Call for Nominations: 2023 OCDC International Cooperative Champion and Innovator Awards

News

The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) is launching a call for nominations for its annual OCDC International Cooperative Champion and Innovator Awards. Through these awards, OCDC recognizes and celebrates those international cooperative development champions and innovators who continue to advance co-ops as a locally led, equitable and sustainable business model for developing economies.

The details and criteria for each award are below. You can read about some of the previous awardees on our website:
2022 Champion Awardee – Isaac Nyamongo
2022 Innovator Awardee – Joy Doronila Palmada
2021 Champion Awardee – Paul Clark
2021 Innovator Awardee – CUDECOOP and INACOOP

International Cooperative Champion Award

This award was created to recognize a member or partner that has made outstanding contributions through championing, promoting and advocating for effective, sustainable international cooperative development, particularly in low income and emerging economies.

Criteria
Nominees must currently or historically have showcased these characteristics and contributions in an international context:
• Statesmanship: Shows statesmanship, personal commitment, leadership and vision beyond the professional competence and requirements of their position.
• Lasting achievement: Achieves identifiable and lasting changes to improve and promote cooperatives.
• Co-op advancement: Inspires and persuades others to action in advancing the cooperative system.
• Recognition: Recognizes work relating to cooperatives that enables the scaling and cultural adaptation necessary to achieve positive impacts for cooperative members.
• Business practice: Contributes to innovative and financially sustainable cooperative activities that have significantly benefited co-op members.

International Cooperative Innovation Award

Making a world where people in all countries have the opportunity to work together through cooperatives to create a better life for themselves and their communities requires fresh ideas, innovative tactics, and the tenacity to implement them. OCDC seeks to celebrate an International Cooperative Innovator annually.

Criteria
These innovators are selected based on the following criteria:
• Innovation: Promotes and puts into action new ideas for improving the cooperative business model and cooperative development methodology.
• New Practices: Adapts traditional practices used in non-traditional ways to improve performance for members, raise the profile of cooperatives, or champion the most vulnerable.
• Sustainability: Contributes to innovative and financially sustainable cooperative activities that significantly benefit co-op members. Achieves identifiable and lasting changes to improve and promote cooperatives.
• Co-op advancement: Inspires and persuades others to action in advancing the cooperative system.
• Leadership: Shows leadership, personal commitment, and vision for implementing cooperative practices locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

Nominations are due July 15, 2023.

Selections will be made by the OCDC board of directors and management. The awards will be publicized during the Cooperative IMPACT Conference on October 4, 2023. All nominations should be submitted using the following dedicated form:

Click Here for the Nomination Form

Nominations received after 11:59 PM EDT on July 15^th will not be accepted. Early nominations are encouraged. Self-nomination is not permitted. The form requires contact information as well as a brief biography of the nominee focusing on their cooperative background and why this candidate should receive the award. A list of three references that can speak to the nominee’s experience with cooperatives is also required. Fields included in the form include: