The Gleitsman Program for Leadership in Social Change encourages individual commitment and leadership by recognizing the exceptional achievement of innovators who have sparked positive social change. We seek those individuals whose vision and courage inspire others to join with them in confronting and challenging injustice.
In that spirit, the Center for Public Leadership awards the Gleitsman Activist Award annually, alternating between the Citizen Activist Award and the International Activist Award, to honor exceptional leaders and innovators who have sparked positive social change and inspired others to do the same. Recipients of a Gleitsman Activist Award receive a $150,000 prize, a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Maya Lin, the creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC and the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL, and are honored at a ceremony at Harvard University.
Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award
The Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award, given biennially, honors leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life in the United States.
Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award winners include:
2019: Tarana Burke, Founder, 'me too.' movement
2017: John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative, 5th District of Georgia
2006: Gloria Steinem, Women’s Movement Activist
2000: Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director and Founder, Equal Justice Initiative
1998: Al Gore, Campaign Against Tobacco activist
1994: Ralph Nader, American consumer protection advocate; Wendy Kopp, Founder, Teach For America
2023: Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Executive Director, Caring Across Generations
2019: Tarana Burke, Founder, 'me too.' movement
2017: John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative, 5th District of Georgia
2014: Eric Greitens, Founder, The Mission Continues
2012: Rebecca Onie, Founder, Health Leads
2010: Susan Burton, Founder, A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL)
2008: Bill Shore, Co-founder and CEO, Share Our Strength
2006: Gloria Steinem, Women’s Movement Activist; Ron Grzywinski & Mary Houghton, Co-Founders of ShoreBank Corporation of Chicago; Julie Stewart, Founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).
2004: Chris Barbic, Yvonne Chan, Mike Feinberg & Dave Levin, Bertha Lewis, Michelle Rhee, Mark Rosenbaum, J.B. Schramm, Agnes Stevens, Margot Stern Strom, Kevin Sved, and Jonathan Williams, U.S. education activists
2002: Mike Farrell, Chairman, California Committee of Human Rights Watch; Mimi Silbert, Co-founder, President, and Chairman, The Delancy Street Foundation
2000: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, A pioneer for end-of-life rights; Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director and Founder, Equal Justice Initiative
1998: Al Gore, Alan Blum, Stanton Glantz, Christine Gregoire, C. Everett Koop, Janet Carol Mangini, Henry Waxman, Jeffrey Wigand, Merrill Williams, and Patricia Young, Campaign Against Tobacco activists
1996: Geraldine Jensen, Founder, Association for Children for Enforcement of Support; Tanya Tull, Founder, President, and CEO, Beyond Shelter
1994: Ralph Nader, American consumer protection advocate; Wendy Kopp, Founder, Teach For America
Gleitsman International Activist Award
The Gleitsman International Activist Award, given biennially, honors leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life around the world.
Gleitsman International Activist Award winners include:
2022: Syeda Ghulam Fatima Gilani, Secretary General, Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan; Ashif Shaikh, Co-Founder, Jan Sahas
2020: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
2018: Malala Yousafzai, Co-founder, Malala Fund
2013: Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
1993: Nelson Mandela, President, African National Congress; Wei Jingsheng, Advocate of democracy in China
2022: Syeda Ghulam Fatima Gilani, Secretary General, Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan; Ashif Shaikh, Co-Founder, Jan Sahas
2020: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
2018: Malala Yousafzai, Co-founder, Malala Fund
2015: Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman, Founders, Elman Peace and Human Rights Center
2013: Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
2011: Teresa Ulloa Ziáurriz, Regional Director, Coalition Against Trafficking Women
2009: Karen Tse, Founder, International Bridges to Justice
2007: Sakena Yacoobi, Executive Director, the Afghan Institute of Learning
2005: Han Dongfang, International Advocate of the worker's movement in China; Patrick Alley, Charmain Gooch, and Simon Taylor, Founders, Global Witness
2003: Fazle Abed, Jaya Arunachalam, Roman Imboden, and Roy Prosterman, Leaders in the Struggle Against Poverty
2001: Bernie Krisher, Creator of schools in Cambodia; Martin Macwan, Advocate of Dalits ("Untouchables") Rights
1999: Advocates for reconciliation in the Middle east, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Yossi Beilin, Bassem Eid, Yitzhak Frankenthal, Galia Golan, Faisel Husseini, Terje Rod Larsen and Mona Juul, Ahmed Qurie (Abu Ala), Uri Savir and Stanley Sheinbaum, posthumous awards in memory of Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, and King Hussein
1997: Maria Adela Antokoletz, Argentinean founder of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo; Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank
1995: Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor independence advocate; Beate & Serge Kiarsfeld, Prominent Nazi hunters
1993: Nelson Mandela, President, African National Congress; Wei Jingsheng, Advocate of democracy in China
CPL launched the Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change in 2007 with a $20 million endowed gift from the estate of Alan L. Gleitsman. It was Mr. Gleitsman's hope that if the world knew of the accomplishments of social activists, others would be inspired by their stories and would fight to correct some of the other problems facing the world, thereby improving the quality of life for all of us. This gift provides support for the Gleitsman Activist Awards and the Gleitsman Leadership Fellows Program.