The International Renaissance Foundation has announced the shortlist of nominees for the Open Society Award — the first award to recognize outstanding individuals, organizations, and projects that change the country, strengthen democratic values, and promote the development of an open society in a free Ukraine.
The Open Society Award aims to support those who:
- strengthen democracy and human rights;
- foster civic engagement and intercultural dialogue;
- contribute to reforms and legislative changes that make government institutions more transparent and accessible to citizens:
- implement initiatives with long-term impact that engage society in decision-making processes.
The award includes two main categories:
- “Creators of the Open Society” — for those who have made a lasting contribution to the development of democratic institutions, reformed government processes, and introduced sustainable mechanisms of public participation over the past 35 years;
- “Voices of the Open Society 2024” — for initiatives that in 2024 became powerful voices of change and responded effectively to current challenges.
In each category, one organization and one individual will be awarded for their significant contribution to promoting the values of an open society in Ukraine.
Nominees
Shortlisted in the “Creators” category (organizations):
- Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
- Ukraїner International
- Come Back Alive Foundation
- Ukrainska Pravda
- PEN Ukraine
- Anti-Corruption Action Center
- Voices of Children Charitable Foundation
Shortlisted in the “Creators” category (individuals):
- Vitalii Portnykov
- Yevhen Hlibovytskyi
- Myroslav Marynovych
- Olha Aivazovska
- Vitalii Shabunin
- Oleksandra Matviichuk
- Maksym Butkevych
Shortlisted in the “Voices” category (organizations):
- Memorial Platform
- Come Back Alive Foundation
- Center for Civil Liberties
- Superhumans Center
- Women Veterans Movement
- PEN Ukraine
- Women’s Partisan Movement “Zla Mavka”
Shortlisted in the “Voices” category (individuals):
- Taras Chmut
- Nariman Dzhelal
- Yevhen Hlibovytskyi
- Lesia Lytvynova
- Tetyana Teren
- Masi Nayem
- Maksym Butkevych
How the shortlist was formed
We invited 50 civil society organizations, institutions, and opinion leaders to nominate one person and one organization in each of the four categories. Self-nomination or nomination of affiliated organizations was not allowed.
As a result, we compiled longlists of around 25–30 nominees per category — fewer than the total number of nominators, as many nominees were suggested multiple times.
The Foundation did not influence the formation of the longlists.
We invited jury members and coordinated the process with them before finalizing the shortlist. Naturally, since jury members are prominent figures in the development of civil society in Ukraine, they or their organizations could be among the nominees.
To avoid conflicts of interest, jury members could not vote for themselves, their immediate colleagues, or organizations they represent.
Winners in each category will be announced on May 16 at the award ceremony.
Each jury member ranked their top 10 nominees per category. A nominee ranked 10th received 1 point, 9th — 2 points, and so on. The top-ranked nominee received 10 points. All jury members voted independently, anonymously, and without knowledge of the other jurors’ identities until the evaluation concluded.
Once voting was completed, we calculated the average score for each nominee — dividing the total points by 7 if all jurors could vote, or by 6 (etc.) if any abstained due to conflict of interest.
Foundation staff did not participate in voting, but two members of the Foundation’s Board served on the jury.
The Jury
- Volodymyr Yermolenko — philosopher, Chair of the Board of the International Renaissance Foundation, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld
- Oleksandra Matviichuk — human rights defender, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Maksym Butkevych — human rights defender, journalist, service person
- Leonid Finberg — cultural scholar, director of the Center for Jewish Studies, editor-in-chief of Dukh i Litera publishing house
- Olha Aivazovska — electoral expert, Chair of the Board at Civil Network OPORA
- Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta — cultural manager, director of Mystetskyi Arsenal
- Yevhen Bystrytskyi — philosopher, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation (1998–2017)
