# Jefferson Awards for Public Service

The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both local and national levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition. Local winners come from national networks of "Media Partners" and "Corporate Champions", from the associated "Students In Action", Lead360, and the GlobeChangers programs. The Jefferson Awards Foundation is led by its CEO, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, its president, Sam Beard, and its chairman, Jack Russi, in conjunction with the Foundation's board of governors.

## National awards

The awards are presented each year during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where a broad array of honorees are recognized. Also recognized are organizations – companies that represent the pinnacle in corporate citizenship and academic institutions that best reflect the Jeffersonian ideals of citizen involvement.

## History

In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft Jr., and Samuel Beard founded the Jefferson Awards for Public Service to establish a prize for public and community service. The Jefferson Awards are led by the Board of Selectors who choose the national winners and oversee the activities of the organization. Co-founder, Sam Beard, is currently the President & CEO.

### Jefferson Awards Foundation

The Jefferson Awards Foundation is a non-profit organization that "recognizes, inspires and activates volunteerism and public service in communities, workplaces and schools across America."

## List of all past national winners

| Year | U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Outstanding Public Service By An Elected or Appointed Official | S. Roger Horchow Award for Outstanding Public Service by A Private Citizen | Outstanding Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged | Samuel S. Beard Award for Outstanding Public Service by An Individual 35 Years or Under | Outstanding Public Service in Professional Sports | Lifetime Achievement in Public Service | Outstanding National or Global Service by a Young American 25 Years or Under | Outstanding Public Service by a Corporation |
| 1973 | Henry Kissinger | John W. Gardner | Cesar Chavez | Joseph A. Yablonski | | | | |
| 1974 | Elliot Richardson | Ralph Nader | Thomas Szasz | Maynard Jackson | | | | |
| 1975 | Peter W. Rodino Jr. | Katharine Graham | Rev. Leon Sullivan | Emmett Tyrrell | | | | |
| 1976 | Arthur F. Burns, Alan Greenspan, William E. Simon | John D. Rockefeller, III | Rev. Theodore Hesburgh | Vilma S. Martinez | | | | |
| 1977 | Michael Mansfield | Art Buchwald | Howard Rusk | Max Cleland | | | | |
| 1978 | Hubert H. Humphrey | Paul Mellon | Jerry Lewis | Bernard Powell | | | | |
| 1979 | Kenneth Gibson, William Donald Schaefer, Coleman A. Young | Howard Jarvis | Jesse Jackson | Denis Hayes | | | | |
| 1980 | Cyrus R. Vance | Norman Borlaug | Allard Lowenstein | US Olympic Hockey Team | | | | |
| 1981 | Warren Christopher | Walter Cronkite | Marva Collins | David Stockman | | | | |
| 1982 | Howard H. Baker | Bob Hope | Claude Pepper | Henry Cisneros | | | | |
| 1983 | Paul A. Volcker | Kirk Douglas | Helen Hayes | Jan Scruggs | | | | |
| 1984 | William H. Webster | J. Peter Grace | Maude E. Callen | Sally Ride | | | | |
| 1985 | James A. Baker, III | Lee Iacocca | Betty Ford | Trevor Ferrell Mary Beth Tober | | | | |
| 1986 | George P. Shultz | H. Ross Perot | Eugene Lang | Robert Hayes | | | | |
| 1987 | Justice William J. Brennan | Irving Brown | Ginetta Sagan | Steven Jobs | | | | |
| 1988 | C. Everett Koop | James W. Rouse | Fr. Bruce Ritter | Marlee Matlin | | | | |
| 1989 | Paul Nitze | Leo Cherne | Kimi Gray | Marc Buoniconti | | | | |
| 1990 | General Colin Powell | Jimmy Carter | Jaime Escalante | Anne Donahue | | | | |
| 1991 | Dick Cheney | Robert C. Macauley | Marian Wright Edelman | Wendy Kopp | | | | |
| 1992 | Justice Thurgood Marshall | Faye Wattleton | Eunice Shriver | Michael Brown and Alan Khazei | | | | |
| 1993 | Carla Hills | James Burke | Arthur Ashe | Mary Taylor | | | | |
| 1994 | George Mitchell, Bob Michel | Jim and Sarah Brady | Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward | Wayne Meisel | | | | |
| 1995 | Justice Harry Blackmun | Walter H. Annenberg | Barbara Bush | Stacey Bess | | | | |
| 1996 | Sam Nunn | Brian Lamb | Rosalynn Carter | Andrea Jaeger | | | | |
| 1997 | Robert Dole | Nancy Brinker | Oseola McCarty | Michael Danziger | | | | |
