The Elevate Prize Foundation, together with its founder, Joseph Deitch, named George and Amal Clooney the second-ever recipients of The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award today for their work with the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), which wages justice through accountability for human rights abuses around the world.
The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award recognizes prominent individuals who use their influence to inspire social action and provides $250,000 in unrestricted funding in addition to valuable development resources and partnership opportunities to advance their mission and scale their work. The Elevate Prize Foundation selected Amal and George Clooney for consistently using their influence and platform to shine a light on injustice throughout the world and encourage countless others to do the same, demonstrating that no problem, nor problem-solver, is too small to be ignored.
“The Clooneys embody our belief at The Elevate Prize that by creating greater awareness for the most pressing problems of our time, while also raising visibility for the individuals and organizations working to confront these problems, we can inspire more people to take action and do good in their own communities,” said Joseph Deitch, entrepreneur and founder of The Elevate Prize Foundation. “With this award, we hope to both draw attention to human rights abuses and injustices globally, as well as recognize the extraordinary efforts made by the Clooney Foundation for Justice to combat these issues, especially those made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Since launching in 2016, CFJ has worked to fight for the rights of individuals unfairly targeted by oppressive governments, expose corruption fueling grave human rights violations and seek justice for populations targeted by hate. Previously, the organization also aided displaced children and refugees looking for opportunities to learn and rebuild their lives abroad. Most recently, CFJ announced a new initiative aimed at helping free unjustly imprisoned journalists and advance women’s rights around the world.
“We are honored to receive The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award and extend our appreciation to Joseph Deitch and The Elevate Prize Foundation,” said George Clooney. “One of The Elevate Prize Foundation’s core values is human safety and freedom – a goal we share at The Clooney Foundation for Justice as we work to free the innocent and punish the guilty, waging justice one case at a time.” Amal Clooney added, “The funding we receive from this award will support our TrialWatch program, which monitors criminal trials around the world and defends individuals who are unjustly detained, including journalists, women, LGBTQ persons and minorities.”
The inaugural Elevate Prize Catalyst Award was presented to Trevor Noah in recognition of his work with the Trevor Noah Foundation, which seeks to foster enabled learning and teaching environments in South African schools while empowering teachers to be innovative leaders and problem solvers in their classrooms and communities.
Last November, The Elevate Prize Foundation announced the winners of its second-ever Elevate Prize, which awards $5 million across 10 social entrepreneurs driving innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
“Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Elevate Prize. George and I are so inspired by these young leaders working on some of the most pressing issues of our time,” said Amal Clooney. “We celebrate the young people we see out there challenging injustices in their communities – these people, along with the winners of The Elevate Prize, represent a new generation that won’t accept the status quo,” added George Clooney.
Founded by Joseph Deitch in 2019, The Elevate Prize Foundation aims to serve as an engine for social good by helping changemakers raise their visibility and ability to inspire others, ultimately multiplying their impact and underscoring the power of ‘making good famous.’
