Former UConn forward Charde Houston has been named the winner of the WNBA's Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for her charitable endeavors with the Minnesota Lynx in 2010.

In 2009, Houston founded Project Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Project Y.O.U), a non-profit organization. Project Y.O.U. educates, motivates and empowers youth to excel in school and in life. During the 2010 season, Houston partnered with Perspectives, Inc. to mentor a group of girls in Minnesota, to stress the importance of education, self-esteem and becoming leaders in the community.

For the second consecutive year, Charde through her foundation, has selected an underprivileged family in the United States and made their holiday wishes a dream come true. In December of 2010, Charde hosted a “Christmas with Y.O.U.” event in Atlantic City, NJ. Through social media, Charde raised over $3,000 to fulfill the children’s Christmas list. In addition to establishing her own foundation, Charde has also worked with the Ronald McDonald House, Perspectives, Inc. and Youth Advocate Program Inc.

"This is a team effort, so I would like to thank all of my Project Y.O.U. staff, Perspectives, Inc. and youth for their hard work," said Houston in a statement. "I am blessed to be able to mentor these wonderful ladies. My girls work hard everyday at improving their lives by learning about leadership, self-esteem and goal-setting. Youth deal with a lot and all it takes is a positive influence to encourage and help them believe that. This award is confirmation that what my staff and I are doing makes a difference in the community. We are all honored."

Houston is in her fourth season with the Lynx and is averaging 2.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.6 steals in eight games this season.