Call for Nominations: 2024 OCDC International Cooperative Champion and Innovator Awards

News

The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) has launched its annual call for OCDC International Cooperative Champion and Innovator nominations. 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.

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. This prestigious annual award can go to an individual or individuals.

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.

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 6, 2024.

Selections will be made by the OCDC board of directors and management based on the above criteria. The recipients will be announced during the international Cooperative IMPACT Conference on October 2, 2024. All nominations should be submitted using the following dedicated forms:

International Cooperative Champion Nomination Form
International Cooperative Innovation Nomination Form

Nominations received after UTC 23:00 on Saturday, July 6 2024 will not be considered. 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. Two additional references that can speak to the nominee’s experience with cooperatives is also required. Fields included in the form include: