PLEASANT POINT – A Passamaquoddy woman is a finalist in the Leadership for a Changing World awards program, launched by the Ford Foundation in September 2000.

Denise Altvater, 42, has served as program director of the Wabanaki Youth Program of the American Friends Service Committee for the past seven years. She was one of 20 finalists selected from a pool of more than 3,000 nominees.

The finalist will be in New York City later this month to accept the award and a check for $100,000 to advance her work and an additional $30,000 for support activities.

“Altvater is helping Native Americans break through the isolation and poverty of rural Maine. Her work with the Wabanaki Confederacy, made up of four northeast New England tribes – Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Micmac and Maliseet – is helping members, particularly the youth, refocus on cultural traditions and deal effectively with discrimination, domestic abuse, alcoholism and drug addition,” foundation officials said in a prepared release.

Altvater, the press release said, also has done groundbreaking work in helping to train representatives of the Maine Department of Human Services to encourage compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. That act was intended to reduce the high rate of American Indian children placed in non-native foster families.

Her ultimate goal is to rebuild cultural pride and values among Wabanaki Confederacy youth, while boosting the social, educational and job training skills they will need to survive and thrive both inside and outside tribal confines.

“Good leadership abounds in the United States,” Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, said in the release. “All over the country we see resourceful individuals and groups bringing people together, tackling social problems and getting results. Now this new Leadership for a Changing World awards program is revealing the dimensions and variety of this leadership.”

During the next six years, the $20 million program will recognize 60 outstanding leaders and leadership teams that are not broadly known beyond their immediate community or field. Eventually the group will be brought together to work with other award winners to share experiences, address specific challenges and explore opportunities for collaboration.

Wayne Newell, director of cultural programs and curriculum development at Indian Township School, nominated Altvater, whom he has known since her birth, for the prestigious award.

“I … have been witness to Denise’s impressive tenure as she sought to empower herself and those who shared the common dream of restoration and healing of the native people,” Newell wrotei n his nomination letter.

Altvater, Newell said, was one of the “important leaders” of today.

“Under [her] leadership … [the] Wabanaki Program has grown to become a vital hub of activity for youth empowerment projects. For organizing against racism and for working for the rights of indigenous people. Denise builds collaboration and community between Wabanaki youth workers, activists, community leaders, and young people,” he wrote. “Denise is both a community leader and a spiritual leader. She integrates traditional spiritual and cultural practices into all of her work.”

Altvater smiled broadly as she spoke Wednesday at her office about getting the award. She noted that she was one of two American Indian representatives to receive the honor. The other recipient represents an Alaskan tribe.

“I’m really pleased,” she said shyly, adding that she was somewhat overwhelmed.

The honoree said she was surprised with her selection as a finalist. She admitted it was rather a rigorous selection process that included a site visit and meetings with people with whom she works.

She also was required to write an essay about herself and her work. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said with a chuckle.