Nominating a Leader
The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards recognize individuals advancing breakthrough solutions to critical issues facing California. Each Award recipient’s organization receives $250,000 and help sharing their solutions with policymakers and other leaders in their communities.
To find these leaders, we rely on people like you.
Nominations Tips
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. Changes within the organization like budget or staff levels are not by themselves examples of effectiveness.
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.
Other Questions
If you have additional questions, please be sure to read through the Leadership Awards FAQ before completing your nomination. You may also review the nominations questions here.
Selection Timeline
Timeline for the 2023 Leadership Awards
February 7, 2022
Nomination period opens for the 2023 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards.
April 29, 2022 at 11:59 pm PDT
The nominations period closes.
Late July 2022
The Selection Committee meets to discuss nominations and selects 10-12 finalists. Finalists are notified.
August – October 2022
Leadership Awards staff, consultants, and an expert in each finalist’s field of work meet with finalists individually to further understand their work and its impact on California. All nominators are notified about the status of their nomination.
Late October 2022
The Selection Committee meets to review reports of the site visits and to select four to six award recipients. Recipients and other finalists are notified.
February 2023
Award recipients are announced.
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