William S. Goldman Truth to Power Award
Terms and Conditions (“Terms”)
The William S. Goldman Truth to Power Award (“Award”) is administered by Way to Rise (“Way to Rise”), a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) philanthropic strategy center. The Award seeks to recognize an activist who is pushing the country to live up to its promise while embodying the qualities of courage, effectiveness, promise, inspiration, and innovation.
By submitting a nomination for the Award, the Nominator fully and unconditionally agrees to these Terms.
If Nominator has listed any person or entity in the nomination as a co-nominator, Nominator confirms these Terms have been shared with all co-nominators and that each co-nominator has agreed to the Terms.
Nomination Period: The Nomination Period for the Award begins at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 1, 2024 and ends at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on November 29, 2024.
How to Nominate: An official nomination form must be submitted by a Nominator within the Nomination Period to be eligible for review. Nominees should be “people who are standing up for their rights, or the rights of others, and in defense of the institutions that safeguard democracy, often at great risk to their careers, reputations, and even personal security.”
Review of Nominations and Selection of Applicants: Way to Rise will review all official nomination forms submitted during the Nomination Period. Leadership may select a certain number of nominees and invite them to submit an application to the Award. Selection of these Applicants will be made by Way to Rise in its sole discretion. Applicants will complete an Application Form and a subset of candidates, selected at Way to Rise’s sole discretion, will have their materials reviewed by Truth to Power Award judges who will make the final selection.
Eligibility: A nominee to the Award may be: (1) an individual or individuals, all age 21 or older at the time the application is submitted, or (2) a not-for-profit organization that has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as exempt from United States federal taxes under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
Nominators must reside or be domiciled in one of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or other recognized territories of the United States, inclusive of those living on Native lands of federally recognized tribes of the United States.
Selection Criteria: All eligible nominees will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria (“Selection Criteria”): (1) Courage: Their work is done despite the possibility of personal, professional, or reputational risk; they demonstrates a willingness to speak out against and hold powerful systems accountable; (2) Effectiveness: their work has been effective in achieving a positive change, even in small ways, to address systemic inequality and other issues critical to improving lives; (3) Promise: their potential to be a change agent and for whom the Award would be meaningful in advancing their work going forward; (4) Inspiration: their actions and leadership have shown the potential to inspire others to participate in making positive change; (5) Innovation: they are advancing a new strategy that improves people’s lives or is addressing an overlooked need.
The Award: One Awardee (“Awardee”) will receive $50,000 as a single Award Payment (“Award Payment”), an invitation to participate in a celebratory gathering, and ad hoc support in promoting Awardee’s work going forward. Three Finalists (“Finalists”) will also receive $10,000 as a single Award Payment (“Award Payment”) and an invitation to participate in a celebratory gathering. Should an Awardee consist of more than one individual, the Award Payment will be divided evenly among those individuals. The Award Payment is not transferable, in whole or in part, except in the case of an individual Awardee who prefers for the Award Payment to be directed to a non-profit entity with which the Awardee is affiliated. At the Foundation’s sole discretion, more than one Awardee may be selected in a given Award year.
Further Conditions for Participation: By submitting a nomination, the nominator represents, warrants, and covenants:
the nominee has the full right and authorization to submit a nomination;
all information and associated materials submitted as part of the nomination are truthful and accurate;
the nominator has the right to grant all rights and releases granted in these Terms;
pursuit of nominees work will not:
infringe any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary rights;
violate any right of privacy or publicity or other right of any person;
violate any law or regulation; or
breach any confidentiality, contractual or other obligation;
Way to Rise’s use of information in the nomination as described in these Terms will not infringe the right of any person;
to the extent the work of the nominee relies on any third-party intellectual property (“Third-Party IP”), nominee:
waives all rights to claim:
punitive, incidental, consequential, or other damages; and
injunctive or equitable relief.
Additional Notes on Intellectual Property: Each Nominator is responsible for: (1) taking steps to protect any intellectual property; and (2) determining whether any information is confidential or proprietary and identifying all confidential and proprietary information to Way to Rise in writing. If a Nominator has any doubts, consider consulting with legal counsel.
Disqualification: Way to Rise may verify a nominee’s (including any team member’s) eligibility at any time during the Award program. Way to Rise reserves the right to disqualify any nominee at any time, and to revoke the title of Truth to Power Award recipient at any time. The Award program is void where prohibited. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.
Grant of Rights: The Nominator retains all proprietary rights it holds in the Nomination and the right to use the ideas described in these submissions, subject to the rights granted to Way to Rise. By submitting a Nomination, each Nominator hereby: (1) grants permission for the Nomination to be copied and distributed for the purpose of review for selection; (2) grants permission for information in the Nomination to be used by Way to Rise and its licensees, successors, and agents, and assigns in connection with the Award program and to further the Way to Rise’s charitable and educational mission unless Way to Rise has expressly agreed otherwise in writing; (3) grants permission for information in the Nomination, including quotations and photographs and videos, to be shared by Way to Rise, at its discretion, in any forum, including social media, and with other organizations or entities for any purpose.
Release: By submitting a Nomination, each Nominator hereby: (1) releases Way to Rise (and its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, representatives, licensees, successors, and agents) from all liabilities, claims, and actions of any kind whatsoever, known or unknown; and (2) knowingly and expressly waives all rights and benefits under California Civil Code Section 1542 which states: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which is known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor” and similar rights under the laws of any other jurisdiction.
General: Way to Rise is not responsible for any difficulties accessing, uploading, or downloading any Award-related information on the Truth to Power Award website or Google Forms or for any other malfunctions of any kind related to the Award program, whether technical, human, or otherwise. All decisions of Way to Rise are in the Way to Rise’s sole discretion and are final and binding. These Terms and the Award program are governed by the laws of the State of California applicable to agreements made and performed within the State without giving effect to any conflicts of law provisions that would result in application of any other law. Each Nominator (on behalf of each team member, if applicable) irrevocably agrees to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of California with respect to any dispute in connection with these Terms or the Award program and expressly consents (and waives any objection based on any reason) to venue of those courts. If any provision of these Terms is found invalid, the provision will be modified to the extent necessary to make it valid or will be deleted and the remaining provisions will continue in effect. Way to Rise’s failure to or delay in enforcing any provision will not constitute a waiver. To the extent there is a conflict between these Terms and other information provided by Way to Rise, these Terms will govern.
Modification / Cancellation: Way to Rise reserves the right to change any deadlines or application or selection periods and to modify, suspend, or cancel the Award program, in whole or in part, at any time.
Personal Information: Personal information collected from any Nominator as part of the Award program will be used in accordance with these Terms. By participating in the Award program, Nominator (on behalf of oneself and all team members) consents to this collection, storage, sharing, and use.