The Gleitsman Program for Leadership in Social Change encourages individual commitment and leadership by recognizing the exceptional achievement of innovators who have sparked positive social change. We seek individuals whose vision and courage inspire others to join with them in confronting and challenging injustice.
In that spirit, the Center for Public Leadership awards the Gleitsman Activist Award annually, alternating between the Citizen Activist Award and the International Activist Award, to honor exceptional leaders and innovators who have sparked positive social change and inspired others to do the same. Recipients of a Gleitsman Activist Award receive a $150,000 prize, receive a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Maya Lin, the creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC and the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL, and are honored at a ceremony at Harvard University.
Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award
The Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award, given biennially, honors leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life in the United States.
Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award Winners
2019: Tarana Burke, Founder, 'me too.' movement
2017: John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative, 5th District of Georgia
2006: Gloria Steinem, Women’s Movement Activist
2000: Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director and Founder, Equal Justice Initiative
- 2023: Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Executive Director, Caring Across Generations
- 2019: Tarana Burke, Founder, 'me too.' movement
- 2017: John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative, 5th District of Georgia
- 2014: Eric Greitens, Founder, The Mission Continues
- 2012: Rebecca Onie, Founder, Health Leads
- 2010: Susan Burton, Founder, A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL)
- 2008: Bill Shore, Co-founder and CEO, Share Our Strength
- 2006: Gloria Steinem, Women’s Movement Activist; Ron Grzywinski &
- Mary Houghton, Co-Founders of ShoreBank Corporation of Chicago; Julie Stewart, Founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).
- 2004: Chris Barbic, Yvonne Chan, Mike Feinberg & Dave Levin, Bertha Lewis, Michelle Rhee, Mark Rosenbaum, J.B. Schramm, Agnes Stevens, Margot Stern Strom, Kevin Sved, and Jonathan Williams, U.S. education activists
- 2002: Mike Farrell, Chairman, California Committee of Human Rights Watch; Mimi Silbert, Co-founder, President, and Chairman, The Delancy Street Foundation
- 2000: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, A pioneer for end-of-life rights; Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director and Founder, Equal Justice Initiative
- 1998: Al Gore, Alan Blum, Stanton Glantz, Christine Gregoire, C. Everett Koop, Janet Carol Mangini, Henry Waxman, Jeffrey Wigand, Merrill Williams, and Patricia Young, Campaign Against Tobacco activists
- 1996: Geraldine Jensen, Founder, Association for Children for Enforcement of Support; Tanya Tull, Founder, President, and CEO, Beyond Shelter
- 1994: Ralph Nader, American consumer protection advocate; Wendy Kopp, Founder, Teach For America
Gleitsman International Activist Award
The Gleitsman International Activist Award, given biennially, honors leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life around the world.
Gleitsman International Activist Award Winners
- 2025: José Andrés, Chef and Humanitarian
- 2020: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 2018: Malala Yousafzai, Co-founder, Malala Fund
- 2013: Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
- 1993: Nelson Mandela, President, African National Congress; Wei Jingsheng, Advocate of democracy in China
- 2025: José Andrés, Chef and Humanitarian
- 2022: Syeda Ghulam Fatima Gilani, Secretary General, Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan; Ashif Shaikh, Co-Founder, Jan Sahas
- 2020: Rt. Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 2018: Malala Yousafzai, Co-founder, Malala Fund
- 2015: Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman, Founders, Elman Peace and Human Rights Center
- 2013: Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
- 2011: Teresa Ulloa Ziáurriz, Regional Director, Coalition Against Trafficking Women
- 2009: Karen Tse, Founder, International Bridges to Justice
- 2007: Sakena Yacoobi, Executive Director, the Afghan Institute of Learning
- 2005: Han Dongfang, International Advocate of the worker's movement in China; Patrick Alley, Charmain Gooch, and Simon Taylor, Founders, Global Witness
- 2003: Fazle Abed, Jaya Arunachalam, Roman Imboden, and Roy Prosterman, Leaders in the Struggle Against Poverty
2001: Bernie Krisher, Creator of schools in Cambodia; Martin Macwan, Advocate of Dalits ("Untouchables") Rights - 1999: Advocates for reconciliation in the Middle east, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Yossi Beilin, Bassem Eid, Yitzhak Frankenthal, Galia Golan, Faisel Husseini, Terje Rod Larsen and Mona Juul, Ahmed Qurie (Abu Ala), Uri Savir and Stanley Sheinbaum, posthumous awards in memory of Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, and King Hussein
- 1997: Maria Adela Antokoletz, Argentinean founder of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo; Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank
- 1995: Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor independence advocate; Beate & Serge Kiarsfeld, Prominent Nazi hunters
- 1993: Nelson Mandela, President, African National Congress; Wei Jingsheng, Advocate of democracy in China
History
CPL launched the Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change in 2007 with a $20 million endowed gift from the estate of Alan L. Gleitsman. It was Mr. Gleitsman's hope that if the world knew of the accomplishments of social activists, others would be inspired by their stories and would fight to correct some of the other problems facing the world, thereby improving the quality of life for all of us. This gift provides support for the Gleitsman Activist Awards, the Gleitsman Professorship, and the Gleitsman Leadership Fellows Program.