NOMINATION CRITERIA AND PRIORITIES

For the 2016 Prize

Criteria
All nominees must meet the following criteria:
The individual has attained a recent, specific environmental achievement (within the last two
years)
The individual has attained that achievement through grassroots activism
Priorities
Nominations of individuals; on rare occasions, we will consider duos
Nominees whose achievement has inspired others
Nominees who work directly in the field creating positive environmental change through
community participation
Nominees whose leadership has resulted in a significant impact beyond his/her community
Nominees who have conducted their work at great personal risk
Considerations
We also take the following considerations into account:
Nominees who are part of the community where they do their work
Nominees who are well respected by their communities and colleagues
Nominees who initiate collaboration with networks, organizations or governments
Nominees whose work addresses an emerging issue
Nominees whose cause would be significantly furthered by receiving the Prize
Nominees whose campaign is at a critical juncture
Nominees who can communicate their story and the scope of their work

Restrictions
The prize is not given:
For lifetime achievement in which an environmental leader is nominated based on a primary
accomplishment from many years ago or for many issues over time
To executives of large NGOs as part of their paid job responsibilities
To government or corporate officials unless they are nominated for work done outside the scope
of their formal responsibilities
For academic achievements
Posthumously
To organizations, communities, collectives or groups
For nominations of more than two people

TERMS FOR NOMINATORS

Confidentiality
Confidentiality is critical to the integrity of our process. Do not advise nominees that they are being
nominated for the Goldman Prize. Do not reveal the identity of your nominees to others. Exceptions
can be made for references listed on the nomination and your closest colleagues who assist in the
preparation of the nomination. Ensure that references and colleagues respect this confidentiality.
Honorarium
We provide $1000 per accepted nomination, up to four nominations per nominator per year.
We provide an additional $1000 for each active nomination that advances to semifinalist.
We provide an additional $1000 for each semifinalist that advances to finalist status.
Honorarium is provided only for complete nominations.
For individual nominators, payment will be made directly to you as we cannot make payment to
an organization on your behalf.
Definition of Acceptable Nomination
Nominees must not be currently active. Nominations are active for three years so it is the
responsibility of the nominator to check with the Goldman Prize office to ensure that each
nominee they are considering is not currently active.
Nominees can be re-nominated after three years by the same nominator only if there is
substantial new information that strengthens their candidacy. The Goldman staff will
determine whether our criteria have been met and whether honorarium will be paid.
Nominations should be submitted in English. Please do not use online translation tools, like
Google Translate, as they do not provide quality translations. However, if a nominator believes
that their ability to present the information in English would jeopardize the strength of a
nomination, please contact us as we may be able to accept a nomination in a language other than
English.
We do not accept and will not provide honoraria for incomplete nominations. If a nominator
has difficulty obtaining complete information for an otherwise strong nominee, please contact us.
Nominations must be received by the nomination deadline.
Updates
Updates on active nominees are strongly encouraged and should be submitted by the original
nominator by the nomination deadline. Updates could help candidates advance in the selection
process. Updates do not receive honorarium.
Collaboration
We do not accept nominations jointly submitted by multiple nominators. We understand that
many nominators may be familiar with the same candidates. In those cases, we welcome
separately submitted nominations. Be sure that your written nomination is original.
As the nominator, if you did not research and/or write the nomination, you must be familiar with
the candidate and ensure that all nomination criteria are met and the nomination form is
complete before submitting the nomination.