McNulty Prize Winners are social impact pioneers answering the call of frontline communities, and creating waves of impact on local, national, and global scales.
New York, NY, July 17th––The McNulty Foundation and the Aspen Institute announced the 2024 John P. McNulty Prize winners––courageous leaders tackling critical issues, from environmental injustice and disaster recovery, to addressing a national crisis of leadership and education. Each of their organizations will receive $150,000 in support of their exceptional efforts.
“This year’s winners recognize that communities are not passive actors, but fertile laboratories filled with people fighting for a better future for all. These leaders have walked boldly alongside communities facing some of our most urgent problems and elevated their ideas into action,” said McNulty Foundation President and Aspen Institute Trustee Anne Welsh McNulty. “For communities who have been exploited, polluted, or ignored, these organizations are equipping them with the tools to realize a brighter future.”
Whether by building and sustaining a network of environmental justice champions, training a new workforce to enable recovery from disaster, or revolutionizing education and civic leadership for transformation in Haiti, these efforts are pioneering ways for communities to come together to tackle critical issues.
Since 2008, the McNulty Prize has recognized over 50 breakthrough leaders for their moral courage, bold vision, and deep, sustainable impact. The award was created in honor of John P. McNulty and is given in partnership with the Aspen Institute to recognize the exceptional leadership of Fellows across their programs. Watch the winners dialogue and present their visions live at the Resnick Aspen Action Forum here on July 23rd at 6 pm MT.
Learn more about the winners:
CENTERING CLIMATE JUSTICE & COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS
With her community organizing background in economic and climate justice, Gloria Walton (Civil Society Fellow), President and CEO of The Solutions Project (TSP), knows that the communities most affected by climate change—disproportionately low-income communities of color—have the strongest ideas to address them. TSP has raised and moved over $50 million to 300+ organizations working to advance solutions and policies including clean water and energy, affordable green housing, land stewardship, and more. TSP is not only strengthening a network of grassroots organizations, but shifting support to those most often overlooked: less than 2% of U.S. climate philanthropy goes to grassroots, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)-led organizations, while TSP grantees are 90% BIPOC-led, and 80% women/non-binary led.
TSP’s financial support, visibility campaigns, and capacity-building efforts have resulted in grantees reporting an 182% increase in media coverage and an additional $70 million in public funding leveraged. In the past three years, these solutions have served over 1 million people and benefited over 100 million more via policy wins. Don Cheadle, Actor and Trustee of TSP, says, “Gloria understands that we cannot address climate change without the ideas, creativity, and imagination of the communities that are, and who will be, most impacted.”
EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF HAITIAN LEADERS
Passion to contribute to true social justice efforts in their native Haiti is a common purpose shared by leadership and education experts Nedgine Paul Deroly (CEO & Co-Founder) and Jean-Claude Brizard (Founding Board Chair, Aspen Pahara Fellow). By building a culture and curriculum that embraces Haitian identity, Anseye Pou Ayiti (APA) is disrupting an oppressive colonial education system by offering a new model of civic leadership and community transformation. Through immersive fellowships for teachers, parents, and school leaders that include training and coaching, leadership development, and community action, APA is working to equip a network of 50,000 leaders by 2025.
APA improves educational outcomes while creating a replicable community-led model for the nation and the world. APA students achieve a 90% passing rate compared to the 41% national average, and 95% of APA fellows pursue careers in educational equity, creating a growing wave of change. As a result, mother tongue instruction has been more widely embraced, the Ministry of Education has hired alumni, and community action projects are addressing school and health access, technology training, community-based financial loans, and more. Sara Wolf from Summits Education says, “Anseye Pou Ayiti’s unwavering commitment and unparalleled outcomes have made it widely recognized and esteemed among Haitian—and global—stakeholders.”
THE (RE)BUILDERS OF AMERICA: CULTIVATING A RESILIENCE ECONOMY
Ever since an anonymous call led him to uncover one of America’s largest human trafficking schemes, labor organizer Saket Soni (Job Quality Fellow) has been an advocate for worker’s rights on a grassroots and national level. He founded Resilience Force to support the thousands of mostly immigrant workers who travel to rebuild in the wake of natural disasters, and to scale this urgently needed workforce. Rachel Korberg from the Families & Workers Fund says, “Resilience Force is the only organization of its kind—creatively reimagining an economy that works for all and solves issues from climate to immigration to jobs.”
By training their members and advocating for fair pay, safety, and dignity for workers, Resilience Force is creating a new American profession that will prepare homes for increasingly deadly climate disasters. Their policy wins include raising wages to $35/hour, receiving $1 million to train wildfire and agricultural resilience workers, and starting training programs in Florida, California, and Louisiana that are a model for national expansion. Resilience Force has attached higher labor standards to nearly $400 million in industry contracts, improving the conditions of 3,500+ workers and ensuring dignified work standards for many more to come.
For media inquiries, please contact nsawhney@mcnultyfound.org. Watch the winners present their visions live at the Resnick Aspen Action Forum on July 23 at 6 pm MT here.
About the John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation
The McNulty Foundation inspires, develops, and drives leaders to solve the critical challenges of our time. Created in 2008 by Anne Welsh McNulty in honor of her late husband, the John P. McNulty Prize, awarded in partnership with the Aspen Institute, has recognized over 50 breakthrough leaders for their moral courage, bold vision, and deep, lasting impact. Winners receive $150,000 and support to amplify their efforts, and are chosen by an international jury that has included Madeleine Albright, Olara Otunnu, Brizio Biondi-Morra, Darren Walker, Cheryl Dorsey, Mary Robinson, and Richard Branson. For more information, visit mcnultyfound.org. Follow @McNultyFound on Twitter and @McNultyFoundation on Instagram.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
The Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) is a growing, worldwide community of nearly 4,000 high-integrity, entrepreneurial leaders from over 60 countries who share a commitment to values-based leadership and to using their creativity, energy, and resources to tackle the foremost societal challenges of our times. Because of their demonstrated accomplishment and abilities, they have been selected to join one of 13 geographic or sector-specific AGLN Fellowships around the world. Fellows convene annually at the AGLN’s flagship event, the Resnick Aspen Action Forum. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/agln.
Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program
The Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org/eop.
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