Celebrating the Innovative and Inspiring Global .ORG Community
by Jon Nevett, CEO of PIR
If there’s any one thing that has defined the past 15 months, it’s the manner in which we have confronted the monumental challenges facing our world. As a global community, we’ve taken on big challenges—the effort to bring an end to the global pandemic, the development and distribution of life-saving vaccines, and the work to lift up those who have faced economic and humanitarian hardship as a result of these crises.
What we’ve witnessed—especially in these troubled times—is the large number of amazing leaders and organizations doing incredible work to make their communities and the world a better place.
We at Public Interest Registry—the people behind the .ORG domain—want to honor and recognize the most inspiring stories and the most impactful work in the .ORG Community through the 2021 .ORG Impact Awards.
This is our 3rd year of hosting this global celebration of the .ORG Community. Since the awards were established in 2019, 1,000+ organizations have submitted entries, more than 80 have been named finalists, 19 organizations and individuals have won awards, and two of those have been named .ORG of the Year.
This year will be a little different. We’ve decided to focus on some of the biggest challenges facing our planet and have updated our categories to do so.
The award categories in 2021 are:
- Health and Healing in a Time of Pandemic
- Overcoming Climate Change
- Fighting Hunger and Poverty
- Providing Quality Education for All
- Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Building Better Communities
- .ORG Rising Stars, which puts a spotlight on young people making an enormous difference in their communities
- .ORG of the Year Award, which honors the organization which has had the most impact over the past year.
We’ve also increased the size of the awards. The winner of the .ORG of the Year will receive a donation of $35,000 USD and all the category award winners will receive donations of $10,000 USD.
So to all the .ORGs out there doing great work, we urge you to submit a nomination. We’d love to learn about the incredible work you’ve been doing. And if you’ve been inspired by a .ORG in your community, please urge them to submit as well.
We’re looking for the .ORGs working with front-line workers providing healing and support to the sick day after day; organizations working to alleviate hunger and poverty; leaders fighting for social justice and an end to systemic racism; young people working to save our planet from climate change; and educators finding new ways to teach amid this pandemic. We are looking to honor these heroes and mission-driven organizations and to celebrate their hard work and amazing programs to make our world better.
For the 2020 awards, we had some truly amazing winners.
Among them—Days for Girls International—an organization dedicated to improving the health, education, and livelihood of millions of women and girls around the world—won both the .ORG of the Year award and the Combating Coronavirus award. Meanwhile, Change Labs was honored for its work to support entrepreneurs within the Navajo and Hopi Nations. And the Mangrove Action Project was recognized for its work to protect the world’s mangrove forests.
We can’t wait to see the 2021 submissions and learn more about the innovative work of the global .ORG Community.
This work is truly making our communities and the world a better place, and we encourage you to submit an entry for your favorite .ORG today!