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2021 .ORG of the Year and other award winners selected out of 633 organizations for their inspiring work to make meaningful change in their communities
RESTON, Va., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind the .ORG domain, today named the winners of the 3rd annual .ORG Impact Awards, which honor and celebrate mission-driven organizations and individuals working to make the world a better place.
"Today we celebrate and honor the incredible and inspiring winners of the 2021 .ORG Impact Awards," said Jon Nevett, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry. "These organizations—our Champions for Change—have made a profound impact in the lives of so many. The people behind these organizations work tirelessly in pursuit of their missions and to make the world, and their communities, a better place. That's why we are honored to celebrate the good they do, the difference they make, and the lives they have changed. These organizations truly represent the best of .ORG. On behalf of PIR, I'd like to express my deep gratitude to all those who submitted an entry, our finalists, and today's award winners. We appreciate all the work you do."
The award winners were announced as part of an online global event to celebrate and honor "Champions for Change." A recording of the broadcast is available for viewing on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hzsEZuV5KUA
In total, 633 organizations and individuals submitted entries this year from more than 40 countries across eight categories:
The .ORG of the Year will receive a donation of $35,000 USD for an eligible charitable entity of its choice, while the other award winners will receive donations of $10,000 USD.
.ORG of the Year – ADES
Donation Amount: $35,000 USD
The 2021 .ORG of the Year winner is ADES, a mission-driven organization that manufactures energy-efficient stoves in Madagascar and promotes the use of renewable energy. ADES' work protects the climate, biodiversity, and health while facilitating a path out of poverty in Madagascar.
ADES has been promoting energy-efficient cooking in Madagascar since 2001. Now, the organization manufactures and distributes solar and fuel-efficient stoves that do not require the use of significant amounts of wood and charcoal. In honoring the ADES' work, the .ORG of the Year judges were impressed by ADES' holistic approach, which educates future generations, develops sustainable manufacturing, empowers women, leads to reforestation, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions.
ADES is also the winner of the 2021 .ORG Impact Award for Overcoming Climate Change. Watch to learn more: https://youtu.be/xt6oYXwT2Ac
Building Better Communities – Litro de Luz Colombia
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
Litro de Luz Colombia is a decentralized solar energy company that operates in rural areas and post-conflict zones in Colombia and Latin America. More than thirty million people live without electricity in Latin America, including more than two million in Colombia. To address this challenge, Litro de Luz brings public lighting with Wi-Fi Internet to communities in need. Since 2013, Litro de Luz has installed more than 3,100 solar street lights in more than 200 communities, helping more than 270,000 people. Their work helps alleviate digital poverty while improving public safety and providing access to the Internet in marginalized communities. Watch to learn more about Litro de Luz Colombia: https://youtu.be/7fvQPiqISIU
Health and Healing in a Time of Pandemic – Good Sports
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
Good Sports, which is headquartered in Boston, works to give kids in need the benefits of sport and physical activity by providing new equipment, apparel, and footwear to youth organizations in high-need communities. While some families have the ability to afford sports gear, league fees, and travel costs, many do not. As a result, kids are left on the sidelines. Since 2003, Good Sports has given more than eight million kids across the United States and Puerto Rico greater access to sport and fitness opportunities. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Good Sports launched the Restore Play initiative which provided $15 million in equipment and over 27,000 at-home Play Packs (including 541,000 pieces of sports equipment, apparel, and footwear) to children in need. Good Sports creates opportunities to play in each state and is determined to continue to help communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch to learn more about Good Sports: https://youtu.be/6Dc98Q8rkDo
Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – MAIA
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
MAIA educates and prepares indigenous girls in rural Guatemala to become the next generation of empowered female leaders in the country. MAIA focuses on the question: "What would happen if these young women had the opportunity to go as far as their talent could take them?" That's why the organization established The MAIA Impact School in 2017. The school is the first female, indigenous-led secondary school in Central America. MAIA's pillars of academics, community, and culture work together to create a support system for young women and their families to ensure they can break the cycles of exclusion and poverty. Currently, 239 girls are enrolled in grades seven through eleven. The school helps to prepare students to enter university and the modern workforce. Watch to learn more about MAIA: https://youtu.be/6Dc98Q8rkDo
