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German
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In
Germany, Obermayer Foundation provides annual awards
to five non-Jewish Germans who have made extraordinary
contributions to preserving Jewish history, culture,
cemeteries and synagogues in their own local communities.
The awards are co-sponsored by the Berlin Parliament
and given in its elegant plenary chamber. They have
received extensive international publicity. See http://www.obermayer.us/award.
Another
German activity has been the initiation and support
of the Creglingen
Jewish Meum, which is hoed in a small German
community at the location to which Arthur Obermayer's
ancestors first moved at the beginning of the 30 Years
War in 1618. The meum foces on the lives and contributions
of the city's former Jewish residents, and has been
a source of pride to the community. It has been a
joint project, with major funding also coming from
the city of Creglingen, the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg,
a German foundation, and individual Germans and Jews.
In
September 2007 Arthur Obermayer received the Bundesverdienstkreuz
award, the highest honor provide by the German
Federal Republic.
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| Internet |
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Since
1995, the Foundation has helped nonprofits on a pro
bono basis to devise strategies for ing the
Internet and has constructed websites to meet their organizational
goals. Much of the consulting has been on community building and new media approaches for organizations such as WBUR (Boston's NPR station) and JewishGen. The foundation set up original websites for American
Jewish Historical Society, American
Chemical Society (Northeastern Section), Martha's
Vineyard Hebrew Center, Charles
River Meum of Indtry, Temple
Shalom of Newton, Eleanor
Roosevelt ValKill Foundation, GerSIG,
JewishGen and
Center for Jewish History.
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| U.S.
Government Policy |
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More
than 25 years ago, the Obermayers played a major role
in supporting and promoting the legislation that eventually led
to the Small Biness Innovation Research (SBIR) Act
and the Bayh-Dole Patent Act. These Acts over the intervening 33 years have had a major impact on the U.S. economy. As a result, in 2015, they were inducted at the White Hoe into the Hall of Fame for the SBIR Program. Their specific contributions were described in their acceptance speech.
Additionally, support
has continued for programs that will lead to more
open and responsive government on a local, national
and international level. Recent efforts have been
directed toward encouraging the U.S. to change its
foc from 20th century conventional warfare methods
to winning the hearts and minds of people and thereby
gaining the support of their leaders. This has resulted
in a widely republished Baltimore Sun op-ed,
as well as an essay for the American
Security Project which was republished in the
Las Vegas Sun and in the book entitled, Iraq
Uncensored: Perspectives. These articles have
dealt with a major expansion of the Peace Corps and
the primary goal of almost all people worldwide to
achieve a better life for themselves and their families
based on security, health care, education and economic
opportunity.
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U.S.
Social Jtice |
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Its
U.S. work is largely concerned with social jtice
and expanding economic opportunity for all. Areas
of foc include enabling economic self-sufficiency
for Boston's disadvantaged population, creating expanded
economic opportunities for minority and women-owned
binesses, and promoting community economic development
investing. Other American support has been related
to Jewish history and genealogy, interfaith families,
and access to alternative news media.
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