Applying For The McNulty Prize - 4 Things You Should Know

Every year the John P. McNulty Prize recognizes breakthrough leaders for their moral courage, bold vision, and deep, lasting impact. Created in 2008 by Anne Welsh McNulty in honor of her late husband, the Prize is awarded in partnership with the Aspen Institute and has recognized over 50 leaders working in over 25 countries.

Each year three winners receive $150,000 in unrestricted funding to their organizations and the equivalent of $150,000-200,000 in non-monetary support to amplify their efforts through storytelling, platform, networking and capacity-building opportunities. They are selected by an international jury that includes international statesman Olara Otunnu, international development expert Brizio Biondi-Morra, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker and Echoing Green President Cheryl Dorsey.

Are you planning to submit your interest in the Prize? Here are 4 things you should know:

1. The Prize doesn’t recognize just one model of change-making

The McNulty Prize seeks to hold up a diverse range of organizations and leaders that solve problems in unique and different ways that our world can learn from. We have visionary founders of nonprofits, social enterprises, universities, for-profit businesses, and hybrid organizations. We recognize people who work to reshape systems to work better for vulnerable people. We recognize movement-builders and those engaged in advocacy. We recognize educators. We recognize intrapreneurs. We recognize artists.

Example: Kelsey Wirth co-founded the movement-building organization Mothers Out Front and won the McNulty Prize in 2019. A decentralized network of local citizen groups (mostly, as the name implies, mothers concerned about their children’s future on Earth), each Mothers Out Front chapter fights climate change on the level of local politics —- preventing dirty infrastructure and advocating for clean energy, forcing local polluters to clean up, and more. Each group leads themselves, giving voice and agency to diverse communities around America.

Example: Dr. Cody Friesen, an MIT-trained materials scientist founded and leads SOURCE Global, a for-profit public benefit corporation that brings access to clean drinking water to remote and vulnerable communities across the globe. Using their pioneering hydropanel technology that converts sunlight into renewable water, SOURCE has brought clean drinking water to over 450 projects in 50 countries, with impact that goes beyond water—women and girls to go to school or work instead of traveling to fetch water, local community members are employed to install and maintain the panels, plastic and cost savings are generated from an alternative to bottled water, and health improves with a reliable, safe, source of water.

The Prize doesn’t recognize entities that prioritize seeking profit and shareholder value above all else, but many social businesses, hybrid models, or other initiatives are eligible. The key question to ask yourself is: Can the organization unequivocally demonstrate that social impact is the priority — through its data, evidence and storytelling, and through its governance structures — and will the funding go to a needed source?

2. It doesn’t need to be the venture you developed during your Fellowship

The Fellowship cultivates values-based leaders who are activated to use their expertise and influence to move the needle on critical problems. Even though you may have had a specific venture or project during or immediately following your seminar experience, you may also submit organizations where you have played a decisive leadership role in its trajectory, are committed to it with a tangible role for the long-term, and where you can point to the influences on your leadership, including your Fellowship experience, that have shaped this work.

Example: Mirei Endara de Heras was a Fellow in the first class of the Central America Leadership Initiative (CALI). Since her two-year seminar experience, Mirei has led a life of service, including being the first director of CALI and serving as Minister of the Environment in Panama. These are just some of the experiences that led Mirei to found Marea Verde in 2017, a nonprofit that is working with communities to restore environments and eliminate plastic pollution from rivers. Mirei continues to speak about the Fellowship’s influence in shaping her approach; specifically, the continuous call to action and spirit of stepping up that she absorbed from staying engaged with the Fellowship community and how it taught her the importance of listening to communities and winning buy-in from the ground up, leveraging her experience at major conservation organizations and government into directly serving communities.

3. You do not have to be the sole Founder who built the venture from scratch

The McNulty Prize exists in part to inspire and encourage AGLN and other Aspen Institute Fellows to step up in their commitment to solve urgent global issues. But that doesn’t mean that Fellows need to build an organization from scratch to be a good fit for the Prize. While it’s true that the majority of McNulty Prize Laureates are founders or co-founders of their organizations, what’s most important is that your leadership has changed the organization in a fundamental way, and that can take many forms. Prize-eligible leaders are capable of revitalizing organizations, leading ventures through pivotal transformations in how they do their work, or simply leading the organization through a phase change of scale or effectiveness. Transformation can involve injecting fresh ideas, vision, and personal leadership, and what we look for is a resulting change in impact. What matters is that you can show your leadership and advocacy shaping the direction of your organization in a manner that puts your values into practice.

Example: Gloria Walton is a transformational President and CEO of The Solutions Project, but she was not their founder. However, her tenure has seen a pivot in the scope of their mission and fundraising, turning a high-level mission around renewable energy into one focused on the intersection of climate and racial justice, with a renewed vision of creating a movement of grassroots environmental organizations in frontline communities who are powered by the engine of TSP’s national funder networks and capacity building. This new mission is bridging one of the most powerful resource gaps in philanthropy, transforming communities’ health and economies, and advancing climate justice.

4. The Prize is not just a monetary award

Currently, the McNulty Prize is awarded to three annual Winners, whose organizations each receive $150,000 over two years in unrestricted funding. What’s less known, however, is that the McNulty Foundation invests the equivalent or more ($150,000 to $200,000) in additional assets and opportunities for Winners. We invest in creating high-production value mini-documentaries and other storytelling assets to amplify their work, showcased at major platforms and convenings, and promoted widely to new audiences. We bring Laureates together to be in community at the Action Forum and other gatherings with specialized seminars and scholarships. We sponsor key visibility and networking opportunities at places like the Skoll World Forum, SOCAP, Aspen Ideas, and other forums. Following a “choose your own adventure” model according to each Laureate’s needs and goals, we offer connections to partners, funders, and capacity-building opportunities like communications coaching and media development. While we engage most intensively in the first year, we aim for a lifelong engagement, continually seeking to match our Winners with appropriate platforms and connections.

Example: In 2023, psychiatrist Dr. Dixon Chibanda from Zimbabwe won the McNulty Prize for Friendship Bench, an organization that trains elders in basic mental healthcare and hires them as community health workers so that anyone in the community can come to them for talk therapy. After winning the Prize, Dr. Chibanda was featured at the Skoll World Forum, the UN General Assembly, Clinton Global Initiative, and Aspen Ideas: Health. In addition, the video created for Friendship Bench found significant traction online in Zimbabwe and around the world, increasing support from the Health Ministry and opening doors for expansion to other cities, including the US.