The Elevate Prize Foundation has announced George and Amal Clooney as the recipients of the second annual Catalyst Award, which recognizes prominent individuals who use their influence to inspire social action.

Recipients are awarded $250,000 in unrestricted funding, as well as development resources and partnership opportunities to advance their mission and scale their work. Amal and George Clooney were selected for their efforts with the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), which they launched in 2016 to strengthen accountability for human rights abuses around the world. Recent CFJ initiatives are aimed at helping to free unjustly imprisoned journalists and advancing women’s rights.

“We are honored to receive the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award and extend our appreciation to Joseph Deitch and the Elevate Prize Foundation,” said George Clooney. “One of the Elevate Prize Foundation’s core values is human safety and freedom—a goal we share at the Clooney Foundation for Justice as we work to free the innocent and punish the guilty, waging justice one case at a time.”

“The Clooneys embody our belief at the Elevate Prize that by creating greater awareness for the most pressing problems of our time, while also raising visibility for the individuals and organizations working to confront these problems, we can inspire more people to take action and do good in their own communities,” said Elevate Prize Foundation founder Joseph Deitch. “With this award, we hope to both draw attention to human rights abuses and injustices globally, as well as recognize the extraordinary efforts made by the Clooney Foundation for Justice to combat these issues, especially those made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

(Photo credit: Beatrice Moritz)