2021 .ORG Impact Awards Finalists Named

RESTON, Va., Sept. 14, 2021 /CNW/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the People behind .ORG, today named the finalists for the 3^rd annual .ORG Impact Awards, which honor and celebrate mission-driven organizations and individuals working every day to make the world and their communities a better place. 

"The 2021 .ORG Impact Awards finalists are a remarkable group of mission-driven organizations and individuals from around the world, devoted to meeting society's most pressing needs," said Jon Nevett, President and CEO of the Public Interest Registry.  "This year we saw a record number of submissions from more countries than ever before.  We're so pleased to be able to recognize those who have promoted health and healing through this pandemic, fought hunger and poverty, provided education, championed diversity, equity and inclusion, built better communities, and helped overcome climate change.  Their work truly shows that mission-driven organizations are improving our communities and making the world a better place."

Today's announcement features the top five entries across seven award categories:

• Building Better Communities
• Health and Healing in a Time of Pandemic
• Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Overcoming Climate Change
• Providing Quality Education for All
• Fighting Hunger and Poverty
• Rising Stars — leaders, under 25, making a difference in their communities

Winners in these award categories, including the prestigious .ORG of the Year, will be announced as part of the .ORG Impact Awards celebration, an online event that will be streamed on November 9, 2021. The award ceremony will celebrate and honor the work that nominees, finalists, and winners have done in their communities over the course of the last year. 

Award winners in the seven categories will receive a donation of $10,000 USD for an eligible charitable entity of their choice.  The .ORG of the Year (chosen by PIR from the seven category award winners) will receive an additional donation of $35,000 USD for an eligible charitable entity of their choice.

In total, 633 organizations and individuals submitted entries this year from more than 40 countries. Submissions were reviewed and scored by a panel of judges who are leaders in the Internet, non-profit, health, education, and marketing sectors. All nominations must be tied to an active website with a .ORG domain. 

Please visit www.orgimpactawards.org for complete rules and information.

2021 .ORG Impact Awards Finalists

Building Better Communities

Do Bold
dobold.org
Advancing human rights, human dignity, and decent work for all migrant workers, Do Bold works to stop modern slavery, protect domestic workers, and prevent human trafficking.

Global Volunteers
globalvolunteers.org
Since 1984, Global Volunteers has encouraged and enabled volunteers to work with communities throughout the world, helping families and their children reach their full potential.

Good360
good360.org
Good360 is partnering with socially responsible companies to source highly needed donated goods and distribute them through a network of vetted and diverse non-profits.  In 2020, Good360 distributed more than $870 million dollars of goods.

Litro de Luz Colombia
litrodeluz.org
A decentralized solar energy company that operates in rural areas and conflict or post-conflict zones in Colombia and across Latin America, Litro de Luz Colombia brings public lighting with Wi-Fi Internet to those in need.

Safe Water Network
safewaternetwork.org
Co-founded in 2006 by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, Safe Water Network addresses the gap in water services delivery, which compromises the health and livelihoods of 2.1 billion people globally.

Health and Healing in a Time of Pandemic

Angel Flight West
angelflightwest.org
Angel Flight West arranges free, non-emergency air travel for children and adults with serious medical conditions and other compelling needs.

Fondazione per l'Infanzia Ronald McDonald
fondazioneronald.org
Operating within the international organization Ronald McDonald House Charities®, Fondazione Ronald McDonald works to help sick and disabled children in Italy have a better future.

Good Sports
goodsports.org 
Since 2003, Good Sports has given more than 8 million kids in need across the U.S. and Puerto Rico the benefits of sport and physical activity by providing them with equipment, apparel, and footwear.

Hispañola Health Partners   
hispanolahealthpartners.org
This clinic, founded in 2013, provides full primary healthcare around the clock for more than 10,000 of the poorest citizens in isolated southeast Haiti.

Sense International Kenya
senseintkenya.org
An online hub for resources and training materials, Sense International Kenya provides important and life-altering information to those who work with children suffering from deafblindness and complex disabilities.

Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Ability Sports Africa 
abilitysportsafrica.org
Based in Uganda and in operation since 2017, Ability Sports Africa is a community-based organization that uses sports and creative arts as a platform for social inclusion and advocacy for disabled children.

The Bail Project
bailproject.org
The Bail Project works to combat mass incarceration and create a more just, equitable, and humane legal system by providing free bail assistance and pretrial support to thousands of low-income people in the U.S. every year.

Code for America
clearmyrecord.org
Code for America's Clear My Record team works with state governments and communities in the U.S. to fundamentally transform the process of record clearance, working to ensure that all eligible criminal records are cleared automatically and without burden.

Indochina Starfish Foundation Cambodia (ISF)     
isfcambodia.org
ISF Cambodia uses the power of education and sport to provide Cambodian children the tools they need to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.

MAIA  
maiaimpact.org
Through a holistic model that combines academics, culture, socio-emotional learning, and personal development, MAIA creates and educates Guatemalan girls to be the next generation of empowered female leaders who will lead transformational change.

