8-14, 2024.

“Our 2024 award recipients exemplify the spirit of compassionate leadership that the TramutoPorter Foundation stands for,” said Donato Tramuto, co-founder of the TramutoPorter Foundation. “By supporting these outstanding individuals and organizations, we are not only recognizing their remarkable efforts but also reinforcing our commitment to fostering a kinder, more compassionate world. Each of these recipients has shown incredible dedication to making a difference in their communities, and we are proud to help them continue their vital work.”

2024 Compassionate Leadership Scholarship and Mentoring Awards

The following students were each awarded a $20,000 4-year scholarship:

• Heidi Jane Linder — Bangor High School Graduate (Bangor, Maine). Linder plans to pursue a degree in biological sciences at the University of Maine.
• Nathan Bolduc — Wells High School Graduate (Wells, Maine). Bolduc plans to pursue a degree in management at the University of Tampa.

Unique to this Award, each scholar is paired with a TramutoPorter Foundation board of directors mentor who provides guidance and support throughout the student’s college years, helping to develop connections and networks necessary for the students to meet their ultimate career goals beyond college. Scholars are selected based on their ability, efforts, and the determination to contend with or overcome the challenges they have faced. Additional considerations include community service, school activities, character, leadership qualities, financial need and those who have demonstrated a desire for a more compassionate and kinder world. Since the launch of the Foundation in 2001, the TramutoPorter Foundation has provided scholarships to more than 100 students.

The 2024 Compassionate Leadership of The Year Award
Established in 2023, this grant is awarded to organizations that not only help to solve challenges in business, education, politics, and within families, but also have demonstrated leadership with compassion and kindness. This year, the Foundation’s Grant Committee reviewed nearly 30 applications from around the world, selecting five recipients:

• Camp Sunshine (Casco, Maine) has been awarded a Grant to launch a camp session for families who have a child who has experienced hearing loss due to a life-threatening illness. In 2024, Camp Sunshine is celebrating 40 years of providing hope, joy and community through unique experiences for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. This year-round program is always 100% free for families and a transportation stipend is provided. Since 1984, more than 60,000 ill children, siblings, parents, and caregivers from all 50 states and 27 countries have come to Camp Sunshine. For more information about Camp Sunshine: https://www.campsunshine.org/
• The Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (Beverly, Mass.) has been awarded a Grant to launch a mentoring program for deaf and hard of hearing adults who will become mentors to young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. CCCBSD is fully accredited and licensed by the State of Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. It provides highly specialized academic programs to support the individual learning and communication and language needs of students from birth through age 22. CCCBSD seeks to enhance the lives of deaf and hearing children and their families living with communication and developmental challenges by providing comprehensive educational and communication-rich programs. For more information about CCCBSD: https://cccbsd.org/
• Collegio Ghislieri (Pavia, Italy) has been awarded a Grant for the establishment of the TramutoPorter Compassionate Leadership Scholarship. The Collegio will award a 5-year full scholarship to an individual who has demonstrated financial need and demonstrates a commitment to the values of compassionate leadership. The Collegio will also develop a curriculum on leading with compassion. Collegio Ghislieri is a 450-year-old Italian institution committed to promote university studies on the basis of merit, hosting around 200 pupils who attend all faculties in the University of Pavia. Founded by Pope Pius V (Antonio Ghislieri) in 1567, and secularly managed since the 18th century, the college is now under the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Italian Republic. Student expenses are subsidized by the college as the required fees are proportional to parental income; many places are granted for free. For more information about Collegio Ghislieri: http://www.ghislieri.it/
• Un Gancio al Parkinson (Florence, Italy) has been awarded a grant specific to its work with Parkinson patients. Dr. Maurizio Bertoni, founder of the organization, has developed a program where Parkinson’s patients are involved in boxing as a means to help them with the challenges they have with the condition, as well as applying research studies – based on the results achieved – to be shared with the international scientific community. The program has demonstrated positive outcomes. For more information about Un Gancio al Parkinson: https://www.ungancioalparkinson.org/en/
• Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Italy (Italy) has been awarded a grant specific to implementing its Speak Truth to Power educational programs, enlarge the team of lead educators around Italy and to organize after school programs for kids in need. Working to defend human rights across Italy from preschools to universities and beyond, the themes addressed by RFK Italia through Speak Truth To Power are inclusion, racism, social emotional learning, peace, and coexistence among peoples. RFK Italia supports the referenced communities by organizing socio-employment inclusion courses for people in vulnerable situations and summer and after-school educational centers. RFK Italia organizes and hosts courses for teachers and training meetings for schools and civil society at its International House of Human Rights in Florence, all of which focus on human rights and peaceful coexistence. For more information about Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Italy: https://www.rfkitalia.org/

“These awards highlight the incredible potential for compassion to drive positive change,” said Jeffrey Porter, co-founder of the TramutoPorter Foundation. “We are investing in a future where compassion and kindness are the foundations of strong communities and impactful solutions.”

National Compassionate Leadership Week (September 8-14, 2024)
National Compassionate Leadership Week celebrates compassionate leaders by bringing attention to the proven benefits of using empathy in action to garner the greatest impact. These leaders show, by their own examples, that it is possible to be compassionate and deliver strong results at the same time. In fact, leading with compassion produces stronger results whether it be in business, education, politics or in our own families and communities. National Compassionate Leadership Week was awarded to the Foundation in 2022 by National Day Calendar® and is celebrated annually during the second week of September.