2001 Leadership Award

Rev. Arthur Simon
Founder & President Emeritus, Bread for the World

Rev. David Beckmann
President, Bread for the World and Bread for the World Institute

Community Family Life Services
Washington, D.C.

 

Organized in 1972, Bread for the World (BFW) is a nationwide Christian citizens movement seeking justice for the world's hungry people. While not providing direct relief or development assistance, BFW lobbies for and supports policies addressing hunger and poverty's root causes. BFW is nonpartisan and is supported by many denominations and theological perspectives. Its board of directors includes grassroots leaders, members of Congress, and leaders of churches and charities. It is the largest grassroots advocacy network on hunger issues, and also accounts for most of the constituent lobbying done in the U.S. on behalf of poor people overseas.

The Rev. Arthur Simon is founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, where he served for almost two decades. Before retiring, he directed the Washington Office of Christian Children's Fund from 1992 to 1997. He pastored Trinity Lutheran Church on New York's densely populated, low-income Lower East Side from 1961 to 1972. Rev. Simon's book, Bread for the World, won the national Religious Book Award and was described by the late Nobel Prize economist, Gunnar Myrdal, as a "clear and convincing" analysis of world hunger. His more recent book (with David Beckmann) is Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God's World. Simon's other books discuss themes of Christian faith and public policy, poverty, and hunger; he also has had articles published in numerous national journals and several dozen major newspapers. Rev. Simon is an alumnus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, and Dana College in Blair, Nebraska. He has received a number of awards and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Hunger Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has also served as a trustee and advisor of the Center for Public Justice.

The Rev. David Beckmann served for several years on the board of Bread for the World before becoming president in 1991. Prior to this, he spent 15 years as a World Bank economist, playing a prominent role in the Bank's heightened focus on poverty reduction and fostering greater collaboration between the Bank and private voluntary organizations serving poor people. As a Lutheran clergyman, Beckmann served in Bangladesh for a church-related relief and development agency from 1975 to 1976. He has written many books and articles on Christian faith and economics, including Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God's World (with Arthur Simon). Beckmann earned his Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master of Divinity from Christ Seminary in St. Louis and his undergraduate degree from Yale University.

Community and Family Life Services is a nonprofit inclusive Christian organization facilitating personal growth, independence, and integration into a healthy community for homeless and poor families and individuals, regardless of their faith in Washington, DC. CFLS annually serves approximately 10,000 individuals.

The 2001 Leadership Award event was held on March 1, 2001, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.