Nominations

Who should nominate

We welcome nominations from people who are well acquainted with the nominee and can describe their alignment with the award criteria. Some nominators are familiar with the nominee’s policy field and can describe how their approach is different from their peers or ripe for expansion; others can describe how they or their peers have been affected by the nominee’s work. The nominator must be someone other than the nominee or a family member and, preferably, not employed by the nominee.

Demonstrating significance

The significance section provides an opportunity to describe the problem the leader and organization are working to solve and why it is important to California. Strong nominations provide the number of people affected by the problem.

Types of innovation

We consider many forms of innovation, including work that:

• Represents an entirely new approach or a creative leap from standard practices
• Is not widely known or practiced in California
• Applies a proven approach in a new way or within a new context

Demonstrating effectiveness

Competitive nominations include evidence that the leader is effectively addressing the problem described in the significance section. Evidence might include impact data, findings from evaluations, examples of how the leader’s work has led to changes in policies, beliefs, or behaviors, or anecdotes about how the work has directly impacted people’s lives.

Diversity

The Leadership Awards aim to elevate leaders who reflect the diversity of California’s population and regions. The Awards value the diverse life experiences leaders may bring to their work, such as experience with incarceration, serving in the military, or being unhoused. You are welcome to share such details in your nomination, especially if they inform how the nominee conducts their work. We also encourage nominations that are distinct from those we have recognized in recent years.

Use the prompts and word counts

Use the prompts and word counts in the nominations form to guide your responses. They describe the types of information often included in the most competitive nominations. Note that the higher the suggested word count, the more detail we would like you to share about the leader and their work. Avoid repeating information provided in a previous section.