| 1998 | Robert Rubin | Oprah Winfrey | Thaddeus S. Lott Sr. | Bobby Jindal | | | | |
| 1999 | Daniel Patrick Moynihan | Elizabeth Dole | Millard Fuller | Anthony Shriver | | | | |
| 2000 | John Glenn | Elayne Bennett | Benjamin Carson, M.D. | Faith Hill | | | | |
| 2001 | Madeleine Albright | Ted Benna | Dorothy Height | Lance Armstrong | | | | |
| 2002 | Rudolph Giuliani | Lilly Tartikoff | Bill and Melinda Gates | Chad Pregracke | | Ray Chambers | | |
| 2003 | Condoleezza Rice | Anne Douglas | Mathilde Krim | Matthew Meyer | | | | |
| 2004 | Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Ken Burns | Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth | Kristen Lodal and Brian Kreiter | | | | |
| 2005 | Lee H. Hamilton, Thomas Kean | Vartan Gregorian | Dave Pelzer | Benjamin Shuldiner | | | | |
| 2006 | John Lewis | Michael Feinberg and David Levin | I. King Jordan | Peyton Manning | | | | |
| 2007 | Richard Daley | Jeffrey Sachs | Geoffrey Canada | Lindsay Hyde | | | | |
| 2008 | Joe Lieberman | Edward Jagen | Darell Hammond | Ocean Robbins | | | | |
| 2009 | Edward Kennedy | Greg Mortenson, Pamela Hawley | William (Bill) E. Milliken | Jennifer Staple | | | | |
| 2010 | Michael R. Bloomberg, Cory A. Booker | Paul Farmer, M.D. | Jim Gibbons | Tad Skylar Agoglia | Nnamdi Asomugha, Tyrus Thomas, Curtis Granderson, Stuart Holden, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Justin Tuck, Lauryn Williams, Venus Williams, Ryan Zimmerman | Marlo Thomas, | Ellie Duke, Katherine Foronda, Ted Gonder, Dallas Jessup, Emma Lindle, Tristan Love, Kristen Lowman, Jessie Mintz, Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, Joe Tigani, Kelly Voigt | |
| 2011 | Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Bill Shore | Jerry M. Reinsdorf | Brittany and Robbie Bergquist | Drew Brees, Tamika Catchings, Stephen Curry, Warrick Dunn, Brad Davis, Ernie Els, Ryan Hall, Paul Pierce, CC Sabathia, Brian Westbrook | Craig Hatkoff, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro | Sicomac Elementary School - Student Council, Sashin Choksh, Morgan Hartley, Greg Nance, Nick Hebert, Patrick Ip, Talia Leman, Sarah Nuss, Mordecai Scott, Jessica Singer, Tyrone Stevenson, Vanessa Strickland | Prudential Financial, Starkey Laboratories, Inc. |
| 2012 | David H. Petraeus | Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis | Richard Proudfit | Amber Lynn Coffman | Jeremy Affeldt, Dereck Faulkner, Julie Foudy, Jeff Karstens, Jim Kelly, Charlie Kimball, Pat LaFontaine, Hannibal Navies, Jeff Saturday, Troy Vincent, Marty Lyons | The Robin Hood Foundation | Rachel & Kelsi Okun, Charles OrgBon III, Jourdan Urbach | Pfizer |
| 2013 | Tom Coburn, Patrick Leahy | Elie Wiesel | Dolores Huerta | Neilesh Patel | Mark Ein | | Sejal Hathi, Sam King, Alexis Werner | General Electric |
| 2014 | Gabby Giffords | Charles Best, | Andrew Shue | Pedro Jose Greer | Jack Andraka, Ryan Patrick | Mariano Rivera, James Thrash | Tom Brokaw | Maria Keller, Lillian Pravda | Weyerhaeuser |
| 2015 | Sonia Sotomayor | Jeffrey Skoll, | Ivan Hageman | Adam Braun | Lauren Bush | Fred Jackson, | | Robby Novak & Brad Montague of Kid President Corinne Hindes & Katrine Kirsebom of Warm Winters | Target Corporation |
| 2016 | Arne Duncan | Sean Parker | Kyle Zimmer | The Young American Soldier | Eric Decker | Billie Jean King | Sophia Sánchez-Maes | Salesforce |
| 2017 | Deval Patrick | Peter Diamandis, Sheila Johnson | | Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi | Joe Torre | Harry Belafonte | Laurie Hernandez | Warby Parker |
| 2018 | | Elaine Wynn | Bryan Stevenson | Alexis Jones | Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Long | | Pia Phillips and Abbie Nelson | Master Card |
| 2019 | | Scooter Braun | Mariska Hargitay | Morgan Guess | Von Miller, Shaquille O'Neal | | Morgan Guess | Patagonia |
| 2020 | | Kristen Bell | Patrick Lawler | Owen Colley | Larry Fitzgerald, Dawn Staley | | Owen Colley | TOMS |
| 2021 | Dr. Anthony Fauci | Jessica Ladd | DeAndre Brown | Margot Bellon & Isabel Wang | John Calipari | Joan Ganz Cooney | | JUST Goods |
| 2022 | General Jacqueline D. Van Ovost | Sharon McMahon | Paul Dreschnack, MD | | Shane Battier | Leeza Gibbons | Ben Collier, James Kanoff, and Aidan Reilly, founders of The Farmlink Project | |

## Local awards partners (partial listing)

In 1977, the Jefferson Awards began partnering with local newspapers and television stations.
* WQAD-TV
* WXOW
* KPIX
* WRTV (Multiplying Good awards)
* KBTX
** KBTX 2023 award
* KOAA