Submission Deadline Extended to March 7, 2022

World Zarathushti Community Awards

Award Categories, Definitions, and Evaluation Criteria

Category #1

Iconic Zarathushti Award

Definition
To recognize a Zarathushti, who has who has reached the zenith of achievement in the chosen field. The individual is what the community would instantly recognize as the epitome of a Zarathushti and happy to project that individual as a role model. The nominee would combine all the traits of leadership, honesty, integrity, industriousness, hard work, charity, and community work.

Evaluation Criteria

• Achievements: 30%
• Contributions regionally and worldwide:  30%
• Leadership, honesty, other traits, and the person as a role model: 20%
• Involvement and fostering causes dear to the Zoroastrian community: 20%

Category #2

Community Service Award

Definition

To recognize a Zarathushti who has identified a local community (not limited to Zarathushti community) need or issue and has provided effective initiative to inspire and pioneer meaningful change. An individual is recognized as a source of strength and heart in the community, and harnesses the time, talent and capacity of others. Minimum service five years. To recognize the outstanding service rendered to the community.

Evaluation Criteria

• Contribution of their work on the community & Society at large: 30%
• Peer recognition of outstanding Community Service: 20%
• Impact of their contributions on the community they served: 30%
• Barriers overcome by them: 20%

Category #3

Science/Technology/Engineering/Medicine Award

Definition

To recognize a Zarathushti who is dedicated to the advancement of science, technology, engineering, medicine, industrial discovery, or application. The individual efforts forge new roles for people and create opportunities for future generations and advancement of profession/trade/business.

Evaluation Criteria

• Level of Academic Qualifications 25%
• Innovative and effective power of research/product/service regionally or internationally 35%
• Major cited publications regionally or internationally 15%
• Awards received 15%
• Contribution to community 10%

Category #4

Creative Art/Design/Literature/Culture Award

Definition

To recognize an individual who has enriched society through the commitment to visual, literary, media, architectural or performing arts. An individual is recognized in the field for excelling as a creator or performer, facilitating, or promoting the artistic efforts of others or broadening com-munity engagement in the field of art/design/literature/culture.

Evaluation Criteria

• Level of Academic Qualifications: 25%
• Innovative and effective power in the art/design/literature/culture areas: 25%
• Prizes and Awards – Local, State, National, International 25Performance / exhibition achievements including pictures of work done: 15%
• Creativity and professional standards shared with community: 10%

Category #5

Social Entrepreneur Award

Definition
A Zarathushti or Company that promotes social entrepreneurship as a key element to advance societies and address social problems in an innovative and effective manner. To recognize a Zarathusti or company that promotes social entrepreneurship.

Evaluation Criteria

• • Innovation: the candidate/company has brought about social change by transforming traditional practice: 25%
• Reach and Scope: the social entrepreneur’s initiative has spread beyond its initial context and has been adapted successfully to other settings in the country or internationally: 25%
• Sustainability and Replicability: the candidate/company has generated the social conditions and/or institutions needed to sustain the initiative: 20%
• Direct positive social impact: the candidate/company has founded, developed and implemented the entrepreneurial initiative directly, together with poor or marginalized beneficiaries and stakeholders: 15%
• Role Model: the candidate/category is an individual who can serve as a rolemodel for future social entrepreneurs and the public: 15%

Category #6

Diversity Award

Definition
The Diversity Award honors an individual, project, organization, or institution for outstanding contributions to improving gender and racial diversity, equity and inclusion. The award is given for a broad range of activities, including research, education, and increasing awareness and ser-vice to improve diversity. The award seeks to recognize achievements as well as innovative and/or high impact activities. An important purpose of the award is to offer a vision of the challenges and opportunities facing greater diversity in world.

Evaluation Criteria

• The candidate or group has brought about social change by transforming traditional practice: 25%
• The diversity initiative has spread beyond its initial context in the country or internationally: 25%
• The diversity adapted in other regions of the world: 20%
• The candidate has founded, developed, and implemented the together with poor or marginalized beneficiaries and stakeholders: 15%
• The candidate is an individual who serves as a diversity role model: 15%

Category #7

Rising Outstanding Young Zarathushti Stars Award

Definition
To recognize a young Zarathushti between ages of 18 – 35 years who after achieving high grades as a student in scholastic studies and participating in other extra-curricular activities, is deemed to be an outstanding rising star by peers, and who has made substantial contributions to Zarathushti community affairs in the local community region where an individual has lived and abroad.