Overcoming Climate Change – ADES
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
In addition to being named the 2021 .ORG of the Year, ADES is also the winner of the Overcoming Climate Change category. Over the last two decades, ADES has saved over two million tons of wood and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by three and a half million tons. Four percent of all households in Madagascar use an ADES cooker, and ADES' reforestation program has planted over 430,000 trees with another 100,000 to be planted by the end of this year. Watch to learn more about ADES: https://youtu.be/T6WrsY5ngBk
Providing Quality Education for All – Skateistan
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
Skateistan, based in Berlin with programs in South Africa, Jordan, and Cambodia, is the first international development organization dedicated to empowering children through education and the power of skateboarding. A 2019 .ORG Impact Award winner, Skateistan provides opportunities to children aged five to seventeen, with a goal of having fifty percent of its students be girls. The organization runs five programs within its Skate Schools: Outreach, Dropping In, Skate and Create, Back to School, and Youth Leadership. These programs combine life skills with fun, freedom, and creativity to help create leaders for a better world. In total, Skateistan reaches 2,700 children in the countries in which it operates, making an enormous difference in their lives and communities. Watch to learn more about Skateistan: https://youtu.be/sdNcHKb1j7c
Fighting Hunger and Poverty – Zoe Empowers
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
Zoe Empowers, which is based in Raleigh, N.C., and works in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Rwanda, Liberia, Tanzania, and India, equips orphaned children and vulnerable youth with tools and training to help them overcome life-threatening poverty. Zoe Empowers started as a relief mission responding to the 2004 HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Then, in 2007, after seeing a positive response to its empowerment model in Rwanda, the organization adopted this approach in all countries in which it works. Since then, Zoe Empowers has helped more than 124,000 vulnerable children overcome extreme poverty to achieve self-sufficiency across eight areas of life: https://youtu.be/ekxDbxHzAdQ
Rising Star – Esther Ejiroghene Ajari, The TriHealthon
Donation Amount: $10,000 USD
Esther Ejiroghene Ajari became involved in community development at age sixteen, working as a serial volunteer with twenty five national and international organizations. Esther, determined that she could do more to help people, founded The TriHealthon in 2018, to lead the effort to achieve health equity in Africa. As part of this work, Esther identified and is addressing five prevalent public health problems affecting young people in Nigeria: period poverty, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, childhood diarrhea, and childhood malnutrition. Through their programs, Esther and The TriHealthon are helping tens of thousands of young people in Nigeria escape the cycle of poverty, improve access to quality education, and live healthier lives. Watch to learn more about Esther and The TriHealthon: https://youtu.be/jyGf6rwJoJE
About the 2021 .ORG Impact Awards
The 2021 .ORG Impact Awards recognize .ORGs that make an enormous difference in their communities and the world. Submissions for the awards were reviewed and scored by a panel of judges who are leaders in the Internet, non-profit, health, education, and marketing sectors. The .ORG of the Year was chosen by PIR from the winners in the other categories. All nominations were required to be tied to an active website with a .ORG domain. Please visit www.orgimpactawards.org for complete rules and information.
About .ORG
.ORG is the original purpose-driven "generic" top-level domain (gTLD) with more than ten million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG is providing a global platform for organizations, associations, clubs, businesses, and individuals to bring their ideas to life. For more than 30 years, .ORG has built an enduring legacy of trust, preserving an open and secure Internet where diverse communities can establish a trusted online identity and freely share ideas. .ORG is powered by the non-profit Public Interest Registry (PIR). PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet for more than fifteen years with a clear mission to be an exemplary domain name registry, provide a trusted digital identity, and help educate those who dedicate themselves to improving our world. PIR was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. Visit www.TheNew.org for more information.
Contact: Scott Gerber, scott@vrge.us
