Because it’s about time that people working to overcome political differences got to walk a red carpet.
The Civvys Awards were livestreamed on April 19, 2021, hosted by F. Willis Johnson, Vice President of Partnerships and Programming at Bridge Alliance and joined by several esteemed members of the Civvys Review Committee. Stream the ceremony below to see six winners announced, and join us in congratulating this year’s winners, finalists and all nominees!
Meet the Winners
NATIONAL WINNER – CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT
The Civic Responsibility Project brings the broader business community together in collaboration to support voter participation and civic engagement. Research shows that supporting democracy is good for business - and the Civic Responsibility Project helps brands create and implement civic responsibility programs that get their employees and consumers actively engaged in our democracy. Through their work, thousands of companies actively supported voting in the 2020 election, and other industries can take lessons from this coalition, service-based model.
LOCAL WINNER — SA2020
Throughout the year 2020, nearly 12,300 people in San Antonio reaffirmed and strengthened a shared vision originally created by nearly 6,000 people in 2010. Both processes were led by SA2020, the nonprofit organization responsible for driving progress toward San Antonio’s Community Vision through research, storytelling, and practice. This work includes measuring progress on more than 60 community indicators, telling stories that broaden perspectives and reshape narratives about San Antonio, and holding institutions accountable to leading change. SA2020’s work is a model for broad based community visioning and impact.
YOUTH WINNER – GREEN OUR PLANET
From its hub in Las Vegas, Green Our Planet has projects all over the U.S. and is making immediate impact as the largest "school garden" program. In a creative approach, they bring together STEM learning, hydroponics, school yards, and the business world of farmers' markets, to help young people connect with the Earth, their own skills and knowledge, and civic responsibility in communities. Across 10 states, 3500 teachers, thousands of students - Green Our Planet demonstrates impact, teaching self-reliance and hard work, entrepreneurship and climate science, and healthy living and eating. It's a holistic, engaging, real approach to getting young kids involved in community and civic life.
COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD – PANDEMIC VOTING PROJECT
Missouri's impressive voter turnout in 2020 had the Pandemic Voting Project to thank, organized by the NAACP Missouri State Conference and Show Me Integrity. This truly cross-partisan initiative brought together Republicans and Democrats, the public and private sector, as well as an initiative called DoctorsForDemocracy, that collaborated to help more people in Missouri vote safely. Together, they gave people more ways to vote absentee, supported election authorities, registered and educated voters, and launched new technology at MoVote.org that registered 16,000 voters with a 92% voting rate.
COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD — MARIA YUAN AND ISSUE VOTER
Issue Voter connects constituents to members of congress and uses technology to make peoples’ voices heard. Given the urgent need for an easy, clear understanding of issues, Issue Voter breaks down complicated policy and ballot measures and helps citizens to be more informed. Maria Yuan was also nominated for her work in streamlining data collection to better track and combat anti-Asian hate crimes. Her work in gathering, organizing and disseminating key data - on ballot issues and hate crimes alike - provides a replicable, scalable model that other civic collaborators might learn from.
COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD — DOSOMETHING.ORG
The pandemic, the election, and protests for racial justice all changed the way we live in 2020, but young people were especially affected, as school and major milestones were disrupted. DoSomething.org’s Our 2020 Vision campaign mobilized in response to give young people more of a say - with their vote. The "Our 2020 Vision" campaign registered 250,000 voters all online, and 37% of those were rural voters. DoSomething.org’s work focused on gathering broad stakeholders, serving immediate needs and making an impact.
About the Civvys
In the fall of 2017, we partnered with the prestigious Bridge Alliance to create the “Oscars of Civic Collaboration.” The American Civic Collaboration Awards, or the Civvys, are designed to celebrate heroic Americans dedicated to moving this nation beyond polarization, divisiveness and finger pointing.
Since then, we've celebrated three years of inspiring nominees and winners, culminating in an awards ceremony at the National Conference on Citizenship in October in Washington, DC. Now, despite the challenges that 2020 brought, we celebrated our fourth year virtually.
Learn more at civvys.org.