Nominations open for GEO Individual Excellence Awards 2022

Blog / July 21, 2022

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Nominations open for GEO Individual Excellence Awards 2022 

Nominations are now open for the GEO Individual Excellence Awards 2022. Launched in 2019 by the GEO Programme Board, the awards are presented annually to individuals in the GEO community who have demonstrated remarkable personal commitment to the GEO mission and vision.

The awards celebrate achievements such as generating social impact, influencing policies, and advancing a diverse and inclusive GEO. Learn more about last year’s winners and their achievements here. 

Nominations, including self-nominations and nominations by sponsors, should be submitted by 9 September. The award winners will be honoured at a ceremony on 2 November during GEO Week 2022 in Accra, Ghana. 

The GEO Secretariat hosted two webinars on 4 August to provide insights on how to write a good application and answer questions on the awards.

A recording of the morning session, featuring 2021 award winner Li Guoqing is available here.

A recording of the afternoon session, featuring Kathy Fontaine, co-chair of the awards subgroup, is available here.

A slide deck with advice on how to apply and writing tips is available here

Selection criteria 

Accomplishments must have occurred in the period since 2017. Up to three Individual Excellence Awards will be awarded in 2022. 

The Award Committee will use the following criteria to select finalists:

1. Accomplishment demonstrated by a concrete and measurable impact in the past five (5) years, such as: a new sustained community organized; social and economic benefits to citizens and countries; impact on policies through EO-related discussions; specific EO language taken up and sustained in new fora; efforts that have resulted in increased involvement in EO-related initiatives with specific attention to diverse representation including youth,  gender and geographic inclusion; progress by a community/Flagship/Initiative to develop new products, procedures or policy relevant research.
2. Innovation in style or approach to tackling challenges. 
3. Nominee’s efforts are consistent with GEO’s core values and principles. 
4. Regional and gender balance among awardees will be considered. 

Nomination guidelines 

• Nominations must be made using the nomination form available here. 
• The main element of the nomination is a maximum 2-page write-up detailing why the candidate deserves this recognition and the importance of the nominee’s effort described in terms of impact observed. The nomination should address all selection criteria, as substantively as possible. 
• The primary nominator will secure support from at least one other additional reference. Self-nominations will also need to include two references. These references may be contacted by the Awards Committee during the review process to seek clarification and other necessary auxiliary information related to the nomination. 
• Nominations for GEO awards are not automatically renewed for the subsequent year. Nominees who do not get selected can be re-nominated in the next year. 
• To increase diversity in the group of GEO awardees, we encourage nominators to consider gender, geographical and generational representation when nominating candidates for the Individual Excellence Awards. 
• Nominations must be submitted electronically to awards@geosec.org and must include two documents: 1. Completed Nomination Form and 2. Full CV of the nominee. 

Who can nominate? 

Anyone in the GEO community can nominate individuals for the awards. 

Who cannot nominate? 

To avoid conflict of interest, members of the Award Committee cannot submit nominations or act as co-sponsors. 

Who can be nominated? 

Individuals involved in a GEO Work Programme activity currently, or past contributors who do not have any other conflict of interest may be nominated. 

Who cannot be nominated? 

• Awards Committee
• GEO Secretariat 
• GEO Executive Committee members 
• Programme Board members 

Frequency of awards 

Individuals can only win an award in a given category once every 3 years. 

FAQ

Q: If self-nominations are allowed, do I need to provide names for a nominator and two references?  

A: You need to provide two references. You can put your name in the nominator field. 

Q: Can the sponsor be anyone from GEO community, or do they need to be involved in a GEO group? 

A: It can be anyone from the GEO community – we just need to see commitment to GEO’s values, mission and vision.

Q: If someone nominates me, do I need to provide references? If yes, how many? 

A: The nominator needs to provide their own details, plus those of one additional reference. They only need to provide names and email addresses.

Q: Do the Sponsor or references need to provide a letter of support? 

A: No, this is not required.

Timeline 

• Call for nominations published on GEO website on July 21, 2022 
• Webinars on the GEO Awards on 4 August  
• Nominations submission deadline – September 2, 2022 
• Finalists selected and notified – 1 October 2020 
• Award Ceremony – 2 November during GEO Week in Accra, Ghana