ICA launches Rochdale Pioneers Award 2019

Nominations are open for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the co-op movement

Nominations are open for the International Cooperative Alliance’s (ICA) Rochdale Pioneers Award.

The award is the highest honour the ICA bestows. Its purpose is to recognise – in the spirit of the Rochdale Pioneers – an individual who has contributed to innovative and financially sustainable co-operative activities that have significantly benefited co-operative members. Under special circumstances, a co-operative organisation can be recognised.

Previous winners include former Co-operative Union chief executive Lloyd Wilkinson; former Co-operatives UK chief executive and ICA president Dame Pauline Green; and the Plunkett Foundation.

The award will be presented in Kigali, Rwanda, during the biennial ICA Conference on Development and General Assembly, which takes place from 14 to 17 October 2019.

Nominations are invited from member organisations of the ICA and from organisations in solidarity with the co-operative movement. Nominees must be current or former members or employees of an ICA member organisation or in one of that organisation’s members or affiliates.

If an organisation is nominated, rather than an individual, it must be an ICA member organisation or one of that organisation’s members or affiliates.

A nominee’s achievements must:

  •    Visibly demonstrate benefit to the global co-operative movement
  •    Be innovative
  •    Be financially sustainable and of a permanent nature
  •    Be a leader in the co-operative movement
  •    Demonstrate commitment to the co-operative principles

The winner will be selected by an ICA board-appointed committee.

Click here to find out more and download nomination forms. Fully completed forms and required documents should be sent to [email protected]. The deadline for nominations is 1 July.