Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has just been awarded the 2010 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, an honor commending social justice and “challenging the status quo.”

Via Common Dreams:

The Nation Institute announced today that Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, and author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben have both been chosen to receive the annual $100,000 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. This is the first year the prize has been awarded to two winners. McKibben and Richards will receive the award on December 6, 2010 at The Nation Institute Annual Dinner Gala in New York City.

The Puffin Foundation and The Nation Institute are the mutual sponsors of the award, which is given to an individual who has challenged the status quo through distinctive, courageous, imaginative, and socially responsible work of significance. Recipients are to be found in a broad range of occupations and pursuits, including academia, journalism, public health, literature, art, the environmental sciences, labor, and the humanities. The prize is intended to encourage the recipients to continue their work, and to inspire others to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies they face in their careers.

…

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award from The Nation Institute and The Puffin Foundation,” said Richards. “This prize honors the essential work that the entire Planned Parenthood community does on behalf of women’s health and rights throughout the United States and around the world. Most importantly, this very special prize recognizes the fact that there is still much work to do so that every woman has the right and the power to make the most basic choices for herself and to shape the course of her own life. When that day arrives, we will be much closer to achieving social justice for all.”

And Richards isn’t the only one from Planned Parenthood winning awards recently. Laurie Rubiner, the Vice President of Public Policy, is the recipient of the 2010 Felicia Stewart Advocacy Award, sponsored by the American Public Health Association. 

This award is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Felicia Stewart and her vision, commitment, leadership, and advocacy in our field.  Dr. Stewart’s career included serving as HHS’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Population Affairs and as Co-Director of the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at the University of California, San Francisco.  The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a strong commitment to advocacy on behalf of reproductive health and rights.

Our congratulations goes out to both women.