Rick Aguiar Social Justice Advocate Award

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Rick Aguiar Social Justice Advocate Award for 2025
We are pleased that for the year 2025 the CCOP Social Justice Committee was able to grant Social Justice Advocate Awards to three nominees. The Social Justice work of each of these award recipients is highlighted by CCOP to encourage others to also pursue social justice. We recognize each recipient and their various social justice efforts and so highlight different ways to become engaged in pursuing social justice for our sisters and brothers everywhere.


Award Recipient – Randy Haykin
Randy Haykin is the founder and leader of the Gratitude Network, a non-profit organization based in Pleasanton focused on improving the impact and effectiveness of social justice organizations worldwide. The concept involves Gratitude's network of highly successful business and management professionals giving back to others by providing pro bono consulting, coaching, and networking services to leaders of social justice organizations worldwide. There is a particular focus on organizations assisting education, health and wellbeing, and human rights of children and youth. The service meets a huge need in the NGO community, as many struggle with operational and organizational issues, areas in which Gratitude's coaches excel.

For more information on the Gratitude Network see: https://gratitude-network.org/
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Randy is a long-time member of CCOP, having gone through the RCIA program in the early 2000's, and is currently a choir member. He had a long, successful career in technology management and venture capital. Over ten years ago, he chose to give that all up to form and build the Gratitude Network. The organizations supported by Gratitude assist tens of millions of people worldwide. He is a great example of sacrificing self to help and love our neighbors.


Award Recipient – Christina Maehr
Christina Maehr is the founder of Everybody Advocate, a non-profit organization which seeks to improve education services for children with special needs. Everybody Advocate works to bring parents, educators, and experts together to build community, share knowledge, and tackle systemic problems, so no one has to struggle alone.
 
After having to fight for special education services for her own children, Christina began to advocate for other families. She has advocated for more than 300 families statewide.

Recognizing that system-level problems repeatedly made the process difficult for both school personnel and families alike, Christina launched Everybody Advocate to address these barriers. In 2024, Christina and team worked to get a reading fluency checkbox added to the state forms. Thanks to this change, an extra forty thousand (40,000) students in California with dyslexia or other reading-related disabilities may now be found eligible to receive early reading intervention services.
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Christina continues to advocate for all students in California so that they can succeed to their full potential. Through her non-profit, she and experts provide training to parents, educators, care providers, and future advocates. With donor help, they also provide services to low-income families. And together, they advocate for system-wide changes.

For more information on Everybody Advocate, see: https://everybodyadvocate.org/

Award Recipient – Theresa Tavares
Theresa Tavares is recognized for her past and current Social Justice work. Theresa is a long-time parishioner at CCOP and spent many years serving as an active member of our Social Justice Committee. Theresa introduced and organized the annual Fair-Trade Easter and Advent Calendar Chocolate sales that were well received and supported by our parish. Theresa was instrumental in managing the very first 2018 Kids Against Hunger event at CCOP.
 
Today Theresa gives her time and commitment in service to those most in need through philanthropic initiatives and local engagement. In 2017 Theresa established The Theresa Tavares Philanthropic Fund by contributing her own money. Through sound investment strategies, the Fund has grown substantially and now partners with various NGOs to support specific education, water and climate change resiliency projects in Africa. The projects funded have a positive impact on the lives of many thousands of people annually. The following is a summary of three of the many organizations that receive grants from The Theresa Tavares Philanthropic Fund.Please use the links to find out more about these organizations.

SERRV SERRV, a Fair-Trade Nonprofit Since 1949 - Theresa worked closely with SERRV to provide you with Fair Trade Easter bunnies and chocolate and Advent Calendars for many years. Your purchases empowered small-scale global artisans and farmers build sustainable employment, resources, rights and a vision of hope in their community.

Doctors Without Borders Doctors Without Borders - USA - Theresa has personally funded programs run by Doctors Without Borders that provides urgent healthcare for people in conflict and disaster zones in more than 75 countries. Theresa's financial support of this worthy organization is now substantially increased through her philanthropic fund.

International Rescue Committee (IRC) International Rescue Committee (IRC) For 90 years the IRC has helped people affected by conflict and disaster. Today they are providing aid to the most vulnerable in the top 10 crises regions in the world: Somalia, Mali, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, South Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, Gaza and the West Bank. The IRC is ‘A' rated by The Theresa Tavares Philanthropic Fund.

Rick Aguiar Social Justice Advocate Award History: List of Past Award Recipients
The following is a list of Social Justice Advocate Award recipients since the program began in 1989. 
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Year Recipient & Social Justice Cause
1989 Mary Goodreau – St. Andrews Soup Kitchen
1990 Lou Santero – Right to Life
1991 Gus Nystrom – Pax Christi & Prison Ministry
1992 Jim Campbell – AIDS Ministry
1993 Pat Belding – Parish Awareness & Youth Involvement
1994 Darlene Upmeier – Youth Social Justice
1996 Pat Baretta – Social Concerns
1997 Carol Ghilardi – AIDS/HIV Services
1998 The Carlsen’s – The Giving Tree
1999 Judie Johnson – St. Vincent De Paul
2000 Deborah Cilk – Community Services
2001 Betty Johnson – Birthright
2002 Brian O’Reilly – Shelters & Food for the Poor
2003 Rich Malone – Prison Release Ministry
2004 Tom Morelli – Special Olympics
2005 No Advocate Award given
2006 Estaban Marino De Paz
2007 Charles Haupt
2008 - 2009 No Advocate Award given
2010 Dr. John Rabada - Volunteer medical care at St. Mary's Interfaith Community Services in Stockton
2011 Wesley Stark and Bob McKenzie - Livermore Homeless Refuge founders
2012 No award given
2013 Becky Dennis - Affordable housing in the Tri-Valley
2014 Lori & Jim Murphy - Founders of People-to-People Foundation, supporting an orphanage in India & more
2015 - 2020 The program was paused. No Advocate Awards given
2021 Donna McKenzie - Livermore Homeless Refuge
2022 Mike Kozuch - Circulo de Amigas Foundation – Girls’ education in Nicaragua
​2023 Darlene Murphy - WAVE (West Africa Village Education) - Education in remote villages in Ghana
2024 Lisa Schibler - Kids Against Hunger, Soroptimists International, and People to People Foundation.​