Evaluation Criteria

• Level of Academic Qualifications: 25%
• Level of Achievements & Progression in Chosen Profession: 45%
• Service and Contributions to Zarathushti Community & Community at large: 30%

Rules and Guidelines

Awards Committee

1. The WZC Awards committee shall be formulated by the host association in consultation with Global Working Group (GWC).
2. The Committee shall appoint three judges for each category of award and under no circumstances less than two.
3. All nominations shall be submitted online through an application portal on the WZC 2022 website.
4. There can be multiple categories of awards under the World Zarathushti Community Awards Program.
5. For each category of award there will be an appropriate physical memento. The design and fabrication of the same shall be done by the Congress host.
6. One person shall be nominated as Chair of the WZC Awards Committee to solicit and receive completed nominations and forward the same to the judges in consultation with the WZC Awards Team.

Eligibility Conditions for Nominees

1. Nominee should and have been properly initiated into the Zarathushti religion.
2. The following individuals shall not be eligible for nomination for the World Zarathushti Community Awards:
   a. Members of Awards Committee.
   b. Individual Zarathushti appointed by the WZC Awards Committee to serve as judge for the specific category for which he/she is a judge.
3. An individual can be nominated for one award category only.

Nominations

1. All nominations must be submitted on the online nomination hosted on the WZC 2022 website only.
2. Nominee must be sponsored by one individual.
3. An individual sponsoring a nomination on behalf of an association must indicate their position in the organization.
4. The sponsor by submitting the nomination and the nominee by acknowledging their nomination
   a. agree to abide by the rules established by the WZC Awards Committee for the Awards; and
   b. accept all decisions of the WZC Awards Committee as final.
5. Nominations should not exceed 2000 words. No attachments or other supplementary documents are necessary. A personal perspective on the candidate is encouraged.
6. The WZC Awards Committee will first review all nominations before their submission to the judges. Nominations that do not meet the guidelines and criteria set by the WZC Awards Committee will not be submitted to the judges.
7. For each award category, a minimum of two (2) nominations shall be required for evaluation and of a winner. If only a single nomination is received for any award category, it shall not normally be considered for evaluation and the sponsors shall be notified. However, in exceptional cases, in consultation with the judges for that category, the WZC Awards Committee may consider the single nominee for an award.
8. The WZC Awards Committee will not entertain or respond to:
   a. inquiries about the status of nominations during the process of evaluation or thereafter; or
   b. Appeals against its decision on any item related to a nomination.

Judges

1. 1. The WZC Awards Committee shall appoint three judges for each category of award and under no circumstances less than two, comprising respected Zarathushti from around the world.
2. The judges are appointed after the nomination is closed.
3. A Sponsor will not be selected as judge for the same category.
4. A judge can sponsor a nominee but cannot be a judge in the same category in which the nominee’s name appears.

Evaluation of Nominations and of Winners

1. 1. The judges shall be required to evaluate the nominees based solely on:
   a. the information contained in the Nomination Form; and
   b. the evaluation criteria and points system prescribed by the WZC Awards Committee.
   2. If in the opinion of the WZC Awards Committee there is an evident bias in the evaluation of a nominee by a specific judge, that judge’s evaluation may not be considered in determining the result and the winner for that category.
   3. The judges shall submit their evaluation in the prescribed evaluation summary form, indicating the number of points scored by each nominee against each evaluation criteria and the total number of points. The nominee scoring the maximum total number of points scored by all the judges in the panel shall be declared the winner for each category.
   4. The WZC Awards Committee may declare more than one winner in a category, if two or more nominees have almost same total points.
   5. If the judges declare that none of the nominees for a specific category deserves an award, the WZC Awards Committee may decide not to declare a winner for that award category.

Announcement of Winners

1. 1. The winners shall be selected 60 days before the start of the Congress. Winners will be intimated of the same with a request to keep the information confidential till the announcement at the Congress. At the congress, their achievements will be publicized, and they will be officially recognized at the Awards Presentation Ceremony.
2. All winners will be encouraged to attend the Congress in person. If for any reason they are unable to, then an acceptance speech (3 min) shall be procured by the hosts via a zoom recording. The same shall be played at the time of the Awards Ceremony.
3. After the Congress, the names of the winners shall be publicized in Zarathushti publications worldwide.

For any questions email awards@wzc2022.nyc