Beating out almost 1,000 other organizations and individuals, EBAYC was one of 18 that won the Leadership for a Changing World award Monday.

"We were very honored to be recognized in a national field like that," said David Kakishiba, center executive director.

The four-year-old award is given to about 20 groups a year that a national selection panel says have a unique way of handling social, economic and environmental problems.

The program is run by the Ford Foundation and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

In addition to the money, being selected gives EBAYC leaders a chance to meet with other award winners to brainstorm about leadership ideas and programs.

For EBAYC, the recognition came in part because of the center's work with various ethnic groups and public schools.

"The committee was very impressed with the shared leadership that was presented by this team ... it was one of the most diverse groups that we have seen," said Laura Chambers, director of the Leadership for a Changing World program. "It's a prime example of how cross-cultural groups can really build power and coalitions within a community."

The organization was formed in 1976 by a dozen Asian-American students from Berkeley High School. The group later expanded to form EBAYC and has since worked within public schools to teach immigrant families the power of working together to solve problems.