Do you know of an outstanding young person who has demonstrated skillful leadership in making a difference for people, animals and the environment?

If so, send us your nomination for the 2010 Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Award!

The Jane Goodall Global Leadership Awards honor organizations and individuals who share Dr. Jane's values, vision and commitment to making a positive difference in the world for all living things.

The awards are given in the categories of Youth Leadership, Excellence in Public Policy, Global Leadership, Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsible Activism in Media and Entertainment.

The Youth Leadership Award recognizes an individual (14 to 24 years of age) who exhibits leadership and excellence through his or her work to help preserve our natural world, protect animals or benefit our human community.

Nominations are now being accepted!

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Award. We encourage you to take this opportunity to nominate an outstanding young person in your community!

Excellent nominees:

• Are current Roots & Shoots members,
• Possess outstanding leadership qualities,
• Are between the ages of 14 and 24, and
• Lead projects that make a positive difference in the world for all living things.

Guidelines:

1. Nominators and nominees should complete the official Award Nomination Form.
2. Nominators should be an adult who is closely acquainted with the nominee.
3. Nomination forms should be filled out by the Nominator and Nominee then submitted together, following the submission instructions on the form.
4. All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. EST, on July 6, 2010.

*The Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Award recipient will be announced to all applicants by August 23, 2010 via the contact information provided on the Award Nomination Form.

Note: All necessary transportation and lodging for the award celebration will be provided by the Jane Goodall Institute.

Past Award Winners

Past Award winners represent the diversity and creativity that makes the Roots & Shoots network so powerful. Erica Fernandez and Shadrach Meshach, recipients of the 2009 Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Award, lead projects as varied as their backgrounds.

Erica Fernandez, a native of Mexico, moved to the United States at the age of 10. She is currently and environmental studies major at Stanford University where she is also involved in the Strategies for Ecology, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) chapter of the Ecological Society of America.

While in high school in Oxnard, California, she organized youth and Latino communities to protest BHP Billiton’s proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Ventura and Malibu coastlines. The proposal later failed.

Shadrach Meshach, nominated by fellow Roots & Shoots member Julia Colburn, has been involved in Roots & Shoots-Tanzania since 1999 and was chairperson of his group at Mwandiga Secondary School.

At the Lugufu Refugee Camp, Shadrach formed a Roots & Shoots program to help promote wildlife conservation education while encouraging acceptance and cooperation between Congolese refugees and local Tanzanians.

Community activism, environmental sustainability or wildlife conservation, past Award winners’ interests are varied but they all are united by a commitment to Dr. Jane’s most cherished ideal—that each of us, every day, can choose to make a difference.