Hope for Justice won the .ORG of the Year 2023 award from Public Interest Registry (PIR), during an event in Washington, D.C., where winners were selected in seven advocacy categories in the .org Impact Awards. Hope for Justice, based in Manchester in the U.K., took top honors in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion category, recognizing the organization’s work to end modern slavery, and then the top award which comes with a $50,000 donation.
The seven winners in the fifth annual competition were selected from almost 1,000 applicants from 70 countries. The ceremony was hosted by Padma Lakshmi, activist, author, and host/producer of Hulu’s “Taste the Nation.”
A record $180,000 in donations were made to organizations from the global .ORG Community across seven categories:
* Community Building
* Quality Education for All
* Environmental Stewardship
* Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
* Health and Healing
* Hunger and Poverty
* Rising Stars (leaders, under 25, making a difference in their communities)
“We are honored to recognize our 2023 .ORG Impact Award winners, who hail from communities across the globe and tackle incredible challenges with grit, innovation, and commitment to making the world a better place,” said Jon Nevett, president and CEO of PIR. “These inspiring organizations and individuals work tirelessly to create positive change and improve lives each day. We are thrilled to uplift their efforts and humbled by the work they are doing to build a bright future for us all. Congratulations, and thank you for being a part of our .ORG Community.”
A panel of experts selected by PIR went through the 1,000 applications from which five finalists were selected for each category. “It’s an extensive process,” with applications submitted in May. There is unique criteria for each category, according to Nevett. The winners and rationale were:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Category and .ORG of the Year
Donation: $50,000
Hope for Justice exists to bring an end to modern slavery by preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society.
Hope for Justice does more than raise awareness – it focuses on action. A team of investigators with years of law enforcement experience, multilingual outreach workers, accredited trainers, legal experts, social workers, therapists, nurses, policy specialists, campaigners and professionals, Hope for Justice is on the ground in the places that are worst affected by human trafficking and modern slavery.
Community Building
Donation: $10,000
Kakenya’s Dream invests in girls from rural communities through educational, health, and leadership initiatives to create agents of change. Kakenya’s Dream began as a single primary school, educating 30 vulnerable girls beneath the shade of a tree, and today, the organization operates two world-class boarding schools and several other education, health, and leadership programs that serve thousands across rural Kenya each year. Kakenya’s Dream has evolved into a global team building a replicable model of education and empowerment for underserved African communities.
Quality Education for All
Donation: $10,000
Seeding Labs works to unleash the full potential of scientists worldwide to fight global diseases, feed our growing population, and protect our planet. Providing the greatest scientific minds overseas with the tools and training they need to respond to local challenges before they become global crises, Seeding Labs is supporting researchers on the scientific frontlines — wherever that may be — to strengthen the entire global community. Seeding Labs equips scientists with the connections they need to be on the cutting edge of global discovery.
Environmental Stewardship
Donation: $10,000
CREATE Borneo aims to equip indigenous youth with the means to preserve their culture while competing in a growing economy and taking responsibility for their environmental stewardship through appropriate technologies. A village-based workshop and training facility, CREATE Borneo educates the next generation of indigenous engineers in renewable energy technologies and allows indigenous communities to develop and harness their resources on their own terms while incentivizing environmental stewardship.
Health and Healing
Donation: $10,000
HERhealthEQ was born out of a need to reduce the equity gap in access to healthcare for women around the world. What began as a singular donation of a mammogram machine to a Costa Rican hospital, has now grown into an international web of healthcare solutions. The HERhealthEQ team is driven by a desire to see fewer women face the choice between their own healthcare and putting food on the tables of their families. HERhealthEQ works to improve women’s health in developing countries by providing access to medical devices & equipment, creating an equitable standard of care.
Hunger and Poverty
Donation: $10,000
WHOlives is committed to bringing clean water to developing communities in a self-sustainable process. WHOlives creates local ownership, economic incentives, and accountability which keeps wells operational. These new water systems are then maintained and operated by local people, ownership and economic viability is established so maintenance and access to clean water is continuous. This initiative is a proven solution that leads to increased education for girls, improved health and sanitation, and greater opportunities for development.
Rising Star
Donation: $10,000
LightEd is a renewable energy company that focuses on using waste material to build renewable energy solutions that can light up homes and families in rural and some urban communities. Refugees, students, and rural communities often struggle to light their homes and businesses. LightEd powers access to brighter lives through accessible and innovative renewable energy solutions made of recycled e-waste and plastic waste, with the goal of empowering 5 Million+ Africans to live sustainably by 2035.
PIR is a nonprofit that operates the .ORG top-level domain. PIR was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia.
