The organizers of the Charles Bronfman Prize have announced two nonprofit leaders working in the field of international human rights as the recipients of this year's prize.

Now in its sixth year, the $100,000 prize recognizes the vision and talent of an individual or team under the age of fifty whose humanitarian work has contributed significantly to the betterment of the world and whose Jewish values infuse his or her humanitarian accomplishments, providing inspiration to future generations. This is the first time two prizes have been awarded in the same year.

Jared Genser, the founder and president of Freedom Now, was honored for his tireless defense of prisoners of conscience worldwide. Genser has helped secure the release of prisoners from a number of countries, including Burma, China, Egypt, Pakistan, and Vietnam, by creating an innovative approach to human rights defense that combines legal, political, and public relations advocacy for each campaign.

Mapendo International founder and executive director Sasha Chanoff was recognized for his successful efforts to rescue and resettle at-risk and forgotten African refugees. Chanoff has worked for more than a decade in refugee rescue, relief, and resettlement operations in Africa and the United States and has devised and implemented solutions to identify, rescue, and protect people fleeing from conflict and violence in Africa whose lives are in imminent danger and who fall outside existing humanitarian relief efforts.

"There are some remarkable individuals who refuse to accept an unacceptable status quo and, through their brilliance and determination, redress the intolerable," said Charles Bronfman, chairman of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. "Sasha Chanoff and Jared Genser are two such people. Each contributes outstanding passion and commitment to human rights in his own way."