U.S. Chamber Foundation Citizens Awards 2025: (Deadline 20 June, 2025)

Applications are open for the U.S. Chamber Foundation Citizens Awards 2025. For more than 25 years, the Corporate Citizenship Awards (“Citizens Awards”) have highlighted how businesses serve as a force for good, expanding opportunity and driving progress in every aspect of society. This program recognizes the most innovative and impactful corporate citizenship initiatives that leverage a company’s talent, resources, and expertise to improve communities.

Awards will be given in the following categories:

• Best Civic Engagement Program: For businesses elevating civics and empowering employees and communities to participate in civic life.
• Best Community Improvement Program: Recognizing strategic initiatives in housing, poverty, economic development, safety, arts, youth development, and more.
• Best Community Resilience and Disaster Response Program: Honoring efforts in disaster preparedness, response, and long-term recovery.
• Best Economic Opportunity and Empowerment Program: For initiatives in financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and diversity.
• Best Education and Workforce Program: Celebrating programs advancing education, upskilling, STEM, career guidance, and access to technology.
• Best Health and Wellness Program: For initiatives in workplace wellness, nutrition, disease prevention, and healthcare access.
• Best Sustainability Program: Recognizing environmental stewardship, climate solutions, sustainable supply chains, and circular economy efforts.
• Best Corporate Steward (Small/Mid-Market & Large Business): Honoring companies that create “shared value” for shareholders, employees, customers, communities, and the environment.

Eligibility

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. They 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, 2023 award winners are not eligible until 2026 for the category in which they won in 2023. Immediate past winners are, however, more than welcome to submit nominations in new categories.  

Application

Awards are given in different categories, from civic engagement and economic opportunity to education and disaster response. The deadline to apply is June 20, 2025. There’s no fee to submit a nomination. Get started today!

Click here to apply

For more information, visit U.S. Chamber Foundation Citizens Awards.