Citizens Awards Eligibility

For 25 years, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s esteemed Citizens Awards honors companies, chambers of commerce, and trade associations whose investments bring about much-needed progress in all aspects of society.  

The Citizens Awards categories recognize the most innovative and impactful corporate citizenship programs, from civic engagement and economic opportunity to educational outcomes and disaster response.

Who Can Be Nominated

The Citizens Awards signify the power of business to create stronger communities in the U.S. and around the world.

• Businesses of all sizes, chambers, and trade associations are eligible to be nominated for the Citizens Awards.  
• An entity may nominate itself or be nominated by a third party. We welcome nominations that represent a member of the business community operating as a solo entity or operating with partners. Given the public format of finalist information, third-party nominators should ensure the nominated entity is aware of the application and prepared to participate in awards activities.     
• If multiple companies/chambers/trade associations would like to submit a nomination on behalf of their partnership, they may apply as a group so long as there is a primary entity that will be recognized as a potential finalist and is the single point of contact. Multiple businesses cannot be named a finalist for a single category.  
• Non-business partners may nominate their work with a member of the business community, so long as the business is the primary entity that will be recognized as the potential finalist and is the single point of contact. 
• Entities can be nominated for more than one category, and a separate application is required for each category. Additionally, while a nominee can submit the same work in multiple categories (if it is relevant to more than one category), they are eligible to be a finalist in only one of the categories, which will be determined by scoring (the category with the highest score for that program will be the finalist category).    
• Past winners are not eligible to submit an application for two years in the category for which they won. For example, 2022 award winners are not eligible until 2025 for the category in which they won in 2022. Immediate past winners are, however, more than welcome to submit nominations in new categories.  

There is no fee to submit a nomination, and no limit for the number of nominations a business can submit per year across categories. 

Additional Eligibility Requirements: (Please meet all of the criteria before submitting a nomination) 

• Nominee is able to go on record publicly about the work or program being showcased. 
• If chosen as a finalist, nominee is able to submit high-res multimedia assets to support digital and print materials produced by the U.S. Chamber Foundation to recognize finalists.  
• If chosen as a winner, nominee commits to judging in that category for the following year’s “winner round.”  
• Each category’s submission form will provide additional guidance, such as the time periods that are eligible and the information/content that each category is based on. 

Sponsorship Opportunities

Citizens Awards sponsorship offers a highly visible way to showcase your company’s efforts to build stronger communities. Sponsorship recognition is active throughout the year in digital and in-person experiences.   

We welcome sponsorships from companies who did not submit an application as well as those who did. Please contact Rebecca Mousseau if interested. 

(Note: sponsorships will have no bearing on finalist or winner scoring and outcomes)