Juan J. Martinez, Knight Foundation's Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, is the winner of South Florida Business Journal's 2010 CFO Awards in the non-profit category.

Martinez believes an effective CFO is only as good as his team. To that end, he has a very strong finance team ... Martinez has empowered them to solve problems and communicate freely so he can concentrate on adding value to management decisions "as opposed to being drawn constantly intro transactions."

 

This year's Sunshine Week contest, which will be announced March 14-20, will honor local heroes of open government.

The efforts of these local heroes, whose work has made their communities a better place to live, will be recognized among media organizations and other groups throughout the nation.

Since 2005, Sunshine Week has been held annually to discuss the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The American Society of News Editors will conduct a contest to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010.

For those interested in nominating a local hero, please fill out a nomination form. The deadline is Feb. 26.

--'Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

Two Knight Foundation grantees have made MIT Technology Review's list of 10 technologies to watch.

Printcasting, a project of Participata, which is currently testing a service that allows amateur publishers to create newsletters and magazines, is supported by an $837,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge.

The second Knight Foundation project on the list is the Ushahidi Engine, which is developing an open-source platform that allows amateur and professional journalists to respond rapidly to regional crises through mobile phone, e-mail or Web interface.

For the remaining eight technologies to watch, follow the link.

--'Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger