2022 .ORG Impact Awards Finalists Named

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Sep 20, 2022, 09:00 ET

35 inspirational mission-driven organizations and changemakers selected out of record 947 submissions from 68 countries

RESTON, Va., Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the People behind .ORG, today named the finalists for the 4th annual .ORG Impact Awards. The program honors and celebrates inspiring mission-driven organizations and leaders from around the globe that not only demonstrate a passion for making the world a better place, but also work tirelessly to create a positive impact in their communities.

"The 2022 .ORG Impact Awards finalists represent the best of humanity. They are devoted to addressing the most critical issues facing society today," said Jon Nevett, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry. "We received a record number of submissions from across the world. We are thrilled to have the privilege of recognizing some of today's most inspiring champions for change—those who are working to increase access to healthcare and education, championing diversity, supporting those in poverty, tackling climate change, and much more. The work of these organizations illustrates the power of those who have committed to creating a more healthy, equitable, and sustainable world for all."

This year's finalists represent the top five entries across seven award categories:

Community Building
Quality Education for All
Environmental Stewardship
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Health and Healing
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 on November 15th. Award winners will be eligible for donations up to $45,000 USD out of $105,000 in total prize awards. Each category winner will receive $10,000, and the .ORG of the Year winner—selected by PIR from the seven category award winners—will receive an additional donation of $35,000.

"The credibility that accompanies winning this award has opened doors and allowed us to meet organizations that would otherwise have not engaged with Zoe Empowers," said John Boswell, Chief Operating Officer of Zoe Empowers, a 2021 OIA winner. "In the past year, we have had the honor to present at the Skoll World Forum, have received a grant from the Keep a Child Alive Foundation and are currently engaged in discussion to expand to additional countries. Being a 2021 winner is validation of our work and lends credibility that opens doors."

The 947 organizations and individuals who submitted entries this year 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.

2022 .ORG Impact Award Finalists

Community Building

Gravity Water
Gravitywater.org
Gravity Water turns rain into safe drinking water for schools in need around the world.

Together We Rise
Togetherwerise.org
Together We Rise is an organization of motivated young adults and former foster youth that work to improve the lives of children in foster care, who often find themselves forgotten and neglected by the public.

Nostos Homes
Nostoshomes.org
Nostos Homes is a youth-led non-profit that designs and builds innovative, affordable, and sustainable homes for communities displaced due to natural disasters or violent conflict.

Kageno Worldwide
Kageno.org
Kageno's mission is to transform impoverished communities into places of hope and opportunity. Kageno works with community leaders to develop programs in four key areas of Education, Healthcare, Income Generation, and Conservation.

Goonj
Goonj.org
Goonj envisions to grow as an idea across regions, economies, and countries using urban discard as a tool to alleviate poverty and enhance the dignity of the underprivileged people of the world. Goonj works to address basic but neglected issues of the poor by involving them in evolving their own solutions with dignity and urban material as reward.

Quality Education for All

Hello World
Projecthelloworld.org
Hello World's paradigm-busting solution to the education deficit tackles the twin injustices of lack of educational resources in remote and last-mile communities and the digital divide.

Asia Initiatives
Asiainitiatives.org
Asia Initiatives works to leverage the power of social capital to promote healthcare, education, improved livelihoods, and sustainable development in underserved communities with a particular focus on women and their families.

School the World
Schooltheworld.org
School the World is a community-driven non-profit committed to solving extreme poverty through the power of education.

The Citizens Foundation USA
Tcfusa.org
The Citizens Foundation USA supports the education of underprivileged children in Pakistan.

Asante Africa Foundation
Asanteafrica.org
Asante Africa Foundation is a social impact organization educating children and transforming worlds in east Africa through academic support, life skills training, livelihood skill development, and opportunity creation.

Environmental Stewardship

Human-I-T
Human-i-t.org
Human-I-T creates equitable access to opportunity by providing devices, internet access, digital skills training, and tech support for communities left on the wrong side of the digital divide and empowers businesses and organizations to do good by diverting their unwanted technology away from landfills.

Wallowa Resources
Wallowaresources.org
Thriving rural communities need strong economies, wholehearted commitment to taking care of the land and water, and top-notch learning opportunities. Wallowa's mission is to empower rural communities to create strong economies and healthy landscapes through land stewardship, education, and job creation. They accomplish this by working together with the community, partners, and you.

Missoula Urban Demonstration Project (MUD)
Mudproject.org
Since its creation in 1981, the Missoula Urban Demonstration Project (MUD) has been a community organization focused on creating equitable communities and a sustainable urban environment.

TIP SESSIONS CHARITABLE TRUST
Tipsessions.org
Tip Sessions leverages design, technology, lingual, and regional context to achieve climate and gender justice through a two-pronged approach of climate education and economic empowerment of rural women.

Thaki
Thaki.org
Thaki works to empower refugee and vulnerable children to access education technology solutions, enhance digital literacy, develop future focused skills, and support personal enrichment and resiliency to overcome poverty.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Pro Mujer
Promujer.org
Pro Mujer has been working to advance gender equality in Latin America for over 32 years. It provides underserved women with financial inclusion, skilling opportunities and health services in order for them to reach their full potential, become agents of change, and improve their living conditions.

JustLeadershipUSA
Jlusa.org
JustLeadershipUSA is the only national criminal legal reform organization founded by and led by formerly incarcerated people.

Last Mile Education Fund
Lastmile-ed.org
Last Mile Education Fund invests in striving low-income underrepresented students pursuing high-demand STEM degrees, increasing diversity in technology and innovation, and creating social mobility for the students and their families.

Interaction Institute for Social Change
Interactioninstitute.org
For 30 years, the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) has built collaborative capacity in individuals, organizations, and networks working for social justice and racial equity.

Out Youth
Outyouth.org
Out Youth serves Central Texas LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies with programs and services to ensure these promising young people develop into happy, healthy, successful adults.

Health and Healing

Help Our Wounded Foundation
Howfoundationsf.org
Help Our Wounded improves the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities by advocating for and providing access to life-changing hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Siddhasthali Rural Community Hospital
Siddhasthalihospital.org
Siddhasthali Rural Community Hospital aims to provide sustainable healthcare to the poor and underserved living in rural and remote Nepal.

Limbitless Solutions
Limbitless-solutions.org
Limbitless Solutions Inc. (LSI) is dedicated to empowering individuals by creating access for children—and soon adult first responders and veterans—to personalized, high-functioning, and expressive prosthetics without financial burden.

Wuqu' Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance
Wuqukawoq.org
Since 2007, Wuqu' Kawoq has been transforming healthcare and building health equity in Guatemala. Wuqu' Kawoq's program areas include child nutrition, women's health, maternal-child health, and chronic disease.

Hunger and Poverty

NGO CIDADES SEM FOME/Cities Without Hunger
Cidadessemfome.org
The NGO Cidades Sem Fome (Cities Without Hunger) develops sustainable agricultural projects in urban areas.

Food Rescue Hero
Foodrescuehero.org
Purposefully designed to automate the time consuming and variable coordination of food recovery, Food Rescue Hero enables scalable impact on food waste, food insecurity, and climate change.

Global Volunteers
Globalvolunteers.org
Global Volunteers is working at the invitation and under the direction of local leaders to deliver essential services equitably to community and partner organizations worldwide.

Rising Stars

Precious Samson Wakili - The Girl Child Values Support Initiative
Girlchildvsi.org
Precious Samson Wakili is the founder of The Girl Child Values Support Initiative, an organization that seeks to amplify and elevate the lives of women and girls in rural communities through arts, education, storytelling, sports, advocacy, and health.

Mathias Charles Yabe - AkoFresh
Akofresh.org
Mathias is the co-founder of AkoFresh, a green solution that is offering sustainable crop preservation, farmer training, and market linkage to reduce postharvest losses and ensure improved livelihood of smallholder farmers.

Babatunde Bale - The R.E.T.I.N.A Initiative
Theretinainitiative.org
Babatunde Bale is the co-founder of The R.E.T.I.N.A Initiative where he focuses on helping underserved communities become free from preventable blindness by implementing sustainable eye care innovations, community outreach programmes, and advocacy campaigns.

Ghania Chaudhry - Finding Refuge
Findingrefugegr.org
Ghania is the co-founder and co-executive director of Finding Refuge, an organization aimed at reducing the homelessness experienced by refugees by assisting their transition into self sufficiency.

Azra Ismail - MakerGhat
Makerghat.org
Azra is the co-founder of MakerGhat, which prepares youth in India for the workforce through hands-on education.

.ORG of The Year

The 2022.ORG Impact Award, .ORG of the Year, recognizes a non-profit or nongovernmental organization nominated in one of the other categories using the .ORG domain, and honors outstanding achievement as evidenced by results and/or contributions to its sector, constituents, community or society at large. Winners will be announced this November.

About .ORG

.ORG is the original purpose-driven "generic" top-level domain (gTLD) with over 10.6 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 almost 20 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: [email protected]

SOURCE .ORG, The Public Interest Registry