Overcoming Climate Change

ADES
ades-solaire.org
ADES manufactures energy-efficient cooking appliances in Madagascar and promotes the use of renewable energy, helping to protect the climate, biodiversity, and health while facilitating a path out of poverty.

Canopy
canopyplanet.org
Best known for greening the Harry Potter book series globally, Canopy secures large-scale forest conservation and transforms unsustainable forest product supply chains by engaging business executives as champions for conservation and sustainability.

Climate Action 100+
climateaction100.org
Climate Action 100+ is an investor-led initiative to ensure the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.

Saahas
saahas.org
Saahas builds communities across rural and urban India that manage their waste at the source by reducing, reusing, and recycling their waste and achieving 90% resource recovery.

Seacology
seacology.org
Seacology protects threatened island ecosystems all over the world by working directly with communities, helping them to preserve their cultures and improve their lives while saving precious island habitats.

Providing Quality Education for All

17000 ft Foundation
17000ft.org
Named for the highest point their team has crossed on foot to reach their most remote beneficiary, the 17000 ft Foundation works to improve the lives of the people in high altitude mountainous villages of Ladakh in the Himalayas.

LEAD  
leadedu.org
LEAD incubates ethical and effective leaders to yield systemic change globally through an accredited academic institution that combines high-quality education with elite sports training for boys and girls ages 8-18.

Sense International India
senseintindia.org
Sense International India is India's first and only national-level organization supporting specialized educational and rehabilitation services which support children and adults with deafblindness and multiple disabilities.

Skateistan
skateistan.org
Skateistan is the first international development organization to empower children through education and skateboarding, and the first organization to introduce skateboarding to the children of Afghanistan.

Thaki
thaki.org
Believing that education—along with digital literacy—is a human right, Thaki empowers refugee and vulnerable children to learn and thrive through self-paced, motivational electronic educational tools.

Fighting Hunger and Poverty

Bountifield International
bountifield.org
Bountifield International creates opportunities across Africa for rural entrepreneurs with tools and services to efficiently process, save, and sell more food. 

No Food Waste
nofoodwaste.org
Working across 12+ cities largely in the Southern part of India, No Food Waste redistributes excess food from weddings, parties, and events to those who are hungry.  To date, the organization has supported more than 15 million people.

Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA)    
sesta.org
SeSTA works with the most underprivileged groups in rural Northeast India to alleviate mass poverty in these remote villages.

Venice Family Clinic
venicefamilyclinic.org
Venice Family Clinic provides high-quality comprehensive health care to families and individuals who might otherwise go without the care they need.

Zoe Empowers
zoeempowers.org
Working in countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Rwanda, Liberia, Tanzania, and India, Zoe Empowers has helped more than 100,000 vulnerable children overcome extreme poverty.

Rising Stars

Kayla Abramowitz - Founder and Chief Kid Officer of Kayla Cares 4 Kids - Palm Beach, Fla.
kaylacares4kids.org
Kayla began Kayla Cares 4 Kids by collecting entertainment and educational items to donate to children's hospitals to help young people facing chronic illness feel better. With tens of thousands of items collected and donated to date, Kayla is working as hard as ever to "Help Sick Kids Feel Better One Smile At A Time!"

Esther Ejiroghene Ajari - Founder and Director, The TriHealthon - Nigeria
the-trihealthon.org
At 16, Esther got involved in community development and became a serial volunteer, having worked with 25 national and international organizations.  Esther soon discovered that she could do more to help people and founded The TriHealthon, where she works to achieve health equity in Africa sustainably.

Diana Chao - Founder, Letters to Strangers - Upland, Calif.
letterstostrangers.org
As a high school sophomore, Diana founded Letters to Strangers, an organization seeking to destigmatize mental illness and increase access to affordable, quality treatment for youth aged 13 to 24. Letters to Strangers is now a global youth-for-youth mental health non-profit impacting over 35,000 people on six continents.

Matine Khalighi - Founder & Executive Director of EEqual - Denver, Colo.
eequal.org
Matine, 19, is the Founder & Executive Director of the for-youth by-youth non-profit organization EEqual, which works to overcome homelessness through education. During his years in the social impact sector, Matine's work has impacted over 10,000 individuals and has helped recruit hundreds of teenagers across the United States to be involved in his organization.

Shreya Mantha - Founder, Foundation for Girls - Charlotte, N.C.
foundationforgirls.org
Nine years ago, Shreya and her sister Sahana were volunteering at a local non-profit as tutors for human trafficking survivors trying to obtain their GEDs. Through this work, they were inspired to establish the Foundation for Girls (FFG), which focuses on economically empowering women and includes programs for young mothers, domestic violence victims, foster care recipients, and women who are experiencing homelessness.

.ORG of The Year
The 2021 .ORG Impact Award, .ORG of the Year, recognizes a not-for-profit or nongovernmental organization using the .ORG domain nominated in one of the other categories and honors outstanding achievement as evidenced by results and/or contributions to its sector, constituents, community or society at large. 

About .ORG 
.ORG is the original purpose-driven "generic" top-level domain (gTLD) with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG is open to everyone, 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 15 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.

Media contact: Scott Gerber, [email protected]

SOURCE Public Interest Registry